In the good old days, there was no "Emnotional Intelligence." There was just ordinary maturity.
Grow up everyone.
Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
By Chris Golis | January 28, 2009
BNET Australia Contributors
Aussie Rules
Biography
BNET Australia Contributors
Brian Haverty is editorial director for CBS Interactive Australia and is responsible for the company's BNET and ZDNet Australia sites.
Robert Gerrish is a coach, author and professional speaker and the founder of Flying Solo, an Australian online community for solo business owners.
Melissa Lourenco is the HR manager for CBS Interactive in Australia.
Chris Golis is the author of The Humm Handbook: Lifting Your Level of Emotional Intelligence. He runs seminars and workshops on EQ.
Suzi Dafnis is Community Director of the Australian Businesswomen's Network.
Yvonne Adele helps organisations build a culture of ideas by teaching people at all levels to access their untapped creative thinking skills.
I recently attended a seminar entitled Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. The speaker was lively and enthusiastic and promoted the Emotional Blueprint model of Mayer-Salovey. To those unfamiliar with this model, the underlying principles are as follows:
- Emotion is information and ignoring it does not work.
- You may try to hide emotions but other people are able to pick them up.
- Decisions must incorporate emotions to be effective.
On sale during this seminar were copies of The Emotionally Intelligent Manager: HOW TO DEVELOP AND USE THE FOUR KEY EMOTIONAL SKILLS OF LEADERSHIP by David R. Caruso and Peter Salovey. I had always been meaning to read this book so I bought a copy. After reading the book I must confess I was very disappointed. I thought the examples of the emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) in action were lightweight and I was not happy with the proposed Emotional Blueprint model.
I went to Amazon.com and discovered there were 37 reviews of the book. Nineteen were favourable and gave it five stars while 14 gave it one star with comments like “utter rubbish”. Talk about manic-depressive! I don’t think I have ever seen such a bi-polar distribution of opinion. Somewhat relieved to find myself in step with half the management population, I wondered: why does the book fail?
First, while I totally agree with the underlying principles, I do disagree with the concept that there is a separate intelligence called Emotional Intelligence (EI). The theory of multiple intelligences was first proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983. While widely adopted by educators, the theory has been widely criticised by experimental psychologists who argue that the model is based on Gardner’s intuition rather than empirical data. Indeed, Gardner himself has stated there were no validating studies and he would be delighted for such evidence to accrue.
I agree with the Caruso-Salovey book title: Emotional Intelligence is a skill that can be developed through training and experience — just like learning to play golf. I disagree with the idea that EI is an innate talent. Yes, there are some people who will be born with the talent to better read and control their emotions. Nevertheless, you can improve your EI. General intelligence (known as g) is what you are born with and effectively immutable; EI is a skill that all of us can dramatically improve.
I’d be interested to hear what literature you have come across regarding Emotional Intelligence. Please feel free to leave a comment.
More from “Aussie Rules”
Talkback 6 Talkbacks
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
Bouchart
01/28/2009 06:30 PM
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
I concur with Bouchart.
Except for his misspelling.
Spell Check everyone.
Except for his misspelling.
Spell Check everyone.
SterlingDevelop
01/29/2009 10:50 AM
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
"General intelligence (known as g) is what you are born with and effectively immutable;"
********, my IQ goes up each time I take a test. I practise , reading and numerical comp and diagramatics.
********, my IQ goes up each time I take a test. I practise , reading and numerical comp and diagramatics.
Paidfun
01/30/2009 10:47 AM
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is real in everyday life and work. I think the idea that Bouchart and SterlingDevelop are trying to get across is the fact that we have the need to define, discuss and write books about a subject that in the "old days", people just described as good manners and got on with.
The main issue as I see it, is that in a changing world, we need constant reassessment of what works, what doesn't and how we can improve. Manners and "maturity" as it was in the old days may not apply now. New generations bring new values and ideas and managers and leaders need to understand this.
To me, the three principles are relevant, but overcomplicated. Here's a distillation of the three into one:
? Emotion is information, and all information is important for effective decision making
Emotional intelligence isn?t difficult or unlearnable. It just takes a belief in its relevance, a little bit of study and a little bit of application. Nearly all of us already use it to varying degrees of success, so if you want to be effective as a manager and leader, it always pays to increase your success.
The main issue as I see it, is that in a changing world, we need constant reassessment of what works, what doesn't and how we can improve. Manners and "maturity" as it was in the old days may not apply now. New generations bring new values and ideas and managers and leaders need to understand this.
To me, the three principles are relevant, but overcomplicated. Here's a distillation of the three into one:
? Emotion is information, and all information is important for effective decision making
Emotional intelligence isn?t difficult or unlearnable. It just takes a belief in its relevance, a little bit of study and a little bit of application. Nearly all of us already use it to varying degrees of success, so if you want to be effective as a manager and leader, it always pays to increase your success.
chrisdbarry
02/01/2009 02:27 PM
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
Maturity does not equal emotional intelligence. There is a good film ?10 Items or Less? which demonstrates the difference. Paz Vega has maturity but low EQ. During the film Morgan Freeman teaches Paz EQ skills. I will be discussing this film in later blogs.
Sorry to disappoint Paidfun but g is immutable. A key requirement of an IQ test is that it is reliable, ie testing the same person on different days does not provide different results. Otherwise it is not good test. Also a data base of one proves nothing.
Obviously if you do the same test again and again every day there will be a learning effect. On the other hand I tested an employee several years ago who had done the same test 10 years earlier. His results for verbal, numerical and abstract intelligence were with in 1% of each other! Both of us were stunned but it did help confirm the test?s reliability.
Sorry to disappoint Paidfun but g is immutable. A key requirement of an IQ test is that it is reliable, ie testing the same person on different days does not provide different results. Otherwise it is not good test. Also a data base of one proves nothing.
Obviously if you do the same test again and again every day there will be a learning effect. On the other hand I tested an employee several years ago who had done the same test 10 years earlier. His results for verbal, numerical and abstract intelligence were with in 1% of each other! Both of us were stunned but it did help confirm the test?s reliability.
cgolis
02/02/2009 01:29 PM
RE: Is There Such a Thing as Emotional Intelligence?
I believe that each human carries within them their unique truth. And, from a holistic perspective that wholeness incorporates ones thoughts, physical body, emotions, and spiritual aspects of self. Within each of those unique aspects one carries a knowing of what is true for them.
For me, that is what emotional intelligence means.
Cathi
Main Cause Of Stress
For me, that is what emotional intelligence means.
Cathi
Main Cause Of Stress
controlmystress
08/20/2010 04:15 PM
