Emotional Intelligence: More Important Than IQ At Work And Home

 Daniel Goleman, in his initial book Emotional Intelligence (Bantam, 1995) (click to go to Amazon.com description, reviews, other related books, and purchase), looked at actual neurological grounds in the brain for different kinds of problem solving, often referred to as “right-” vs. “left-” brain. He argues that a series of intrapsychic and interpersonal competencies, with involvement of the limbic and other areas of the brain, actually account for the expert behavior of the most successful managers more than intellectual IQ. He called this “emotional intelligence.”

Goleman got the concept of “emotional intelligence” from earlier theorists, Salovey and Mayer, who coined the term in 1990 and defined it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.”(quoted in “Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters” by Cary Cherniss, Ph.D., available at www.eiconsortium.org/research/what_is_emotional_intellgence.htm ).

The concept of “emotional intelligence” and competence in the workplace has been widely explored. As EQ, many have developed measures for various aspects of emotional intelligence and training programs for increasing these competencies.

Goleman’s latest book is Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. Here’s one review from Amazon:

”
I am a huge fan of Daniel Goleman. He’s the bestselling author who coined the term “Emotional Intelligence” with his 1995 book of the same name. Now he’s got a new book, “Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships.” Social intelligence is the ability to read other people’s cues and then act on them. Life is all about relationships, and there is a science to how we relate to each other. It’s fascinating to see how Goleman breaks down each aspect of communication. We can learn how to more effectively express ourselves so that we feel understood. And we can learn how to better “read” other people so that we can better understand. This helps to improve our interactions and ultimately strengthen our relationships. He talks about “synchrony” or interacting smoothly at the nonverbal level, which is an important, yet often overlooked, part of relating. Goleman also scientifically explains “the capacity for joy” and how that affects our social intelligence. He shows how our resilience plays an important role in our happiness, which comes into play as we express ourselves to others.” Lissa Coffey, www.coffeytalk.com  

I haven’t found a free, online test of EQ, although a variety of consulting businesses offer extensive testing and training program:
www.eiconsortium.org  (International consortium for theory and research with many articles to download but no free quiz)
www.danielgoleman.info  (the author’s site)
www.haygroup.com/tl/EI/Default.aspx  (Paid testing/consulting)
www.eqatwork.com  (training and certification testing with pre- and post-testing of skill learning)

Creative Edge Focusing (TM): Emotional and Social Intelligence

Forty Hours of Training for Human Literacy

We at Creative Edge Focusing ^TM believe that our core skills of Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, applied throughout levels from individual to interpersonal to organizational in The Creative Edge Pyramid (click to read descriptions of the seven applications), provide a most basic yet broadly applicable form of increasing “emotional intelligence,” or “human literacy,” across the board.

Remember the definition from above:

“a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.”(quoted in “Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters” by Cary Cherniss, Ph.D., available at www.eiconsortium.org/research/what_is_emotional_intellgence.htm. ) 

Intuitive Focusing is exactly about learning to “monitor and discriminate among feelings and emotions and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.” Focused Listening is exactly about understanding other people’s feelings and emotions. Interpersonal Focusing teaches exactly how to use Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening as “social intelligence” to sort through interpersonal and group conflict situations.

In approximately forty hours of training, CE Focusing Consultants teach everyone involved the PRISMS/S Problem Solving Process, with its two Core Skills, Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, and how to use PRISMS/S in the Creative Edge Pyramid of Applied Methods.

Students, parents, teachers, physicians, executives, managers, employees, or community members, in approximately 40 hours of training, can acquire the “emotional and social intelligence” skills to:

Create new ideas
Change problem behaviors
Listen to another

Resolve interpersonal conflicts
Start a support group
Build supportive community

Create innovative solutions
Create win/win decisions in groups
Motivate others for collaborative action

 In our Case Studies section, you will find specific examples of each of the seven applications of The Creative Edge Pyramid.

Exercise For This Week: Study Emotional and Social Intelligence and Compare To Listening/Focusing Skills

Consider the basic premise that Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, taught as self-help skills, are the actual basis of the various capacities that manifest as “emotional” and “social” intelligence.

Follow the links above and read articles about Goleman’s work and its application in business settings as EQ training. Order Goleman’s books through www.amazon.com  . Google EQ and “Emotional Intelligence” and “Social Intelligence” and Daniel Goleman.

Tell me what you think at cefocusing@gmail.com or comment on this blog ! Or email your findings to The Creative Edge Collaborators’ Group. Join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/creativeedgecollab 

 See blogs under Category: Conflict Resolution in the sidebar to find a complete mini-course on Interpersonal Focusing and Conflict Resolution, including Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication, Blanchard’s “One Minute Apology,” Patricia Evan’s books on Verbally Abuse and Controlling Relationships, McMahon’s Beyond The Myth Of Dominance, and much more.

Download complete Instant “Ahah!” Mini-Manual, in English and Spanish, from CEF Website

Find links to free articles, personality tests, multi-media Self-Help training, Classes and workshops

Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director

Creative Edge Focusing (TM)

www.cefocusing.com

The site of new insights and creative solutions is at the edge of what is already known. This edge, The Creative Edge, holds implicit within it all past and future knowing about the problem, more than could ever be put into words in a linear way