Skill, not theory
Forty-five core scenarios. You don't just learn what Self-Regard is. You practice holding it while a peer publicly questions your judgment.
The EQ Gym · Foundation program
You've read about emotional intelligence. Now practice it.
A voice-first, scenario-based program that trains thirteen emotional intelligence skills through realistic workplace role-plays with the AI tutor. Built on Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, mapped to the EQ-i 2.0 model, and calibrated against Anna Barnhill's MCC coaching methodology.
Free trial: one skill across three scenarios. No card required.
The problem
Thirty years of EQ research. Almost no way to practice it.
Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence came out in 1995. Since then the research has been consistent: emotional intelligence predicts leadership success better than nearly any other measurable factor. Books have been written. Frameworks have been developed. Assessments have been built. Workshops have been delivered.
And yet, when a peer challenges your credibility in the meeting, or a direct report's mood quietly shifts, or a hard conversation needs to happen on Tuesday morning, you still feel the gap between knowing what EQ is and actually doing it. Reading about emotional regulation and practicing emotional regulation are different skills. Most training never crosses that line.
13
emotional intelligence skills, each mapped to an EQ-i 2.0 subscale and trained through three to five scenarios.
45
core scenarios: a short teaching, a worked example and an independent application for every skill, plus three program-level capstones. Thirty-one more practice scenarios on demand.
The promise
The EQ Gym closes that gap.
A mastery-based program that trains thirteen of the fifteen EQ-i 2.0 subscales through realistic, voice-first role-plays. You speak. The AI tutor speaks back. You face an opinionated peer, a skeptical board member, a quietly struggling teammate, and you respond with the actual skill, not the textbook version.
Grounded in research, calibrated by a coach
Anchored in Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee. References EQ-i 2.0 constructs by name when the construct adds precision. Every question, challenge and scoring rubric is calibrated against Anna Barnhill's MCC coaching methodology.
Voice-first, conversational
Speak naturally and the tutor speaks back in seconds. A text mode is one tap away for a quiet office. It feels like coaching, not like reading a course.
How it works
Every skill runs the same loop: learn it, watch it, run it.
Learn the skill, briefly
Each skill opens with a two- to four-minute introduction. The tutor explains the concept in plain language, references the underlying research, and asks you to ground it in a recent moment of your own. No lecture. Conversational.
Watch the skill in action
One of the program's twelve characters narrates a real workplace moment where they used the skill: what they noticed, what they did, what landed. You observe and identify the moves.
Run the skill yourself
You enter a realistic workplace scene under pressure. The AI tutor plays the other party authentically. You respond. Then an honest debrief: what you did well, where to sharpen, the rep to run this week.
At the end of the program you receive a three-tier report card across all thirteen skills: Mastered, Solid, Developing. You can return to any skill you want to strengthen.
The curriculum
Three courses. Thirteen skills you will actually use.
Each skill maps to an EQ-i 2.0 subscale and is trained through three to five scenarios. The free trial opens the first skill of the first course.
Know & Express Yourself
Self-Perception and Self-Expression
- Self-Regard. Holding your worth under public challenge.
- Self-Actualization. Pursuing what is personally meaningful, not only what is expected.
- Emotional Self-Awareness. Naming what you feel with granularity, in real time.
- Emotional Expression. Saying what you feel in ways others can hear.
- Assertiveness. Holding your position without aggression and without collapse.
Relate & Decide
Interpersonal and Decision Making
- Interpersonal Relationships. Building and maintaining durable workplace trust.
- Empathy. Selecting the right empathy mode for the moment: cognitive, affective or sympathetic.
- Problem Solving. Using emotional information as input, not as decider.
- Reality Testing. Checking your read of the situation against disconfirming evidence.
- Impulse Control. The three-second pause, treated as a physical move.
Stay Steady & Read the Room
Stress Management, and reading the room
- Flexibility. Adapting when conditions, not pressure, change.
- Stress Tolerance. Recovery speed, not stress absence.
- Optimism. Honest about loss, credible about what is still possible.
- Reading the room. Holding steady under pressure while tracking what the room needs.
What's inside
Everything you need to turn EQ into a reflex.
- All thirteen skills across three courses
- Forty-five core scenarios: teaching, worked example and independent application for each skill, plus three program-level capstones
- Thirty-one additional practice scenarios, available on demand
- Structured feedback after every capstone
- A personalized takeaway PDF generated from your actual sessions
- AI Coach Anna time included, so the skills go to work on your real life the moment you finish
Try it before you unlock it
The free trial walks you through one skill across three scenarios: a short teaching, a worked example, then a graded role-play with the AI tutor that adapts to you and scores what you actually do. Then unlock the full program to keep going.
No card required for the trial.
What it's actually like
You sit down. You start.
The program asks how you'd like to be addressed and what difficulty fits where you are. The tutor explains the first skill in plain language and asks you to think about a recent moment in your own life that touched on it. You answer out loud. It pushes you for specificity.
Two minutes later you're watching a character named Marcus narrate a moment from his week: the body cue he noticed, the granular emotion underneath, the cause he traced it to.
Then you're in a meeting. Alex, a senior peer, has interrupted your presentation. You feel your chest tighten. You take a breath. You answer. Alex pushes back, holds the skepticism, watches you. You hold your ground without over-claiming. Alex softens. The scene lands.
The debrief: that was Self-Regard in action. The thing you did well. The thing to sharpen. The one rep to run this week. You move on to the next skill.
Scenario: Self-Regard
Alex, senior peer
"I've been doing this for fifteen years. I don't see how what you're describing lines up with what actually happens in production."
You
Your move. Out loud, under pressure, scored on what you actually do.
AI tutor debrief
You held your position without over-claiming and named the disagreement instead of absorbing it. That is Self-Regard. Next rep: the pause before your first sentence.
Built on Anna Barnhill's methodology.
Anna Barnhill is an ICF Master Certified Coach and Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach, a Professional Fellow with the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School, with a graduate background from MIT. The EQ Gym's tutor was calibrated against the coaching frameworks she has spent her career refining, anchored in the work of Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the program take?
Four to six hours of focused work, depending on pace. Most people complete it across two or three sittings.
Do I need any prior leadership experience?
No. The EQ Gym is the Institute's foundation program. Some learners are emerging managers, some are individual contributors curious about EQ. The difficulty calibrates to your starting level.
Do I need to talk out loud, or can I type?
Either. The default is voice: you speak, the tutor speaks back. A text-input mode is one tap away if you're in a quiet office or prefer typing.
What does the free trial include?
The first skill of the first course, across three scenarios: a short teaching, a worked example, and a graded role-play with the AI tutor. No card is required. When you're ready, unlock the full program and keep going from where you left off.
What happens after I finish?
You get a three-tier report card on all thirteen skills (Mastered, Solid, Developing), you can return to any skill for focused practice, and AI Coach Anna time is included to apply what you learned to your real life.
Is this part of the Leadership Ladder?
No. The EQ Gym is standalone. The Leadership Ladder is the Institute's seven-program progression from new leader to executive, offered separately and included in the subscription. Many learners finish the EQ Gym and move into the Ladder.
Whose voice am I hearing?
The tutor speaks with a premium professional coaching voice: calm, paced, present. What makes the experience distinct isn't the audio. It's the methodology underneath. Every question, every challenge and every scoring rubric was calibrated against Anna Barnhill's MCC coaching frameworks.
The first scenario is two clicks away.
Thirteen skills. Forty-five scenarios. One free skill to start, no card required.