Are You Part of the 36%? Unlocking Self-Leadership Through EQ

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom…according to Socrates, Plato and

any other number of philosophers. But is it true?

According to Dr. Travis Bradberry – one of the authors of Emotional

Intelligence 2.0 only 36% of people can accurately describe their emotions at

any given moment. That means 64% of people can’t name what they’re

feeling or experiencing. So, a lot of people probably don’t know themselves

very well. In fact, when I ask people to list out all the emotions they can think

of they typically come up with only 5 or 6 out of a minimum of 27 distinct

categories. And then it gets even harder when I ask them to identify what

they’re feeling right then.

So why does this matter?

Because our self awareness is fundamental to our self leadership. And how

we lead ourselves is vital in both our personal and professional lives. The

better we lead ourselves the more opportunities we have (and the fewer self-

induced challenges we create). It boils down to knowing and doing. And

unlike IQ which is typically static we can change and grow our EQ-we can

leave the majority and become better leaders just by knowing.

It’s completely in our control. The question is will we? Will we work on it? Will

we choose to grow?

And here’s a https://www.6seconds.org/2025/04/23/the-six-seconds-eq-model/ to a free model to help describe what you might be feeling now.

Coach Scott McBride is a certified EQ Trainer with both Target Training International and Talents Smarts and gives exams and training to help individuals and teams grow their individual and collective EQ. Check out his website here.