7 Examples of Good Versus Great EQ at Work

Success at work isn’t just about degrees, skills, or experience—it’s about understanding how to work with others, manage your emotions and handle challenging situations with grace. Emotional intelligence (EQ) has become a foundational skill in the workplace, influencing everything from teamwork to leadership to stress management.

According to Truity’s research, EQ has five core facets:

• Self-Awareness: Understanding your own emotions and triggers. 
• Other Awareness: Recognizing the feelings and needs of others. 
• Empathy: Connecting with and sharing the emotional experiences of others. 
• Emotional Control: Managing and regulating your emotional responses appropriately. 
• Emotional Wellness: Maintaining positive emotional health, even in tough situations.

Leaning into these five facets can transform you from someone exhibiting “good” emotional intelligence to someone with “great” EQ. Below, we’ve outlined 7 common workplace behaviors and provided examples of how to elevate your reactions—categorized into low EQ, medium EQ, and high EQ responses.

1. Handling Constructive Feedback 

Scenario: Your manager gives you feedback about a recent presentation that missed the mark. Your boss emphasizes the need for more thorough research and a deeper understanding of your audience in the future.

• Low EQ Response: Getting defensive or shutting down, making excuses or blaming external factors for the presentation’s shortcomings. This shows poor Emotional Control and a lack of Self-awareness.
• Medium EQ Response: Accepting the feedback, but grudgingly. You feel resentful or embarrassed by the criticism and the hit to your self-esteem makes it difficult for you to move on. This shows some Self-awareness, but poor Emotional Wellness.
• High EQ Response: Thanking your boss for their honest feedback and asking for specific areas to improve on in the future. You may also take this as an opportunity to ask for additional resources or support to enhance your presentation skills. Now you're showing excellence across all five facets of EQ.

2. Dealing with a Tough Co-worker 

Scenario: A colleague, who also happens to be your closest friend at work, is busy bragging but not pulling their weight on a project. You’ve tried talking to them about it but they haven’t made any changes.

• Low EQ Response: Confronting your friend in front of the rest of the team or criticizing them harshly. This shows poor Other Awareness and Empathy.
• Medium EQ Response: Avoiding the issue and hoping it resolves itself. You also may become resentful of your friend and start treating them differently outside of work. This shows a lack of Emotional Control and Other Awareness.
• High EQ Response: Having an open and honest conversation with your friend in private, expressing your concerns about their performance and how it affects the team's success. You also take into consideration their perspective and offer support or assistance to help them improve.

3. Taking on Extra Work

Scenario: Your boss asks you to take on additional tasks, even though you’re already stretched thin with your current workload.

• Low EQ Response: Complaining or saying no without offering any solutions, then talking about your jerk of a boss behind their back.  This shows poor Emotional Control and Other Awareness.
• Medium EQ Response: Agreeing to take on the extra work, but feeling resentful and overwhelmed. You may also start making mistakes or missing deadlines due to the added pressure. This shows a lack of Self-awareness and Emotional Wellness.
• High EQ Response: "Thank you for thinking of me to handle these tasks, I appreciate the opportunity. Unfortunately, I'm swamped with X, Y and Z projects right now. Could this one wait until next week or do you have someone else in mind who could help out?" You're showing all five facets of EQ by managing your emotions, understanding your limitations, and offering solutions.

4. Dealing with a Difficult Customer

Scenario: A customer is unhappy with their purchase or your team's service and is taking out their frustration on you, despite it being out of your control.

• Low EQ Response: Getting defensive or lashing out at the customer, even though you know it won't resolve the issue. This shows poor Emotional Control and a lack of Empathy.
• Medium EQ Response: Trying to appease the customer's anger, even if it means bending rules or policies. You resolve the immediate problem, but you open the door for future issues and may feel resentful towards the customer.
• High EQ Response: Remaining calm while listening to the customer's concerns and acknowledging their frustration. You then provide solutions or offer to escalate the issue to someone who can help them more effectively. This is Emotional Control, Other Awareness and Empathy in action—managing your responses, empathizing with the client and being the type of person who inspires positive customer relationships.

5. Navigating a High-Pressure Situation

Scenario: Your team is working against tight deadlines and under extreme pressure, causing tension and conflict among members.

• Low EQ Response: Blaming others, panicking or shutting down under the pressure. All areas of EQ play into this type of response, but it is more likely in those who go into a high-pressure situation with low levels of Wellness.
• Medium EQ Response: Getting through the crunch successfully, but doing so by trying to control everything and micromanage your team to ensure the project's success. When the project is over, you still have to work with your coworkers, and they are likely to resent your high control tendencies.
• High EQ Response: Keeping calm under stress, keeping lines of communication open, and being the unflappable person that others look to for guidance. You're firing on all EQ cylinders here and your coworkers are fortunate to have you in the trenches with them.

6. Mentoring a Junior Employee

Scenario: You've been assigned to mentor a junior employee and help them settle into their role. They haven't yet learned the skills needed for a particular task and keep asking you for help, often asking the same questions repeatedly.

• Low EQ Response: Becoming frustrated and impatient with the junior employee, expressing annoyance or even avoiding them altogether. You say things like "I don't have time for this" or "Why can't you figure this out on your own?" This shows poor Empathy and Other Awareness.
• Medium EQ Response: Providing the answers and solutions, but not taking the time to explain the reasoning behind them. You may also become frustrated if the junior employee doesn’t catch on quickly, leading to a lack of patience and understanding.
• High EQ Response: Taking the time to fully explain and demonstrate how to complete the task, while also encouraging the junior employee's progress and offering support when needed. You understand that everyone learns at their own pace and strive to create a positive learning environment, and you also know when to back away and let them figure things out on their own.  

7. Attending a Networking Event

Scenario: You have been invited to a networking event with potential clients or business partners. Networking makes you anxious, however, and you tend to avoid these types of events.

• Low EQ Response: Declining the invitation or attending but not engaging with anyone, leading to missed networking opportunities.
• Medium EQ Response: Attending the event and trying to make connections, but feeling nervous and uncomfortable throughout. You may come across as insincere or uninterested due to your anxiety.
• High EQ Response: Preparing yourself mentally beforehand by acknowledging your anxiety and managing it through deep breaths or positive self-talk. You do your homework beforehand, preparing a list of people you want to speak to and some potential conversation topics. During the event, you actively listen and engage with others, showing genuine interest and making them feel at ease. You do this because you understand that they are as anxious as you are!

Final Words

Developing and nurturing your Emotional Intelligence is an ongoing process, and it takes time and effort to strengthen all five facets. The good news is, anyone can get better with practice. Start by taking our Emotional Intelligence test to see which areas you excel or need improvement in. From there, you can work on incorporating practices like self-reflection, empathy exercises, and practicing emotional control into your daily routine. Your career and relationships will thank you for it.