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Syllabus for Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence

(Readings are coded: P = practitioner oriented and A = academic oriented)

WEEK 1: CLASS 1: Resonant Leadership and the Neuroscience Behind It

Module 1.1: What Is Great Leadership?

READINGS (see Recommended and Supplemental Readings list for additional reading, not
required but highly informative about these subjects)

Required:
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2001). “Primal leadership: The hidden driver of
leadership. Harvard Business Review, December. Go to the ‘Required Readings’ course tab to
download the article for free. To get free access, you have to register with HBR, but that is free.

YOUTUBE VIDEO
Annie McKee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNKJD5cuig4

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: Have many leaders brought out the best in you or not? What did they
typically say or do? How did they make you and others feel?
Personal Learning Assignment (in video exercise; for details of the assignment see the
Personal Learning Assignment tab): Think of a leader you have worked with, or for, who
brought out the best in you – and a leader with whom you worked that you try to avoid. When
you remember the last few times you were around them, what did they typically say or do, and
how did this make you feel?

Module 1.2: Resonant Leaders Create Experiences with the People Around Them of Hope,
Compassion, Mindfulness, and Playfulness

READINGS Required:
P: Smith, M., Boyatzis, R.E. & Van Oosten, E. (2012). Coach with Compassion. Leadership
Excellence, 29:3, 10. Go to the ‘Required Readings’ course tab to download the article for free.
P: Boyatzis, R.E. & Yeganeh, B. (2012). Mindfulness. Leadership Excellence, 29:3, 4. Go to the
‘Required Readings’ course tab to download the article for free.

Additional Note: When we use the term compassion, we go beyond the typical Western
interpretation to one coming from Confucian philosophy. Compassion is the experience of
benevolence, of being open to others. It is caring for others who might be in pain (more hedonic)
or those in joy (more eudemonic) or those in search of growth (eudemonic). For more detail and
explanation of this, see the Boyatzis, Smith and Beveridge (in press) article listed in the
Recommended readings for Module 5.2.

ASSIGNMENTS
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Discussion Forum: How did the leaders who brought out the best in you make you feel about
what you were doing and why you were doing it?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): (1) Remember
being around a leader who brought out the best in you, how did you feel about what you were
doing and why you were doing it? (2) The litmus test of being an effective leader: When people
leave your office, do they feel inspired, lifted, excited? (3) Homework: Over the next two weeks,
in every meeting/group in which you are present, take a few notes about the leader’s behavior.
Then compare those in which you felt excited or inspired to those in which you felt deflated or
bored.

Module 1.3: The Neuroscience of Leadership

READINGS Required:
Boyatzis, Rochford and Jack: Antagonistic neural networks underlying differentiated
leadership roles

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00114/full

 
ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: How did the leaders who brought out the best in you make you feel about
what you were doing and why you were doing it? What about your observations of others?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): Observe leaders in
meetings, classes, and other settings over the next week or two. Are they inspirational? Did they
inspire hope, compassion, mindfulness or playfulness? If they did, how did they do it?
Week 1 Quiz

WEEK 2: CLASS 2: Renewal As an Antidote to Chronic Stress

Module 2.1: Emotions Are Contagious

READINGS Required:
P: Boyatzis, R.E. & Smith, M. (2012). Positive renewal. Leadership Excellence, 29:3, 6. Go to
the ‘Required Readings’ course tab to download the article for free.

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: When have you experienced emotional contagion that was positive? When
have you experienced emotional contagion that was negative? Do you think social media can
spread emotional contagion even though people are not seeing each other?

Module 2.2: Stress and Renewal

READINGS Required: none

YOUTUBE VIDEO
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Robert Sapolsky on stress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPS7GnromGo

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: What are the triggers that spark annoying stress for you? What happened
yesterday or today that did?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): Stress and renewal
reflection exercise. Think of someone who aggravates or frustrates you and reflect on a few of
those moments. What feelings or sensations were you having? Remember moments with one of
your children or a niece or nephew when they were 305 years old, or if you don’t have children,
a moment with a puppy playing in the grass or a kitten rolling around. What feelings and
sensations were you having? Compare and contrast these two experiences

Module 2.3: Strategies for Renewal and Building Resonant Relationships

READINGS Required: none

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What kinds of activities or experiences are renewing for you? Remember,
rest is needed, but not always renewing.
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): Make a chart for
each day of last week. On lines showing hour by hour, list moments in which you experienced
annoying stress. List moments of renewal (i.e., moments of mindfulness, hope, compassion or
playfulness) and what you did that was renewing (personal notes or journal reflection only, i.e.,
on how leaders who brought out the best in you made you feel.
Week 2 Quiz

WEEK 3: CLASS 3: Emotional Intelligence and Its Link to Leadership

Module 3.1: EI, SI, and CI Competencies

READINGS Required: none

YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Dan Goleman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsdqBC1tHTA  

Narayan Murthy interview (in particular, watch minutes 14:30-22:35):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zJNc5KvWg0

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: Which emotional and social competencies did Narayan Murthy exhibit in his
interview? How do these compare with what you see demonstrated at work or school the most
often? Which are common and which do you seldom see?

Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal
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Learning Assignment tab): The objective of this exercise and assignment is to give you practice
observing competencies as they appear in real life. Our objective in this coding assignment is to
help you wrestle with the ideas and refine your understanding of them. For this assignment, we
will have to read critical incidents for Person A and Person B, which are transcripts from
audiotaped interviews about specific events at work or school. In these, you will see how
competencies are coded by experts (i.e., professionals with training and have achieved high inter-
rater reliability). Then you will practice identifying which competencies are being shown in the
transcripts of critical incidents from person C and Person D. Following this, you will code two
transcripts for person E and Person F and submit this coding for a grade. The competencies you
will be coding may include:
Emotional Self-Awareness Achievement Orientation Adaptability
Emotional Self-Control Positive Outlook Empathy
Organizational Awareness Conflict Management Coach and Mentor
Influence Inspirational Leadership Teamwork
Systems Thinking Pattern Recognition

Coding of behavioral characteristics, like competencies, is a careful process. I explored

this in detail in my methods text (Transforming Qualitative Information, Sage, 1998) based on
how I learned it from David McClelland and David Kolb when I was at Harvard and taught my
doctoral students at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland) and at ESADE (Barcelona).
When coding competencies, we seek to establish whether or not the actions reflected in that
competency were present AND the intent was there as well. Without actions, we are coding
ourselves and projecting onto the person. For example, if you claim he shows Organizational
Awareness and Teamwork and yet, nowhere in this segment does he describe behavior indicative
of those competencies, then we should not code him for these two competencies in this segment.
In some moments, he comes close, but we have to infer that more was said and done to be able to
say he was showing it with confidence. To immunize Type I errors, errors of false positives and
commission, we do not code a person for a competency unless we see the behavior. We do not
code the person merely saying the words or even expressing the value. Some of the most tedious
and abusive leaders say they are "people oriented" but all we see is how they abuse people.
We were not coding or even addressing traits, which I mentioned in the video. Traits like
humility and respect for others are things I believe people may show them but they are not
competencies. Why some of you might ask? Respect, for example, does not distinguish effective
leaders. Dissonant leaders who burn people out and make organizations toxic, may garner
respect from others. But they are still ineffective, or less effective, in sustaining performance.

Module 3.2: EI and SI in Various Fields of Work and They Can Be Developed
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READINGS Required:
A: Summaries of Dissertation Research: Badri Bajaj (the dissertation summary is found at the
end of the PDF). Go to the ‘Required Readings’ course tab to download the articles for free.

Pittenger: Emotional and social competencies and perceptions of the interpersonal

environment of an organization as related to the engagement of IT professionals

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00623/full

Quinn: The affect of vision and compassion upon role factors in physician leadership

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00442/full

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What are the competencies that you have been able to use well, that are your
strengths?
Action Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Action Learning
Assignment tab): Interview 10-20 people in your life and work or school. Ask each one, “Tell
me about a time in which I was at my best.” Let them tell you the story of that moment. Write
notes about what they said. After you have collected 10-20, read them and look for patterns.
Which of the emotional and social intelligence competencies appear in many of them so that you
would consider them a strength? You will use the results of this action learning assignment for
determining your Real Self as others experience you assigned in module 9.1 as well.

The purpose of this exercise is for you to collect observations from others about your
strengths. By hearing the stories, or reading them if collected over email or Facebook, you are to
look for themes or patterns. If half or more of the people mention a story in which you used
humor, you can list “humor” as one of your strengths. There is no exact number needed for a
pattern or theme to emerge. Sometimes a skill or characteristics will appear from others in a
certain group, like family, that does not appear with others, like work colleagues. In such cases,
the skill or characteristic can be considered a strength even though you have used it primarily
with one type of person regardless of the number of people from whom you hear it. Although
interviewing people face to face is emotionally better for the exercises and learning (it uses
positive emotional contagion), you can do this over Skype, email or even Facebook. This
assignment is not due until week 8.

Week 3 Quiz

WEEK 4: CLASS 4: Inspiring and Motivating Sustained Development, Growth and

Learning
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Module 4.1: Key People and Relationships Who Inspired You and Intentional Change Theory

READINGS Required:
A: Boyatzis, R.E., Smith, M. & Beveridge, A. (2013). Coaching with Compassion: Inspiring
Health, Well-Being and Development in Organizations. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
49:2, 153-178

P: Boyatzis, R.E., Smith, M. & Van Oosten, E. (2010). Coaching for Change: Coaching with
Compassion versus Coaching for Compliance. People Matters, 68-71.

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: How did it feel remembering these moments with people who helped you
the most? What did they say or do that was most helpful? How did they make you feel?
Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal Learning
Assignment tab, “Who Helped Me the Most?”).

Module 4.2: The Positive (PEA) and Negative Emotional Attractors (NEA)

READINGS Required:
A: Boyatzis, Rochford and Taylor: The role of the positive emotional attractor in vision and
shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00670/full

A: Summaries of Dissertation Research: Masud Khawaja. Go to the ‘Required Readings’ course

tab to download the article for free.

YOUTUBE VIDEO
Barbara Fredrickson on Positivity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKggZhYwoys

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: How do you and others respond when in the PEA? How is this different than
when you are in the NEA? Is your performance better when in the PEA? Are you more open to
others and new ideas in the PEA?
Week 4 Quiz

WEEK 5: CLASS 5: Coaching with Compassion to Inspire Sustained Learning and

Development

Module 5.1: Doctor/Patient, Teacher/Student Studies and Neurological Evidence of Coaching

to the PEA

READINGS Required: none

YOUTUBE VIDEO
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Richard Boyatzis on Coaching, from ICF Harvard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc7n4m4kPvc

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: When someone is entering the PEA what are the signs you can see? What
are the signs that a person is slipping back into the NEA?

Module 5.2: Survive and Thrive – Balancing the PEA and NEA

READINGS: No required readings—work on coaching assignment only.

YOUTUBE VIDEO
Richard Boyatzis on Coaching, from ICF Harvard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnmto-QF1U&feature=related

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What do you think is the best ratio of PEA to NEA for you right now? Why?
When you engaged in the reflective exercise and thought about the list of things others have told
you that you should do or how you should change, how did it feel? When you thought about the
moments in which you were most proud of yourself, when you were at your best, how did it feel?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only):
Part 1. Think of things your boss, spouse, or others have told you that you should do and how
you should change. Think of those things that you do not necessarily think are important for you
to change, especially ones that either of them have said repeatedly to you. Make a list of these
behavior, attitudes, or perspectives you should change, from their perspective, to become more
effective and a better person.
Part 2. Think of times you were at your best, when you were excited and effective at home or
work. Make a list of the behavior, attitudes, or perspectives you used in those events. Make a list
of things people have said you should change to be better. How did it feel while you were
making this list? How did it feel while you were remembering these moments?

Module 5.3: Practicing Conversations That Inspire

READINGS: No required readings—work on coaching assignment only.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Richard Boyatzis on Coaching, from ICF Harvard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReerNT2VMA&feature=related

For a humorous sense of what does NOT work: Bob Newhart, Stop It:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw

ASSIGNMENTS
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Discussion Forum: Which questions seem to help bring someone into the PEA? How did you
notice that?
Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal Learning
Assignment tab): This will involve assessing two essays written by previous graduate students of
mine as to how well they did the coaching with compassion activity and analysis. This
assignment is previewed in Module 5.3 and will be explained again in detail in modules 6.1 and
6.2, with examples. To help prepare you for this assignment, we are including two examples (A
and B) with coding as discussed in the videos 6.1 and 6.2. We are also providing two sample
essays (C and D) for you to practice coding and see the correct answers. Then you will read and
code the two essays (E and F) to be evaluated for the assignment.
Action Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Action Learning
Assignment tab): Identify two people you know who are outstanding performers. Follow the
instructions to have a coaching to the PEA session with each person. Then write a brief essay (2-
3 pages) about each experience using concepts from the readings and class. DO NOT try this if
you are having difficulty in your relationships with a person. DO NOT do this with someone in
trouble. DO NOT do this with someone who you think you can fix.

WEEK 5: CLASS 6: Peer Coaching: With a Little Help from My Friends

Module 6.1: PEA Coaching – Instructions for Reviewing and Evaluating a Coaching with
Compassion Essay

Module 6.2: PEA Coaching – Reviewing and Evaluating Examples of Coaching with
Compassion Essays

READINGS: No required readings—work on coaching assignment only.

ASSIGNMENTS
Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal Learning
Assignment tab): Use the two essays provided in this section, as mentioned in PLA for module
5.3, written by previous graduate students of mine, to assess how well they did the coaching with
compassion activity and analysis. The method for assessing the essays is explained in the video
lectures; for written directions go to the Personal Learning Assignment tab.
Action Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Action
Learning Assignment tab): Read the essays of 3 people assigned to you. Write a comment to the
author of the essay on each of the sessions and each of the criteria of the analysis. The method
for assessing the essays is explained in the video lectures; for written directions go to the Action
Learning Assignment tab.
Summary At a Glance Review of Assessment Criteria

Method to Comment and Evaluate the Essays for Both Tracks

#1: Did the coach ask a question that is likely to arouse the PEA?
#2: Did the coach mention the tipping points in the coachee’s mood during the
conversation?
#3: Did the coach evoke a clear image of the coachee’s Ideal Self or personal
vision?
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#4: Did the coach identify specific people or key relationships in the coachee’s
life and mention whether they are resonant or dissonant?

Assessment Criteria Summary At a Glance

Theme Symbol +1 0 -1______________

Coaching with CWC Asked one of the Asked about high Asked about work,
Compassion, to four questions points in past or how things are going
the PEA present or how to get ahead_

Tipping points PEA/NEA Described the Coach never Coach says coachee
coachee’s verbal mentions PEA or was in the PEA or
or non- verbal the entire time with NEA with no
indicators of PEA evidence
or NEA______________________________________________

Elements of IS Each time coach Coachee said they Coachee says they
Ideal Self or mentions an element had a dream but does do not believe in
Personal Vision of the coachee’s not describe specifics thinking about the
Ideal Self future, lives only in
_____________________________________________________________present__________

Relationships REL Each time coach If coachee mentions

mentions specific no specific individuals
relationship

WEEK 6:
CLASS 7: Inspiring Change through Hope and Vision – Discovery #1 in ICT

Module 7.1: The Battle Between the Ideal Self and Ought Self

READINGS Required:
A: Buse and Bilimoria: Personal vision: enhancing work engagement and the retention of
women in the engineering profession.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01400/full

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: Do you have a personal vision? If you have a family, do you have a shared
vision?

Module 7.2: Components of the Ideal Self/Personal Vision

READINGS: No required or recommended readings.

YOU TUBE VIDEO

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Benjamin Zander: The Art of Possibility:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS-YYhoyBMo

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: How did it feel when you were reflecting on the exercises in the video?
Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal Learning
Assignment tab): Write the beginning of your personal vision. Write the answers to the three
questions posted in the lecture video (i.e., Module 7.2).

Module 7.3: Developing Your Personal Vision, Including Life and Career Stages

READINGS Required:
P: Boyatzis, R., McKee, A., and Goleman, D. (2002). Reawakening your passion for Work.
Harvard Business Review. 80(4). 86-94. Go to the ‘Required Readings’ course tab to download
the article for free. To get free access, you have to register with HBR, but that is free.

YOU TUBE VIDEO

Gail Sheehy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry-qC4bN7fM

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What are the number of years typically in your life cycle? Of your career
cycle?
Personal Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Personal Learning
Assignment tab): Continuation of the Personal Learning Assignment from module 7.2. Write
your personal vision. It should be about 3-4 pages and address your dreamed about future in 10-
15 years, not a prediction. It should address your physical health, your spiritual health, your
romantic and family health, your contributions to the community, and your work.

WEEK 7: CLASS 8: The Multilevel Nature of Sustained, Desired Change

Module 8.1: Multilevel Change – Resonant Leadership and Social Identity Groups

READINGS Required: none

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: Were you surprised or not as to how complex your life system is?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): Using the reflective
exercise from the video about the relationships in multiple levels of your life system, and without
saying people’s names, are the key relationships in your life and work resonant or dissonant? Do
they invoke the PEA or NEA?

Module 8.2: Developing Shared Vision in Teams and Organizations

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READINGS Required:
A: Overbeke, Bilimoria and Somers: Shared vision between fathers and daughters in family
businesses: the determining factor that transforms daughters into successors

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00625/full

Miller: Next-generation leadership development in family businesses: the critical roles of shared
vision and family climate

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01335/full

Clayton: Shared vision and autonomous motivation vs. financial incentives driving success in
corporate acquisitions

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01466/full

YOU TUBE VIDEOS

Mrs. Zkihali and the Nkomo Primary School:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5EStjAYvTA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD7dRmj-7B8

ASSIGNMENT
Discussion Forum: Think of one or two of the teams or groups in which you are a member.
Does the team have a shared vision? What is it?

Module 8.3: Recent Research on the Impact of Shared Vision

READINGS Required:
A:
Mahon, Taylor and Boyatzis: Antecedents of organizational engagement: exploring vision, mood
and perceived organizational support with emotional intelligence as a moderator

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01322/full

Thornton: The effect of relationship quality on individual perceptions of social responsibility in

the US

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00781/full

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What could you try in one of your teams or groups to begin a discussion of
shared vision?
Action Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment see the Action
Learning Assignment tab): Ask many of your subordinates or team mates two questions:
o Think of a time when I was proud of this organization or team.
o Think of a time when we were at our best.
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Then share the stories of these events. Patterns or themes emerging from the collective sharing of
stories will often constitute the elements of the shared vision you want for your team or
organization.

Module 8.4: Team Change (Beatles versus Rolling Stones) and Developing Social Identity
(Trekkers and Apple Users)

YOU TUBE VIDEOS

History of the Beatles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZSHsJjsh-Y
History of the Rolling Stones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5I9Z6iPTLo
Trekkers as a social identity group:
Check DVD Trekkers or Trekkers 2 for international clubs

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What are the social identity groups that help you move toward your personal
vision? What are the social identity groups that might be holding you back? Does your work
organization or school effectively build social identity groups?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only):
Returning to your reflections and charting of the relationships in the multiple levels of your own
life system, add the social identity groups to which you belong or aspire. Does involvement with
or thinking about these groups invoke the PEA or NEA for you?
Week 7 Quiz

WEEK 8: CLASS 9: The Real Self and Learning Agenda – Discoveries #2, 3, 4 in ICT

Module 9.1: The Real Self versus the Faux Self and Learning Agenda (not a Performance
Improvement Plan)

READINGS: No required readings.

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What do you experience as the threat to an accurate image of your Real
Self? What blocks teams or organizations from seeing an accurate image of themselves? Can
planning be joyful or is it always an obligation?
Action Learning Assignment (for details of the assignment, see the Action Learning
Assignment tab): If you did the “Me at My Best” interviews for Module 3.2, review them to
develop an image of your Real Self. If you did not do this exercise earlier, do it now!

Module 9.2: Experimentation and Practice

READINGS: No required readings

YOU TUBE VIDEO

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John Kotter on the heart of change:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKti9MyAAw

ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Forum: What settings are good for you to practice new behaviors, thoughts or
feelings? How to others help or hinder your practice?
Personal Learning Assignment (personal notes or journal reflection only): Try one new thing
next week. Pick one thing that you would like to try, either an action, a competency, or a new
way of thinking about things, a new way of feeling, etc. Do not make it a major or big thing. Just
try one small thing that is new or different but would bring you closer to your vision.

Module 9.3: Review and Summary

Final Exam