Emotional

Intelligence“Emotional Intelligence sets apart good leaders”

Michael Everett, PhD

What is Intelligence?

Typically focused on• analytic reasoning• verbal skills• spatial ability• attention• memory• judgment

Murky concept with definitions by many experts...

One Definition

Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought…

Concepts of intelligence are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena.

Neisser et al, 1996.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A weak predictor for• achievement• job performance success• overall success, wealth, & happiness

Accounts for 20-25% of employment success according to numbers of studies covering career statistics

More potent predictors of career success are

Ability to handle frustrations

Manage own emotions

Manage own social skills

Do you know any highly intelligent

people who aren’t socially adept?

How we historically viewed emotions?

• chaotic

• haphazard

• superfluous

• incompatible with reason

• disorganized

• largely visceral

• resulting from the lack of effective adjustment

How we now view emotions?

• Arouse, sustain, direct activity

• Part of the total economy of living organisms

• Not in opposition to intelligence

• Themselves a higher order of intelligence

Phineas Gage

Amygdala is deep within the most elemental parts of the brain.

Frontal lobe and parietal lobeare part of the “new brain”

The main purpose of the inner most part of the brain is survival.

Signaling function (“Fight or Flight”)

Promote unique, stereotypical patterns of physiological change

Provide strong impulse to take action

Basic Emotions--presumed to be hard wired and physiologically

distinctive Joy

Surprise

Sadness

Anger

Disgust

Fear

Evolutionary Advantage to Emotion

For example: Fight or flight response• can basic emotions overwhelm rational

thinking?

Neurobiology of Rationality

Antonio Damasio, in Descartes’ Error, asserts that concerted activity at all levels of the cortex assist rational decision making.

Emotion is emerging as an essential contributor to rational decision making

Work like his underlies the concepts of emotional intelligence

Is there a separation between rationale and emotional thoughts?

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well on ourselves and our relationships”

(Goleman, 1998)

History of EI

Howard Gardner’s “Frames of Mind” Verbal/linguistic Logical/mathematical Visual/spatial Musical Bodily/Kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal

Importance of EI

National US Department of Labor survey:

Corporations are increasingly listing emotional competencies as criteria for new hires

Graduate Management Admissions Council:

More companies seeking MBAs with emotional intelligence

Importance of EI

Center for Creative leadership study:

Rigidity, poor relationships and the inability to lead teams are the most common traits of executives who fail

Egon Zehnder study:

Managers who failed all had high levels of expertise and intelligence but many were arrogant and had a disdain for team work

Importance of EI

Longitudinal study of Harvard graduates found that test scores on entrance exam did not predict success

Hay McBer’s global study, including Pepsi, IBM, and Volvo found that 2/3 of the competencies deemed essential to success were emotional based

Goleman analysis of 181 jobs in 121 organizations found that emotional competencies were the best differentiators between excellent and average performers

Two Realms of EI

According to Goleman (1998) . . .

Personal Competence Intrapersonal intelligence

Social Competence Interpersonal intelligence

5 Components of EI

Self-Awareness

Self-Regulation

Self-Motivation

Social Awareness

Social Skills

Self-Awareness

Emotional Awareness Recognizing one’s emotions and their effects

Accurate self assessment Knowing one’s strengths and limits = strength

Self-efficacy Belief on one’s ability to accomplish tasks

Value of Self-Awareness

to recognize appropriate body cues and emotions

to label cues and emotions accurately

to stay open to unpleasant as well as pleasant emotions

Includes the capacity for experiencing and recognizing multiple and conflicting emotions

Self-Regulation

Self-Control The Marshmallow Study

Transparency Maintaining integrity; acting congruently with one’s values

Achievement orientation Striving to improve

Initiative Readiness to act on opportunities

Optimism Persistence in pursuing goals despite obstacles and

setbacks

Reality of Self-Regulation

EI is like a smoke alarm--we’re not good at influencing whether a particular emotion will arise. EI tells us something is arising.

We do have tremendous individual variability in the degree to which we can consciously limit the duration of unpleasant emotions and the degree of influence over the behaviors which may arise.

Lack of Self-Regulation

Impair reasoning (even smart people sometimes act stupidly)

May increase the likelihood that chronic emotional problems will result, (e.g., clinical depression or chronic anxiety or hostility)

Social Awareness

Empathy Sensing other’s feeling and perspectives, and

taking active interest in their concerns

Organizational Awareness Reading a group’s emotional currents and power

relationships

Service Orientation Anticipating, recognizing, and meeting

customers'’ or clients’ needs

Social Skills Developing Others

Sensing other’s development needs and bolstering their abilities

Inspirational Leadership Inspiring and guiding individuals and groups

Change Catalyst Initiating or managing change

Influence Having impact on others and wielding effective tactics of

persuasion

Conflict Management Negotiating and resolving disagreements

Teamwork and Collaboration Creating group synergy in pursuing collective goals

The art of social relationships--managing emotions in others

To excel at people skills means having and using the competencies to be an effective friend, negotiator, leader and follower.

One should be able to guide an interaction, inspire others, make others comfortable in social situations, and influence and persuade others.

The subtle and complex abilities which under lie people skills

Being attuned to others’ emotions

Promoting comfort in others through the proper use of display rules

Using own emotional display to establish a sense of rapport

Empathy can be faked; so can other emotions

Beware of being to nice

Have you ever met a nice person, but the “bells have gone off?”

Charisma draws in but not always to desired ends, e.g., Hitler, Jim Jones.

“The dark side of charismatic leaders”

Developing Emotional Intelligence

We develop external strategies first

Then we develop social strategies

Girls do better at developing strategies overall

As a person matures, emotions begin to shape and improve thinking by directing a person’s attention to important changes

Developing Emotional Intelligence

A genetic contribution is likely

They are not destiny (timidity)

Early expression of emotion by parents helps learning

Early abuse hinders learning

Poor ability to read others’ emotion may lead to the development of poor social skills.

“Lie to Me” based on the work of Dr. Paul Ekman

Gender Differences

Males

More willing to compromise social connectedness for independence

Not as good as women at this

Less adept than women overall

More physiologically overwhelmed by marital conflict

Females

Greater need for connectedness

Have a wider range of emotions

Better at reading emotions

Better at developing social strategies overall

Emotion related dysfunction

All or nothing thinking

Overgeneralization

Excessive worrying

Disqualifying the positive

Jump to negative conclusions

Labeling & mislabeling

Personalization

Critical; contempt

Impacts on physical health

cardiovascular disease progression of diabetes progression of cancer onset of hypertension

Importance of EI in Organizations

The higher up the organization the higher EI is required

Army Values• Leadership• Duty• Respect• Selfless service• Honor• Integrity• Personal courage

Importance of EI in Organizations

50% of work satisfaction is determined by the relationship a worker has with… his/her boss.

EI is a prerequisite for effective leadership across borders.• Requires a high level of self-mastery and

people skills; ability to put yourself into the positions of others.

Developing Emotional Intelligence

“Gut feeling” can be used to effectively guide decisions--a neurological understanding of how unconscious and conscious gut feelings guide decisions, e.g., when prioritizing, emotions help move the decisions.

Harness emotions to promote or hinder motivation. (Anxiety, hostility, sadness)

Empathy is the ability to recognize another’s emotional state, which is very similar to what you are experiencing.

Developing Emotional Intelligence

Take time for mindfulness

Recognize and name emotions

ID the causes of feelings

Differentiate having the emotion and doing something about it

Learn optimism to challenge distortion

Learn distraction techniques

Listen to voice of experience

Develop Listening skills

The Future of EI

It will be increasingly important • More need for team-based collaboration across

organizations, geography, and cultures

• Will used more frequently in the selection, assessment, training and development of employees

• Continued development of theories and measurement tools