What's your EQ?

Ask yourself the following questions to determine your practice's emotional intelligence climate:

• Do people laugh at your practice? Laughter is a fundamental benchmark of a happy work environment. If employees spend too much time fighting, chances are your team could use some EQ coaching.

• Do people work long hours without time for reflection? Pauses in the action are important to improve your practice's climate.

• Do people know how to talk to each other, or is the practice a high-stress environment where finances are unpredictable, clients are short on money, animals are sick, and no one knows how to talk about it?

• Do team members seek you out, or do they avoid your gaze or duck into treatment rooms to escape attention? High-EQ bosses know how to breed a family environment where team members want to be together.