Part IV: Using the Results

Understanding the Results

Step 4: Balancing EI Subscales

Once you have an overall sense of where your client’s subscale scores lie, you can begin to investigate subscales that may be out of balance with each other. Balance is important within the EQ profile because subscales that are higher can be tempered by other related subscales, and subscales that are lower can be bolstered by related subscales. Look for any subscales that are significantly higher or lower than others. A good rule of thumb to gauge whether a subscale is significantly different is to use the rule of 10. That is, 10 points between any two subscales indicates that the client is likely to exhibit one set of behaviors significantly more often than the other set. Two examples are shown below:

Example of Imbalance (at least 10 points difference)

1. Flexibility (126) and Impulse Control (90)
   • Eric receives very different scores for Flexibility and Impulse Control; 36 points difference to be exact. This difference would suggest that Eric might be highly adaptive but this coupled with a tendency to be impulsive (low Impulse Control score) might render him wishy-washy, scattered and non-committal. Eric would be in better balance if he was to strengthen his ability to control his impulses to act, thereby tempering his flexible nature.
2. Assertiveness (120) and Interpersonal Relationships (127)
   • Meg receives similar high scores on both the Assertiveness and Interpersonal Relationships subscales presenting a healthy balance between the way she expresses her thoughts and feelings and the emphasis she places on maintaining relationships. Although Meg will often be seen asserting herself and her thoughts, she is unlikely to do so at the expense of others due to the amount of compassion and consideration she has for her relationships. Meg should watch that these subscales remain in balance throughout her EI development efforts.

Pages 5–9 of the Coach’s section display your client’s results on balancing subscales2. Each subscale has three balancing subscales that are most critical to balance. Balancing subscales were chosen based on the relationship with the subscale of interest and whether the relationship is coachable and practical for clients to grasp.

In other words, a balancing subscale was not simply chosen because it had the highest correlation with the scale of interest, but it also had to make practical sense from a coaching perspective. For example, Assertiveness and Empathy are not strongly correlated, but this is a very logical and practical developmental area for someone who does not have balance between these subscales.

The three subscales chosen as balancers are shown in Table 8.5. Keep in mind that these are not the only relationships that are important for achieving balance within an EI profile. You may wish to explore any areas of balance or imbalance in your client’s report and the interconnectedness between all 15 subscales allows you to do just that.

Table 8.5. Balancing Your EI, the Relationships Between Scales

Self-Perception	Self-Expression	Interpersonal	Decision Making	Stress Management
Self-Regard Self-Actualization Problem Solving Reality Testing	Emotional Expression Interpersonal Relationships Assertiveness Empathy	Interpersonal Relationships Self-Actualization Problem Solving Independence	Problem Solving Flexibility Reality Testing Emotional Self-Awareness	Flexibility Problem Solving Independence Impulse Control
Emotional Self-Awareness Reality Testing Emotional Expression Stress Tolerance	Assertiveness Interpersonal Relationships Emotional Self-Awareness Empathy	Empathy Emotional Self-Awareness Reality Testing Emotional Expression	Reality Testing Emotional Self-Awareness Self-Regard Problem Solving	Stress Tolerance Problem Solving Flexibility Interpersonal Relationships
Self-Actualization Self-Regard Optimism Reality Testing	Independence Problem Solving Emotional Self-Awareness Interpersonal Relationships	Social Responsibility Self-Actualization Interpersonal Relationships Empathy	Impulse Control Flexibility Stress Tolerance Assertiveness	Optimism Self-Regard Interpersonal Relationships Reality Testing