Yesterday I started a professional development course on emotional intelligence. The course really is a "course" - meeting bi-weekly for 6-months, including small group meetings and one-on-ones with the instructor. My first impressions? I am pumped.
The woman who leads the course seems to fully embody emotional intelligence - she came off as incredibly comfortable, calm, deliberate, and above all, joyful.
The content of the course comes from a variety of sources, including Daniel Goldman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Chade-Meng Tan, the an early Google engineer who brought emotional intelligence to Google and then wrote the book Search Inside Yourself (which we are reading for the course) about the experience and its impact. It is essentially all about creating your best self (for yourself and as a leader in your organization), by being self-aware and socially aware.
The class is made up of about 15 people, all from non-profits, many of which happen to be working with families. I arrived and found that I had unexpected connections with three people in the room, from work that I've been doing lately. It feels great to be building a professional network!
In short, I'm excited for the course. AND the timing is helpful because I just found out that my organization is about to undergo some significant transformations, all of which will have an impact on what my job looks like day-to-day. I am disappointed by the news of change, as I was just starting to feel like I was settling into a routine, but am learning to accept it and am hopeful that the shift ends up being positive. More to come...
HAPPY WEEKEND!
Chade-Meng Tan
What an interesting video. The course sounds really exciting. You are lucky to be able to learn this at your age and be exposed to it through your work! Very cool!
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