25 Ways to Develop Your Interpersonal Intelligence : Ask the eConsultant

25 Ways to Develop Your Interpersonal Intelligence

Notes from Seven Kinds of Smart by Thomas Armstrong

01. Buy a Rolodex, fill it with names of business contacts, friends, acquaintances, relatives and others, and stay in touch with them
02. Decide to meet one new person each day or week
03. Join a volunteer or service-oriented group (Rotary Club, Greenpeace, Red Cross)
04. Spend fifteen minutes each day practicing active listening with your spouse or a close friend
05. Throw a party and invite at least three people that you don’t know very well
06. Attend group psychotherapy or family therapy sessions on a regular basis
07. Take a leadership role in a group you’re currently involved with at work or in your community
08. Start your own support group
09. Enroll in a community college course or interpersonal communication skills
10. Collaborate with one or more persons on a project of mutual interest (quilt, article, garden etc)
11. Have a regular family meetings in your home
12. Communicate with other people on a computer via an electronic bulletin board
13. Organize a group brainstorming session at your work place
14. Go on a couples retreat
15. Learn the art of proper social behavior by reading a book on etiquette and discussin the material with in individual you consider socially adept
16. Strike up conversations with people in public places (bookstores, supermarkets, airline terminals etc)
17. Start regular correspondences with a network of individuals around the country or world
18. Attend family, school, or work-related reunions
19. Play noncompetitive / cooperative games with family and friends
20. Get to know members of a “we” culture (native American, Japanese, Hispanic etc) and adapt the best features of their interpersonal life-style to your own life
21. Join a group whose purpose is to help you new people (singles clubm hiking organization, study group etc.)
22. Offer to teach, tutor, or counsel other people through a volunteer organization or on an informal basis
23. Spend fifteen minutes a day for a week or two observing how people interact in a public place (street corner, train station, department store etc)
24. Meditate on your connection to those around you, starting with your immediate family and friends, extending this to your community
25. Study the lives of well-known socially competent individuals (e.g. philanthropists, counselors, politicians, social workers) through biographies, films, and other media, and learn to follow their example