Finding the right assessment tool is crucial when working with clients. I want a tool that aligns with their needs and desires while also enhancing my coaching skills. The client wants transformative insights and a clear way forward in their development.
For these reasons, and a few other surprising ones, one of my favorite assessment tools to work with is TriMetrix® EQ. This assessment combines DISC, the 12 Driving Forces, and EQ to measure behavior, motivation, and emotional intelligence.
Here are three benefits to using this assessment tool that might surprise you.
More About TriMetrix EQ
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) continues to be one of the most highly desired job skills. The World Economic Forum predicted this in 2020, projecting that EQ would be one of the top skills needed in the workplace in 2025.
When I start coaching a leader, I always address EQ early on. Many leaders think they have better-than-average emotional intelligence. My goal is to demonstrate that developing greater EQ benefits them and everyone around them, regardless of their current level of emotional intelligence.
Why is that? Let me share with you a few surprising benefits of raising emotional intelligence and how the TriMetrix EQ report can help in this process.
1. Emotional Intelligence Reveals Our Blindspots
First, no matter what your current EQ is, you probably have gaps you don’t know about. These blindspots are part of being human. A trained coach working with the TriMetrix EQ report can help a leader look deeper than most are able to see.
I’m thinking of two places where that becomes obvious in TriMetrix EQ. Other people’s perceptions of us are something we don’t often have ready access to. When we’re under moderate pressure or extreme stress, we aren’t quite ourselves. This often comes out in our behavior, and the TriMetrix EQ report points this out in the DISC section (“Perceptions”).
Another blindspot for many people is in their own driving forces; just naming them is a revelation for a lot of leaders I work with. TriMetrix EQ provides a huge opportunity for increasing awareness by looking at how our own motivators or driving forces compare to the rest of the general population. It’s titled “Areas for Awareness” in the assessment, giving us a sense of how strong our own driving forces are.
2. Increasing Awareness and Regulation, Together
A second surprising benefit of the TriMetrix EQ assessment comes from the two main EQ categories—awareness and regulation. There is sound science behind looking at these two domains—in 1954, Dr. Julian Rotter pioneered the “locus of control” idea: some people are more internally guided while others are more externally driven.
Steven Covey popularized the idea in his 1989 bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, when he talked about things you can control, what you can influence, and things you are merely concerned about or aware of. Covey said, “Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about … reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern.”
You need awareness in order to gain control or to effectively manage yourself and others in difficult situations. I find that emphasizing this difference between awareness and control has wide-ranging applications far beyond the TriMetrix EQ report.
One leader I coached had trouble initially even grasping what I meant by self-awareness. He was a bright guy, and I knew that just telling him the definition of self-awareness wasn’t going to help much. Through several coaching conversations, I was able to point out moments of self-awareness to him. We also explored times when he had not been aware of what kind of drama he was unintentionally creating within his team. It was a big insight for him that led to some behavioral changes, all guided by TriMetrix EQ.
3. A Stronger Consideration of Motivation
A third surprising insight from the TriMetrix EQ report is its distinction about motivation. The strength of a person’s intrinsic motivation is shown in the EQ portion of the report. In contrast, the external drivers or extrinsic motivation is shown in the 12 Driving Forces portion of the TriMetrix EQ.
Motivation is a rich field—most people don’t have a strong understanding of what it really is. By distinguishing the things that give us external motivation—our Driving Forces—from the things that we find intrinsically rewarding or fulfilling, we can be clearer about what motivates us and what we want to pursue.
In the EQ part of TriMetrix EQ, we have one category for intrinsic motivation. We also have one page of the report that gives more than 10 suggestions for developing our internal motivation. I see lots of additional opportunities here to coach people on their intrinsic motivation and explore the specifics with them over time.
Coaching a leader to make these motivational distinctions in the context of their organization gives them an enhanced ability to show empathy and create greater engagement. That skill is a muscle you can grow with practice and it multiplies a person’s leadership effectiveness.
Emotional intelligence is a powerful blend of skills. Working with the TriMetrix EQ report helps people gain personal effectiveness and drive better results in their organization and community.
If you’re attending Forty Forward, make sure to join my panel on TriMetrix EQ for more insight and connection. Let’s spark transformative experiences together!
