I intend to offer the opportunity for anyone who is interested to learn how to become more emotionally intelligent by reading a series of essays that I will present that teach people how to use the Emotion Roadmap™.
Some essays will feature guest authors.
Please comment after any essay you read so that I know whether or not you have been helped by the essay.
My vision is to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
This blog is one attempt to make that happen.
Warm regards, Chuck Wolfe
1. What’s new – see what has been most recently added Caregiving and emotional intelligence: How can we benefit from what we are learning about emotional intelligence to help us with the difficult transition involving loved ones who are losing their independence. Read more...
2. Emotional Intelligence and Performance
a. Emotional Intelligence (EI) High Performance and the Emotion Roadmap™ I offer my practical definition of EI and briefly explain how it is tied to the scientific definition put forward by Peter Salovey, Provost of Yale University and John Mayer, University of New Hampshire Professor of Psychology. These gentlemen and their colleague David Caruso asked me to help them to find a way to apply their model to the workplace. I created the Emotion Roadmap™ to do just that. To learn more about the Emotion Roadmap™ and how it relates to Generating High Performance read more…
b.Pathway to a Rational Use of ManagementCompetencies™ This article builds on EI & Emotion Roadmap™ by introducing the emotionally intelligent use of competencies. Years ago companies were introduced to the idea that focusing on core competencies for selection, talent management and promotion was a way to gain a competitive advantage. The use of competencies has never quite worked the way people intended. To see how the Emotion Roadmap™ can facilitate an effective approach to competencies that does give a competitive advantage to organizations for selection, development, promotion and talent managementread more…
c.Women, Performance and the Emotion Roadmap™ If the way we measure performance was rational more women would be in senior leadership roles. In 2007 Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership was published in Harvard Business Review. I believe my review and commentary of this article will benefit our understanding of how emotions impact the difficulties women face in rising to senior leadership roles in organizations. Based on the Emotion Roadmap™ I offer some suggestions about what we can do to improve the situation for women. read more…
d. Exploring the Inner World of Employees & Performance In 2007 the Inner Work Life: Understanding the Subtext of Business Performancewas published in Harvard Business Review. My review and commentary of this article will benefit our understanding of the link between the very interesting research done by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer and the role of emotional intelligence in contributing to high performance. read more…
3. EI Assessments
a. Observations about the EQi and the MSCEIT There are three assessments commonly discussed when people consider Emotional Intelligence assessment. The first two are the EQi created by Reuven BarOn, defined as an assessment of emotional and social competencies, and the MSCEIT, created by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso which is an ability based measure of emotional intelligence. The third one is the ECI based on Goleman’s model. It is a 360 of competencies that relate to his emotional intelligence framework. Having worked closely with the authors of the first two, I offer some observations that may be helpful in deciding which assessment to use. I recommend them both. I do not recommend using the ECI. For my observation of the EQi and MSCEIT read more…
In the near term I will be exploring how the knowledge of emotional intelligence can contribute to the planning, preparation and actual situation involving caregiving for loved ones who no longer can live an independent life style. If you have an interest in the subject you may wish to follow this blog.
Women, Performance and the Emotion Roadmap™ Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership By Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli with review and Commentary by C. Wolfe Harvard Business Review September 2007 First, the news is not good. Despite significant progress into the role of management women make up only 6% of the highest paid executive positions of Fortune 500 companies. In 1986 the Wall Street Journal reported that women inevitably would hit an invisible ceiling no matter how talented. “Consider comments made by President Richard Nixon, recorded on White House audiotapes… explaining why he would not appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, Nixon said ‘I don’t think a woman should be in any government job whatsoever…mainly because they are erratic. And emotional. Men are emotional too, but the point is a woman is more likely to be.’ In a culture where such opinions were widely held, women had virtually no chance of attaining influential leadership roles.” (P. 64). While the authors recognize that times have changed, they feel the focus on the glass ceiling is highly misleading. First, while the numbers are small, there actually have been a number of top women executives and leaders who have risen to the top echelon of leadership positions. Second, the authors do not dispute the fact that a glass ceiling exists; instead what they have found is that women face obstacles throughout their careers and not just at the top. Therefore, the use of the metaphor of a labyrinth seems more fitting instead of a ceiling, meaning that women face walls everywhere in their journey to lead others. The authors cite a variety of studies that indicate that women face barriers all the way up and not just at the greater heights. The authors cover the information that many of us know and understand, e.g., women are seen as more compassionate while men are more assertive. “Study after study has affirmed that people associate women and men with different traits and link men with more of the traits that connote leadership. Kim Campbell, who briefly served as prime minister of Canada in 1993, described the tension that results: ‘I don’t have a traditionally female way of speaking…I’m quite assertive. If I didn’t speak the way I do, I wouldn’t have been seen as a leader. But my way of speaking may have grated on people who were not used to hearing it from a woman. It was the right way for a leader to speak, but it wasn’t the right way for a woman to speak. It goes against type.’ ” (P. 66) The authors correctly point out that if the issue is not the glass ceiling by itself, then we need to look at intervention strategies that impact women throughout their careers. I agree. People who read their article will be informed about excellent strategies for helping women to rise at each stage of their careers. However, many of these strategies have been thought of, discussed, and tried before without success. And while the idea of removing prejudice, making performance reviews less subjective, and so forth are all good ideas, they are not new, and I believe they have not been more successful is because they do not confront the underlying emotional issues. AND this is my major reason for reviewing this article. Even if we do everything they say I doubt much will change because we are not facing a rational situation. The reason women are not in higher levels is because some men and women do not want them there. And those that do are not necessarily passionate about creating the necessary changes. If we really want to see a change in the opportunities for leaders to emerge equally from both sexes, I believe we have to address the issue from an emotional perspective. The Emotion Roadmap offers us a vantage point to see how we may get real change to occur. The roadmap asks us to consider who are the key people involved and how do they feel? In other words, what really is happening? 1. How are men feeling? And how are women feeling about the lack of opportunity for women (identify emotions)? 2. What would be ideal regarding how men and women feel in order to create the real change necessary for women to truly have equal opportunities for leadership (use emotions)? 3. What is causing the current feelings and what might we do to change them to the more ideal feelings (understand emotions)? 4. What are men and women willing to do to create the changes necessary (manage emotions)? Identify what is really being felt by Men and Women How do people really feel about having woman leaders? I think that while some men and women would welcome improved opportunities for women to lead, there are also a number of men and women that are uncomfortable having women as leaders. There are all kinds of possibilities about why this might be true. Without delving into the psychology of why, the roadmap moves us next to ask what would be ideal. Use emotions to generate the environment which will facilitate promoting women to senior leadership. To do so, we need to ask what emotions would be ideal. For change to occur I believe we want those men and women who do wish to have equal opportunities for women to become passionate about creating change. Change needs to take place at every level, beginning with policy changes at federal and state government, all the way through to standard operating practices that do not allow for discrimination. For those from both sexes who would rather not work for women, I believe we need them to move to neutral so they no longer present an obstacle to those women who aspire to lead. Understanding emotions is the next step in the roadmap where we strategize how to move people from what they are feeling to what is more ideal based on what we wish to accomplish. On such a large scale it is difficult to understand how to move all the people in power who have the ability to shift policy or operating procedures in organizations. What we can say is that there are not many, men or women, who appear to be passionate about changing the situation. For example, while it is intriguing that Harvard Business Review ran this article as its lead, I wonder how many men will actually read it. That is not to say that these men are not interested in women having more opportunity, I simply suspect it is not a top priority. Even for those women and men who do read it, I think the chances are small that many will take action to implement the changes. So how then do we move people beyond mild interest in the subject? To accomplish any meaningful change I view as similar to finding the one place in a diamond that you can make the cut you need to split it the way you want. Rational arguments won’t do it in this case. This issue, in order to change, needs to be very personal. In this situation, to move people to feel passion, I believe we need to shift the focus away from the present to what the future holds for our daughters, nieces and all our female loved ones who already are, or soon will be entering the workforce. When I think about what I want for my wife, three daughters and three nieces, I can tell you with conviction that I want them to have every advantage given to any man. When I think about it from a more general perspective, while I am interested, it is not a top priority. Make it personal by focusing on loved ones and you will see real change. Let each of us who believes in this become the pioneers that blaze the trail that leads to true equality of opportunity! Managing emotions is the final step in the roadmap where we consider what are we willing to do, and able to do, to create the feelings we want. In my role as an executive coach I have exerted influence in organizations to create more fairness. I have also counseled my wife, daughters and occasionally my nieces on how to rise in organizations. I am making an effort to make a meaningful difference for women, especially those closest to me. I hope in choosing to write about this article in this way, that somehow others will make this issue more personal as well, and do what they can to assure fairness in the workplace for all. What are each of you willing and able to do to make the world an easier and more just world for all females and particularly those that are closest to you? I would appreciate any responses you may wish to share regarding my views and also encourage you to read the article by Professors Eagly and Carli. Emotional Intelligence Main Site Feel free to email me Send Mail and visit my website here. Charles J. Wolfe at 5:49 PM Labels: emotional intelligence work, emotional intelligence working, emotional intelligence workplace, emotional intelligence workshop, intelligence training, teaching emotional intelligence
