The Essential Expertise

Social intelligence has become the new hot topic for the 21st century. In fact it is regarded as the essential expertise as competency in this area makes the most electable politicians, the most skilled negotiators and the most successful sales people. Psychologists are now beginning to make sense of how our social brains influence our relationships and how the social world is influencing not only our own brains, but our physiology. Repeated experiences sculpt the size, shape and number of neurons. The way in which we interact with others has unimagined significance on our lives.

It is the Social brain that navigates you through every encounter whether it be the classroom, bedroom, boardroom or playground. It informs
…..the negotiator when to make a final offer
…..the patient that she can trust a doctor
…..a team to buy a leader’s inspiring message
…..the board to appoint a certain candidate

Think about how many interactions you have had today? Would you rate these as successful? Yes, you may have achieved specific outcomes, conclusions or gained the information required, but can you report on the other persons thoughts and feelings? If you can it may reflect more than developed 'listening' skills. The ability to instantaneously sense and read others’ unspoken signals reflects a component of social intelligence, the ability to navigate complex situations by accurately interpreting others’ signals and effectively adjusting yours. It may seem simple enough, yet Daniel Goleman and others’ work are starting to show that it is a primal competence that can shape interactions and ultimately business outcomes.

The simplest way to illustrate social intelligence is to compare a conversation to a movie and social intelligence to its soundtrack. When the soundtrack works, it is so subtle that we may not even notice it, but when it does not work, it can become a huge annoyance and quite noticeable. Our communicative expressors play a crucial role in this intuitive competence.

Social Intelligence or Relationship Building Skills Programme outline

Purpose
To elevate your social intelligence competencies to build and maintain exceptional relationships in business.

Coaching Programme will give you…
• Self-awareness of communication style and impact on emotional climate
• Enhanced communication style
• Enhanced listening and coaching skills
• More positive emotional impact on climate and performance of team
• Access to your potential as a leader
• Enhanced personal leadership brand
• Confidence in unique skills and style and skills
• Ability to deal with conflict and stressful situations with grace and assertiveness
• Enhanced effectiveness and relationship building skills

You are ready for this if you…
• Have a role which requires relationship building as a key performance area
• Are not naturally comfortable in all social situations
• Would like to enhance social skills
• Have a role which requires coaching, guiding or mentoring
• Need to inspire and motivate teams

Outline
The programme content is needs-based and rests on identifying your growth areas and personal and organisational objectives through an initial assessment with a specialist. The course will be designed around your specific communication style and environmental needs. Aspects would include any or all of the below (based on Goleman’s Social Intelligence framework) including:
• Primary Empathy: Sensing and perceiving others feelings through verbal and non-verbal behaviour
• Empathetic Accuracy: Understanding others feelings, thoughts and intentions, interpreting appropriately
• Attunement: Learning to apply active listening, topic skills, and turn-taking and managing your own expression effectively.
• Social Cognition: Knowing how the social world works and adjusting appropriately within context.
• Synchrony: Interacting smoothly at a non-verbal level
• Self-presentation: Presenting ourselves in our context effectively
• Influence: Shaping the outcomes of social interactions
• Concern: Caring about others needs and acting accordingly
• Communication elements such as language and voice would be addressed during the programme as needs arise.

Tailor-made coaching to achieve best results
An individualised coaching approach is used to develop your personal interaction style in one-on-one sessions with specialists. We develop your style through both theoretical and practical experiential methods and role-plays or simulations, enabling your ability to apply in a safe, neutral environment.

Course Structure
1. An assessment is conducted with a communication specialist to determine needs and objectives of the development.
2. A personalised report is generated with developmental areas and programme recommendations.
3. An online Emotional Intelligence assessment may be conducted to further inform the programme.
4. One-on-one sessions with coaches and specialists will be conducted in 1-hour sessions over the time-frame required, to meet your objectives.
5. Final report generated to summarise development progress and further developmental areas.

Should there be groups or teams that are interested we do a combination of group and individual sessions to achieve optimum outcomes.

For more information on how we can enhance your skills in social intelligence, contact us.