Emotional Intelligence Level

Facilitated by:
Frank Ciecierski, Jerry Walsh, and Winston Lau

In our consulting, training, and coaching with manufacturing companies, we have met some very interesting people:

• Joe, the Plant Manager, alienates all his direct reports by his intimidating and abrasive style. In particular, he lacks the sensitivity and tact to deal with minority employees. He is both hated and feared by them.
• Nancy, the Accounting Manager, demands and insists that her people work around the clock against totally unrealistic targets, regardless of their personal situations. She promises the moon to her boss; and when she does not get her way, it is always somebody else’s fault. She aspires to becoming the youngest VP in the history of the company.
• Bill, the HR Manager, is late to meetings, late on projects and late on returning phone calls. He is always putting out fires because of his inability to plan and organize his work, in spite of close supervision by his boss. He would rather spend most of his time blaming others when things are not done.
• Danny, the Maintenance Foreman, runs around all day as if his world is coming to an end. He often reacts to others with angry outbursts. His people have learned to avoid him and tell him what he wants to hear as he goes through his mood swings.
• Jane, the Customer Service Supervisor, does exactly what she is told and no more, even if the problems are obvious. She comes in late, leaves early, and observes her coffee breaks religiously, in spite of pressing backorders and delivery requirements.

Do you have some of these employees in your organization? They all seem to have the functional expertise required to do their jobs, but their overall effectiveness is still low…

Emotional Intelligence, not IQ, is the most common element among successful people. EI is the ability to make rational decisions even in highly emotional and stress producing situations.

According to Dr. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Working With Emotional Intelligence, there are five basic competencies of EI: Self-Awareness, Self- Regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills. Dr. Goleman defines emotional intelligence as “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.”

The tasks and responsibilities of the job determine the degree of importance of any one of the five competencies. For example, the job of an Air Traffic Controller requires a significantly high degree of self-regulation, especially during emergency situations, while a lower degree of social skills. On the other hand, a social worker requires a significantly high degree of empathy and social skills.

The tasks and responsibilities of the job determine the degree of importance of any one of the five competencies. For example, the job of an Air Traffic Controller requires a significantly high degree of self-regulation, especially during emergency situations, while a lower degree of social skills. On the other hand, a social worker requires a significantly high degree of empathy and social skills.

In managers and leaders, functional expertise is necessary in establishing the processes in getting the job done efficiently. However, how the job is done and the consequences for the way the job is done determine effectiveness. The latter is largely a function of one’s emotional intelligence. Effective leadership results from leaders with high degrees of emotional intelligence, much more so than the leaders’ functional expertise.

According to Spencer & Spencer in Competence at Work, the fact that the most important competencies among star performers stem from emotional intelligence is no surprise for, say, salespeople. However, even among scientists and those in technical professions, analytical thinking ranks third, after the ability to influence and the drive to achieve