Emotional Intelligence Feedback
You've completed the self-assessment exercise.
So now what?
Interpreting Your Profile
Self-Awareness
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as strongly self‑aware – or that you’ve exaggerated. Research shows that while around 95% of people believe they have good self‑awareness, only about 10–15% actually do. So this dimension is really worth thinking about: do you genuinely have a well‑developed sense of your emotions, their impact on others, and your strengths, shortcomings, and blind spots? If so, you’re better placed to adapt, stay focused, and lead with greater credibility and impact. Self‑awareness is considered the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. People who are genuinely emotionally intelligent often score themselves more cautiously, so it’s also possible you may have scored lower in this and the other emotional intelligence dimensions precisely because you are more self‑aware and self‑critical.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of self‑awareness, with clear potential to deepen it. Small shifts – such as more regular reflection on your mood and energy, or seeking feedback more actively – can have a noticeable impact on your effectiveness and decision‑making.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it is often a sign that you’re beginning to notice what you don’t yet see clearly. That awareness itself is positive, as it shows you’re starting to recognise where you may misread your own triggers, blind spots, or impact on others. It gives you a clear starting point to build from through reflection, feedback, and targeted learning.
Self-Management aka Self-Discipline
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as having strong self‑discipline and self‑control – you tend to follow through on what you know you should do, rather than being impulsive or procrastinating. This points to an ability to pause instead of reacting, balance speed with careful thinking, and “do the right thing even when no one’s watching.” You’re more likely to say “no” to low‑value work, hold your ground in negotiations, and protect your boundaries, rather than taking shortcuts or drifting into a “that’ll do, leave it to tomorrow” mentality. If this reflects reality, you’re better placed to manage your time, energy, and behaviour under pressure, and to apply yourself at your best, not your second‑best.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of self‑management, with clear potential to sharpen it. You may sometimes pause before reacting, but also have moments where you are more impulsive, or put off tasks you know you should tackle now. You might say “no” and set boundaries in some situations, yet find yourself over‑committing or giving in too soon in others. Small shifts – such as noticing early when you start to procrastinate, being more deliberate about your priorities, and protecting time for high‑impact work – can have a noticeable impact on your consistency and effectiveness.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it’s often a sign that you’re beginning to see where your self‑discipline is not where you’d like it to be. It may suggest you often react too quickly under pressure, become defensive, or let stress drive your tone and decisions. You might find it hard to pause, and slip into procrastinating or taking shortcuts, especially when you feel stretched. You may also find that your time gets consumed by reactive work, and that your mood and energy levels drive your behaviour more than you’d wish. That awareness itself is positive, as it shows you’re starting to recognise patterns that are getting in your way. It gives you a clear starting point to build from through reflection, better time and energy management, and more intentional practice around pausing, prioritising, and following through.
Social Awareness
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as strong at reading the room, picking up cues, and understanding how others might be feeling, both one‑to‑one and in teams. You’re likely to notice tone, body language, who is engaged or quiet, and whether people are genuinely bought in or just paying lip service. You probably adapt how you communicate to different personality types, listen beyond the surface, and ask checking questions like “How is this landing?” or “What’s your take on this?” Social awareness of this kind is key to collaboration, stakeholder management, building trust, and navigating politics. If this reflects reality, you’re well‑placed to spot sentiment early, respond with empathy rather than treating people issues purely as process problems, and build deeper relationships across channels – in meetings, calls, and written communication.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of social awareness, with clear room to deepen it. You may often notice how others are feeling, but sometimes miss subtler cues or mis‑read tone and timing – for example, pushing ahead with an idea without fully checking for rapport and buy‑in. At times you might rely more on logic and content than on the emotional layer of change, feedback, and conflict. Small shifts, such as intentionally scanning the room, noticing who hasn’t spoken, listening a bit longer before responding, and asking open questions (“What do you mean?”, “What prompts you to say that?”), can significantly strengthen your ability to understand different personalities, team dynamics, and what really drives people.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it often means you’re starting to notice where your social and emotional radar could be sharper. It may suggest that you sometimes show low empathy – not fully noticing what colleagues are feeling, or assuming everyone should cope the same way – or that you lean heavily on logic and treat people issues like process problems, overlooking the emotional layer. You might find it harder to read the room, to tell whether people are truly engaged or just being polite, or to pick up on early signs of strain in relationships or team sentiment. The fact you can see this is a positive step: it gives you a clear starting point to work on listening more deeply, paying closer attention to body language and engagement levels, and staying curious rather than assuming you already know how others see things.
Social Management aka Relationship Management
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as strong at managing relationships and getting things done with and through other people. You’re likely to communicate clearly, give feedback that generally lands well, and handle conflict in a way that protects trust rather than escalating it. You probably strike a better balance between being too strong and too weak – being assertive without coming across as bullying, and warm without being seen as a pushover. If this reflects reality, people are likely to feel respected, included, and motivated when working with you, and you’re better placed to build a network, create psychological safety, and sustain alignment around priorities.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of social and relationship management, with clear potential to sharpen it. You may often collaborate well and build rapport, yet sometimes avoid difficult conversations, delay giving feedback, or find it hard to rebuild trust after tension. At times you might lean a bit too logical or task‑focused and underplay the importance of small things—manners, tone, how you invite input—which shape whether people feel involved and valued. Small shifts such as being a little more intentional about how you give feedback, addressing issues sooner rather than later, and being clearer and more assertive about expectations and boundaries can significantly improve how effectively you influence and get things done with others.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it’s often a sign that you’re starting to see where relationship management is getting in your way. It may suggest you sometimes struggle to build or maintain rapport, avoid difficult conversations until they boil over, or let conflict escalate rather than working to resolve it. You might find it hard to set boundaries, which can leave you feeling like a pushover, or swing the other way and come across as too strong, which can make people wary or defensive. Recognising this is a positive step: it gives you a starting point to work on clearer, more respectful assertiveness, giving feedback that focuses on behaviour rather than the person, and taking small, consistent actions that build trust and psychological safety over time.
Motivations
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as strongly driven and committed. You’re likely to have a clear sense of what motivates you—whether that’s achievement, learning, recognition, autonomy, or purpose—and you bring consistent energy, focus, and ownership to your work. You probably push through setbacks, maintain standards when things are tough, and may even inspire others with your drive, optimism, and resilience. If your motivation is “off the charts”, it’s worth remembering that others may not share your level of urgency or obsession with work; being mindful of that helps you avoid becoming overly demanding or frustrated when people move at a different pace.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of motivation, with clear scope to sharpen it and align it better with your work. You may be engaged and focused much of the time, but not always consistently—some tasks or situations energise you, others feel more like “going through the motions”. This can reflect how well your motivations match your role, team, and current challenges. Small shifts—such as clarifying what really drives you, seeking work that plays more to those motivations, and deliberately resetting after setbacks—can have a noticeable impact on your performance, resilience, and day‑to‑day satisfaction.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it often means you’re starting to notice where your energy and inner drive are not where you’d like them to be. It may suggest you’re not bringing enough ownership or urgency to your work, or that your role, environment, or current circumstances are out of sync with what truly motivates you. This can slow the team down, limit your opportunities, and feed a narrative of “just getting through the week”. Seeing this clearly is a positive step: it gives you a starting point to reflect on alignment between your motivations and your job, the impact of factors outside work, and how you might rebuild resilience—bouncing back from setbacks, resetting your standards, and making more intentional choices about where and how you invest your energy.
EI for Leaders
A high overall score suggests you see yourself as leading with clarity, emotional awareness, and “edge”. You’re likely to read the room well, notice how your message is landing, and gauge how bought‑in people are to what’s required of them, the company, and you as a leader. You probably pay attention to your own mood and energy levels, staying calm rather than stressed or distracted, and bringing enough genuine energy and conviction to energise others—teams, customers, suppliers, and partners. If this reflects reality, you’re better placed to avoid micromanaging or blunt, clumsy feedback, and instead give clear direction, hold people to account, and still maintain trust and collaboration, even when you have to make tough calls that not everyone yet agrees with.
An average overall score indicates a reasonable level of leadership effectiveness, with clear room to deepen it. You may often communicate clearly and read the mood reasonably well, but sometimes miss how fully people are bought in, or how your tone, timing, or energy are shaping the team’s response. At times you may drift a little towards being too strong or too weak—over‑driving when under pressure or under‑leading when unsure—and not always pick up early on broader sentiment across your teams and stakeholders. Small shifts such as being more intentional about checking understanding and buy‑in, tuning in to how individuals differ, and noticing your own state before you speak or decide can significantly improve how you lead up, down, and across the organisation.
A lower overall score is not a failure; it often means you’re starting to see where your leadership approach isn’t landing as well as you’d like. It may suggest that you sometimes struggle to read the room, misjudge how messages are received, or slip into micromanaging, interrupting, blunt feedback, or seeming indifferent to morale when under pressure.
You might find it harder to balance strength and warmth—either over‑driving or holding back—and to sense and act on wider sentiment across teams and stakeholders, especially when people don’t report directly to you.
Recognising this is a positive step: it gives you a starting point to work on clarity of message, better emotional and social awareness, and the kind of self‑management and “edge” that allow you to make critical decisions, hold your line, and still bring people with you over time.
What would others say about you?
You'd most probably benefit from speaking with your boss, a colleague or trusted advisor - about how the feel about your strengths and weakness in the dimensions, and areas for improvement.
Developing Your EI
If you’re in a leadership role, please make sure you’ve read the feedback pointers above. Next, you’ll find a set of pointers for those in sales and consulting roles, where emotional intelligence is especially critical. After that, we’ve outlined a broader set of pointers for all other job types, which we’ve categorised as Operations.
Universal tips...
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What, if anything, stood out to you? When you reflect on your own emotional intelligence characteristics, what are the implications for you in your world of work?
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How did you score across the five dimensions? In any dimensions where you scored low or middling, consider picking two or three to focus on for improvement.
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For each selected dimension, read up on it and reflect – you can find additional feedback and insights below for each of the five dimensions.
EI for People in
Sales & Consulting Roles
Self‑awareness
Strong salespeople understand their own emotions, triggers, and impact on others. They notice when they’re anxious, over‑eager, or deflated – and how that changes their tone, pace and presence with clients. It's not uncommon to overthink or become too self‑critical, doubting your value and hesitating when you should lean in.
One trap can be being overly confident – there’s a need to be self‑aware of strengths and weaknesses in sales skills, industry and product knowledge. Curiosity fuels learning; being self‑aware means you’re better placed to address your gaps. This touches on the emotional intelligence dimensions of self‑awareness and motivation.
Self‑management (self‑discipline)
In many sales environments, sellers need to generate their own leads. Prospecting can be lengthy, detailed and uncomfortable – especially cold or warm calling (warm calling meaning the prospective customer has been sent an email, LinkedIn message, recommendation etc) – but effective self‑management means doing it anyway because you know it’s crucial.
Unless you're working purely on the basis of inbound leads, in the majority of situations there’s a need for lead generation that’s consistent, ongoing and prioritised. Strong salespeople stay calm under pressure, handle rejection well, and avoid impulsive reactions. They also keep conversations constructive, even in tense moments.
Know and do...
There’s a need to be action‑oriented: there’s awareness and the self‑discipline to get things done. By definition, those who perform best have acted on what they know they need to do (self‑management) and persuaded customers to do things (social management).
The best salespeople recognise their excitement when faced with a potential huge deal or series of potentially lucrative wins that may fuel exceptional performance. They also recognise that things may go wrong, that there may be surprises and changes in circumstances, and they act on the need to be constantly topping up pipeline. The strongest salespeople usually combine empathy with self‑regulation: they understand the buyer’s world and are able to manage their mood when faced with objections, rejection, or pressure.
Social awareness
A common theme in younger or more transactional salespeople is a reluctance or failure to appreciate the importance of small talk and building rapport, while more experienced people can sometimes drift into talking too much. Rapport‑building is key to establishing trust, building relationships and getting people to open up; the key is to tune into the prospective buyer’s mood, personality and pace.
Empathy and ego/drive
Research suggests that the best salespeople are rich in both empathy and ego/drive. Being able to empathise depends on building rapport and understanding people’s perspectives and how they feel. You can build empathy by regularly imagining life from other people’s perspectives, asking curious questions, and picturing yourself in their situation.
The best salespeople tune in particularly well to the buyer’s needs, concerns and motivations, rather than simply accepting what a buyer initially offers up or assuming they match their own. They pay close attention to what the buyer says and how they say it – specific word choices, the points they emphasise, the manner in which they speak and their body language. They go deep enough in building rapport to move beyond polite small talk, and they ask meaningful discovery questions even when they worry about “taking too much of the client’s time”.
If this social awareness is unbalanced, it can turn into over‑accommodating behaviour, jumping too quickly to conclusions about what matters, or struggling to hold boundaries when a prospect’s demands are unrealistic.
Social management
They build rapport, trust and long‑term relationships, and they balance warmth with commercial focus. They listen more than they talk, avoid filling silence for the sake of it, and focus on what actually matters to the client. They pay attention to the client’s buying cycle – how interest develops, twists and turns – rather than pushing only their own sales cycle. They are willing to ask tough or “awkward” questions, including clear closing questions, that move the opportunity forward. A watch‑out: relying too much on charm and talk, and not enough on substance, structure and courageous conversations.
Motivation
As stated previously, research suggests that the best sellers possess both empathy and ego/drive. Be careful not to misinterpret ego: there is a positive aspect of ego, in which the salesperson feels that what they are doing is important, has conviction and takes pride in what they do, seeing themselves as successful (i.e. confident). In contrast, the negative aspect of ego is something to be avoided; no‑one likes someone who is cocky and big‑headed.
Drive is associated with persistence and determination. The best salespeople are driven, persistent and resilient after setbacks. They keep following up thoughtfully, learn from lost deals, and maintain energy through the ups and downs of a sales or consulting cycle. A motivational trap is to become overly attached to “winning”, drift into pushiness, or hide signs of burnout and emotional fatigue instead of addressing them early.
It is critical for salespeople to understand their mood and confidence levels in order to remain motivated and level‑headed, and to continue to apply themselves well when times are challenging. This applies both at work when things are going against you and in your personal life when you are facing challenges with health, relationships or family issues. Research and sales training sources consistently link emotional intelligence with stronger selling behaviour, adaptive selling, trust and better sales outcomes.
Watch Outs For Everyone!
A reality check: Around 90% of people overestimate their self‑awareness. If you rated yourself highly here, odds are you might be mistaken — and since self‑awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence, this is the best place to start deepening your insight.
Set a reminder
Pop a 15‑minute review in your calendar for 6–8 weeks’ time to revisit your self‑assessment. After spending more time reflecting on emotional intelligence, you’ll be better equipped to spot your strengths, areas for improvement and marginal gain.
