The Privilege of Practicing Emotional Intelligence: Lessons from the MSCEIT²

Every month, I step into a circle of learning leading a certification in the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT², pronounced Mesquite). On paper, I am the facilitator, trainer, and guide. In practice, these sessions are an exchange: I give as much as I can, yet I always leave having received far more.

It is a privilege. Each cohort brings together people with different histories, cultural frameworks, and ways of making meaning in the world. They remind me that emotional intelligence (EI) is not just a personal skillset, it is a living, breathing dialogue across difference.