Emotional Intelligence-Self Awareness

Self-awareness is the building block to which all elements of Emotional Intelligence are built upon. It is important to gain a full understanding of our emotions and how they relate to others in order to effectively make decisions both in and out of the workplace. By developing self-awareness, one will be more prepared to make decisions that will not only increase one's emotional satisfaction, but also the satisfaction of the people one interacts with.

Emotional intelligence is based on the idea that one must first become aware of our emotions before one is able to alter one's behavior for better results. Studies show that managers who maintain a high level of self-awareness posses more aspects of EQ and are therefore rated as more effective by both superiors and subordinates than those who are not self-aware. Knowledge about the nature of one's personality is vital to making sound decisions. In other words, its the ability to take a step back from the situation to become aware of what's happening rather than become immersed in it and loose control.

Self-awareness is not getting carried away with emotions, but rather objectively identifying them in order to take control of the subsequent actions resulting from these emotions. By acknowledging our emotions, one can manage them, deal with them and then move on. This is very difficult for some people to do. It is much easier at times to just ignore, deny or rationalize your emotions. It is crucial, however, for us to develop an understanding of what we are feeling in order to use our emotions intelligently.

This paper emphasizes on comparing the three gurus on their views of Self Awareness and also finding the similarities of their views on the topic.