Emotional Intelligence

The capability of people to perform the work or job that they do falls into three areas:

Technical skills – which includes technical expertise e.g. accountancy skills.

Intellectual capability – which is commonly known as IQ, or cognitive abilities.

Emotional capability – often referred to as emotional intelligence or EI.

Whilst a significant amount of information, research and education exists in the fields of technical
skills and intellectual capability, the area of Emotional Intelligence remains largely untouched.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and manage emotions in ourselves and
others.

Emotional Intelligence is divided into the four clusters of Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social
Awareness and Relationship Management (often been referred to very broadly as “people skills” in
years gone by).

Daniel Goleman, a leader in this field, has identified that successful managers and leaders possess a
high percentage of emotional intelligence. By successful we mean those who have; Achieved better
financial results,

Developed more effective and supportive organisational climates or culture and Achieved higher
productivity gains with their workforce. Goleman’s (1998) findings also indicated that Emotional
Intelligence contributes 80 to 90% of the competencies that distinguish outstanding leaders from
average leaders.

The behaviours identified include;

the ability to recognise and understand their own moods, emotions and drives as well as their effect
on others;

the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses, moods and to think before acting;

the passion to work for reasons beyond money or status and the propensity to pursue goals with
energy and persistence;

the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and the skill in treating people
according to their emotional reactions; the proficiency in managing relationships, building networks
and the ability to find common ground and build rapport.

IQ versus EI
In professional and technical fields the typical entry-level threshold IQ is 110 to 120. It is generally
considered that your IQ, which is largely genetic, will change little from childhood. Since everyone is
in the top 10% or so of intelligence, IQ itself offers relatively little competitive advantage.

EI on the other hand can be learned at any age. Growing your competency in EI is not easy or quick,
as it takes perseverance in the process of critical self-evaluation, commitment to improvement and of
course behavioural practice.

It is also important to note, that competence in Emotional Intelligence does not necessarily increase
with age as you might expect. Some people may learn from life’s experiences, but many do not.

ei-model

Self-Awareness:

The core of Emotional Intelligence is self-awareness. Self-awareness is comprised of three

competencies;

emotional self-awareness, where you are able to read and understand your emotions as well as
recognise their impact on work performance and relationships; accurate self-assessment, where you
are able to give a realistic evaluation of your strengths and limitations; self-confidence, where you
have a positive and strong sense of one’s self-worth. The starting point and key in these areas is the
ability to be critically self-reflective.

Self-Management

Self-management is comprised of five competencies;

Self-control, which is keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control;

transparency, which is maintaining standards of honesty and integrity, managing yourself and
responsibilities;

adaptability, which is the flexibility in adapting to changing situations and overcoming obstacles;

achievement orientation, which is the guiding drive to meet an internal standard of excellence;

initiative, which is the readiness to seize opportunities and act.

Social Awareness

Social Awareness is comprised of three competencies;

empathy, which is understanding others and taking an active interest in their concerns;
organisational awareness, which is the ability to read the currents of organisational life, build
decision networks and navigate politics;

service orientation, which is recognising and meeting customers needs.

Relationship Management

The Social cluster of Relationship Management is comprised of seven competencies;

visionary leadership, which is inspiring and guiding groups and individuals;

developing others, which is the propensity to strengthen and support the abilities of others through
feedback and guidance;

influence, which is the ability to exercise a wide range of persuasive strategies with integrity, and also
includes listening and sending clear, convincing and well-tuned messages;

change catalyst, which is the proficiency in initiating new ideas and leading people in a new
direction;

conflict management, which is resolving disagreements and collaboratively developing resolutions;

building bonds, which is building and maintaining relationships with others;

teamwork and collaboration, which is the promotion of cooperation and building of teams.

The Emotionally Intelligent Organisation

The Emotionally Intelligent Organisation i.e. an organisation with a high number of emotionally
intelligent leaders, managers and critical professionals stands to be at the forefront of organisational
practice and performance, and is more likely to be an employer of choice.

Research also supports the view that competence in Emotional Intelligence accounts for over 90% of
the difference between ineffective leaders and effective leadership performance.

Effective leadership improves business performance and provides organisations with a competitive
advantage.

Becoming an EI organisation

The decision to become an emotionally intelligent organisation needs to be based on an

organisational strategy to improve business performance.

To implement this strategy you first need to define what the core capabilities your business requires
to achieve its vision, values and business strategies which includes Emotional Intelligence clusters
and competencies. You will also need to identify the more specific competency profiles for positions
within the organisation.
This capability framework and competency profiles, then forms the basis for your performance
management system in conjunction with your Key Performance Indicators. The performance
management system then becomes a mechanism for driving and achieving changes in the workplace.

The framework can also be used to support recruitment and selection and other cultural
development strategies, thus ensuring a more appropriate match of people and organization goals.
The next stage is to grow the emotional intelligence competencies through specific development
programs reflecting the organisation’s capability framework.

If you do not have a “core” capability framework for your staff, there are still benefits in introducing
Emotional Intelligence development programs. These are seen primarily through improved
leadership and interpersonal relationships and as a result improved business performance.

Growing Emotional Intelligence

Growing your EI competencies is not easy or quick, as it takes perseverance in the process of critical
self-reflection, commitment to improvement and of course behavioural practice.

Transformational Learning

When you grow your Emotional Intelligence, it is called transformational learning, as this growth
comes from using critical self-reflection.

So, what is critical self-reflection? Most people would be familiar with reflection, which is the analysis
of one’s beliefs. We also have critical reflection, which is the analysis of the assumptions on which
our beliefs are built. But the area we are most interested in is Critical Self-Reflection, which is the
analysis of the way we pose problems to ourselves and of our own structure of assumptions that we
use as a reference for interpreting our experiences.

Effective critical self-reflection requires you to question yourself and the assumptions you make on
an ongoing basis. This can be demonstrated through the three (3) why? Test, that is where you ask
“Why” down three levels from the item you are analysing.

For example, I have been asked to present a workshop to one hundred people on a subject I know
very well, and I have said no.

(1) Why did I say no? Because I would not feel comfortable doing it.

(2) Why do you feel uncomfortable about doing it? Because I might look incompetent.

(3) Why do you feel you would look incompetent? Because people in the audience may know more
than I do.
The answer to this question is based on assumptions, and we need to challenge these assumptions
to check their validity. If the assumptions are invalid and we change that assumption and therefore
our perspective then transformational learning has occurred.

My emotions generally have

a strong impact on the way I behave.
little or no impact on the way I behave.

2. I am generally guided by
my goals and values.
others goals and values.
3. When I am under pressure, I generally have
changed behaviours from normal.
behaviours that remain unchanged.

4. I generally learn most

by actively doing activities.
from reflecting on past experiences.

5. I generally
have a good sense of humour about myself.
take myself seriously.

6. I present myself
with self-assurance and having "presence".
with some confidence and cautiousness.

7. Where there are uncertainties and pressures, I am always

decisive and make sound decisions.
cautious about making the right decision.

8. I always voice views that

are unpopular and go out on a limb for what is right.
most others agree with and support.

9. I always like to
take on new challenges.
maintain the status quo.

10. I generally
inspire confidence in others.
rely on others confidence.

11. I generally
allow my emotions and moods to impact on my behaviours.
keep my disruptive emotions and impulses under control.

12. When I am under pressure

I get easily distracted in other things.
I think clearly and stay focused

13. I always
do as I say I will do.
do only what I have to do.
14. Trust by others
is automatically given to me.
is built through reliability and authenticity.

15. I am always
flexible in how I see events.
able to see events for what they are.

16. During changing situations, I always

work hard to try and keep up with the demands.
smoothly handle multiple demands and shifting priorities.

17. I always
set myself challenging goals.
complete the goals that are set for me.

18. When obstacles and setbacks occur in pursuing my goals, I always

readjust the goals and/or expectations.
persist in seeking the goals despite what has happened.

19. Generally, I
pursue goals beyond what is required or expected of me.
pursue goals only as far as is required of me.

20. When I Identify opportunities, I am always

uncertain about whether to pursue the opportunity.
proactive in pursuing the opportunity.

21. Group differences are always

causing difficulties and unrest.
understood and valued.

22. When I see bias and intolerance I always

challenge the initiating people.
turn a blind eye and ignore it.

23. I always help out based on

the tasks others need help with.
understanding others needs and feelings.

24. I always
listen to the important words being said.
listen well and am attentive to emotional cues.
25. Others perspectives are always
understood and sensitivity shown.
clouding the issues and getting us off track.

26. I always find social networks in the organisation

get in the way of delivering performance.
help create better decision networks.

27. I always use

informal key power relationships to get what I need.
formal decision networks to get what I need.

28. I always
give customers what they ask for.
understand customers needs and match products/services.

29. I always
act as a trusted advisor to the customer.
tell the customer what they want to hear.

30. Increasing customers satisfaction and loyalty

is always part of the way I work
is not important in achieving the sale.

31. The vision and mission are always

given to staff so they know where we are going.
used to inspire groups and individuals.

32. I always
let people know of the behaviours expected.
model the behaviours expected of others.

33. I always give assignments to people who

can get the job done and do it well.
will grow and develop as a result of the challenge.

34. Winning people over is something

that I find difficult to do.
I am very good at.

35. I always communicate in a way

that everyone understands what I am saying.
that seeks mutual understanding and full information sharing.
36. I always
go along with the changes being driven by others.
recognise the need for changes and remove barriers.

37. I always handle difficult people

in a straight forward and direct manner.
with diplomacy and tact.

38. I always seek out relationships that

are mutually beneficial.
will help me achieve my end goal.

39. I generally have a

stronger focus on tasks rather than relationships
balanced focus on tasks and relationships.

40. When I work with teams, I always

make it clear what I expect members to do.
draw all members into enthusiastic participation.

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EI Quadrant Descriptors

Self-Awareness.

Description. The core of Emotional Intelligence is self-

awareness. Self-awareness is comprised of three
competencies; emotional self-awareness, where you are
able to read and understand your emotions as well as
recognise their impact on work performance and
relationships; accurate self-assessment, where you are able
to give a realistic evaluation of your strengths and
limitations; and self-confidence, where you have a positive
and strong sense of one’s self-worth. The starting point and
key in these areas is the ability to be critically self-
reflective.
Self-Management

Description. Self-management is comprised of five

competencies; Self-control, which is keeping disruptive
emotions and impulses under control; transparency, which is
maintaining standards of honesty and integrity, managing
yourself and responsibilities; and adaptability, which is the
flexibility in adapting to changing situations and overcoming
obstacles; achievement orientation, which is the guiding
drive to meet an internal standard of excellence; and
initiative, which is the readiness to seize opportunities and
act.

Social Awareness

Description. Social Awareness is comprised of three

competencies; empathy, which is understanding others and
taking an active interest in their concerns; organisational
awareness, which is the ability to read the currents of
organisational life, build decision networks and navigate
politics; and service orientation, which is recognising and
meeting customers needs. The adaptable, success-oriented
type.

Relationship Management

Description. The Social cluster of Relationship Management

is comprised of seven competencies; visionary leadership,
which is inspiring and guiding groups and individuals;
developing others, which is the propensity to strengthen and
support the abilities of others through feedback and
guidance; influence, which is the ability to exercise a wide
range of persuasive strategies with integrity, and also
includes listening and sending clear, convincing and well-
tuned messages; change catalyst, which is the proficiency
in initiating new ideas and leading people in a new direction;
conflict management, which is resolving disagreements and
collaboratively developing resolutions; building bonds, which
is building and maintaining relationships with others; and
teamwork and collaboration, which is the promotion of
cooperation and building of teams.