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August 15, 2005
Sunday: Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman gave a nice “thought leader” session Sunday morning on emotional intelligence. I’ve been reading his stuff for some time now, so it didn’t sound like he was reporting on any new research, but it is still absolutely compelling.
I can’t do justice to summarizing his basic points, but here goes. Because of the way our brains are designed, emotional intelligence (our ability to be aware of and manage our emotions, as well as our relationships with others) is a critical factor in our success, both as leaders and followers in organizations. Yet our society (and our organizations) tend to value IQ much more, even when research shows that IQ is a lousy predictor of future success (4 to 10% effective in predicting career success, he said).
He had lots of reasons to explain this, but one stuck with me more than others, and it had to do with the basic notion of attention span. When we are emotionally distressed, our brains are occupied with that distress, thus we have less capacity to focus on the task at hand. People with high emotional intelligence can manage their emotions into a productive state of flow—not too little activity (which is boring) and not too much (which is distracting).
I thought his conclusions were compelling and backed by research, and judging by the reactions in the room (and the standing room only audience), people agreed. But will anyone apply it? The next time you hire someone, will you attempt to measure their self awareness, or will you look more at their technical expertise?
Posted by Jamie Notter at August 15, 2005 07:42 AM
Comments
I don't think it's a conscious thing, necessarily, but you're always measuring people's emotional draw, even if you think you're not.
I keep bumping into information about this. For example, a recent poll at Fast Company showed 90 percent of those surveyed would rather work with someone who's likeable and less skilled than someone who's more skilled and a jerk. Guess who gets the job when that 90 percent does the interviewing?
And research done by Columbia University has found that "charisma" is more likely to win jobs, raises, and promotions, than academic background or professional qualifications.
Ben's audioblogs over at http://caeexam.blogspot.com/ had some good tips from this session on upping your EQ--definitely worth checking out. Fascinating stuff!
Posted by: Sue Pelletier at August 15, 2005 02:53 PM
I thought one of the most interesting parts about this session was the concept of the "angel's advocate." That creativity is a fragile thing, and that when ideas are too quickly evaluated, creativity suffers. Causing creativity to flourish is a sure sign of someone with a high EI.
Posted by: Ben Martin at August 15, 2005 11:09 AM
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