Can You Manage Your Stress?

Stress Management: is "working calmly under stress and pressure"

Can you manage your stress? ........... Answer the following questions to find out.

• Are you immediately aware of your feelings of rising stress?
• Do you know stress is inevitable in life? Can you calm yourself down and deal with it productively?
• Are you able to influence stressful events and act to improve the immediate situation?
• Do you have the ability to maintain your composure and avoid aggressive, hostile and irresponsible behavior?
• Can you determine when to push back and when to let go?
• Do you have vitality and strength?
• Have you developed a high tolerance for frustration and learned not to “sweat the small stuff”?

Defintion and Questions from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

Can You Accurately Self-Assess?

Accurate Self-Assessment: "an inner awareness of your strengths and limitations"

Can you accurately self-assess? ...... Ask yourself the following questions to find out.

• Are you reflective, do you learn from experience?
• Do you know your own capabilities; what you can and can’t do, your strengths and weaknesses?
• Are you open to candid feedback, new perspectives, continuous learning, and self development?
• Do you ask for help from others who might have more experience, knowledge, or ability?
• Are you able to identify and target your needs for improvement and change?
• Do you have a desire to learn and grow?

Definition and Questions from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

Do you thrive in Teamwork and Collaboration?

Teamwork and Collaboration: is "working with others toward shared goals; creating group synergy in the pursuit of collective goals"

Can you thrive in an atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration? .... Ask yourself the following questions to find out.

• Do you enjoy working cooperatively with others?
• Can you draw all members if a group into active and enthusiastic participation?
• Can you build team identity, esprit de corps and commitment?
• Can you protect the group and its reputation, and share credit?
• Do you share plans, information and resources?
• Can you put team goals before individual goals?
• Can you interact well with all different personalities and work styles on the team?
• Do you demonstrate trust in, and respect for, all team members?

Definition and Questions from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

Do you have Initiative and Bias for Action?

Initiative and Bias for Action: is "being proactive and persistent; being ready to act on opportunity"

Do you have initiative and bias for action?..... Ask yourself the following questions and find out.

• Are you ready to seize opportunities, or create them, rather than simply wait for things to happen?
• Do you pursue goals beyond what’s required or expected of you?
• Can you cut through red tape and bend the rules if necessary to get the job done?
• Do you mobilize others through unusual, enterprising efforts?
• Do you act before you are forced to by external circumstances?
• Do you want more from your job than a paycheck, and more from life as well?
• Do you consistently strive to do more, be more, and experience new heights?

Definition and Questions from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

Are you a Realisitic Optimist?

Realistic Optimism: "expecting success rather than failure, seeing an opportunity rather than a threat; seeing others positively; expecting the future to bring positive change, that things will be better"

Are you a realistic optimist?...... ask yourself these questions to find out.

• Do you see obstacles and bad events as temporary, surmountable, challenges to overcome?
• Do you have a self-talk style that comes from an outlook of expecting success?
• Do you believe that you not only can, but you will succeed?
• Do you apply this belief to all that you do, not just a single task?
• Do you operate from a mindset of success, rather than a fear of failure?
• Do you see success as a function of people’s motivation and ability?
• Do you believe bad events are not your fault? That they are simply inevitable external realities that you can surmount?
• Are you unfazed by defeat? When confronted with a bad situation, do you perceive it as a challenge and try harder?
• Do you see setbacks as temporary, rather than as a personal flaw?

"People with this competence do better at work, in school, on the playing field and in life; they enjoy better health, and may even live longer, according to recent research."

Definition, Questions and Quote from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

Do you have Personal Power?

Personal Power is: "a sense of self-confidence and an inner knowing that you can meet life’s challenges and live the life you choose"

Do you have it?? ....... ask yourself the following questions to find out.

• Do you have a good sense of who you are and your ability to get what you want?
• Do you believe that you can set the direction of your life, and do?
• Are you able to distinguish between things you have control over in life and those that you don’t; do you avoid stressing over the former?
• Do you define yourself from the inside out (I’m capable, creative, etc.), rather than from the outside in (I’m a banker, I’m a lawyer)?
• Do make things happen, instead of blindly believing in fate?
• Do you feel in control of your life?
• Do you know what you want and go after it?

Definition and Questions from:

Coaching Emotional Intelligence

By Laura Belsten, PHD

2006 LearnMore Communications

New Series!

Hello and welcome to the newest series of the Ask a Coach blog.

For all of us, there certain things in life that we are good at and find to be easy, and other things that we find to be difficult. Our talents are generally pretty easy to determine, but our social-emotional competencies are not.

This series of the Ask a Coach blog challenges you to ask yourself some questions to determine your competiencies. Each week we will post a new competency and questions you can ask yourself to determine if it is one you have. Knowing these things about yourself can help you both at work, and in your everyday interactions with those around you.

Warm Regards,

LaVonne Dorsey
Executive, Career and Life Coach
http://www.welcometoliving.net/