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Higgsanddulewicz

HiggsAndDulewicz
ThesetwoBritishauthorsfromHenleyManagementCollegeidentifiedsevenelementsofemotional
intelligenceintheirbookMakingsenseofemotionalintelligence2.Theseelementsarebrokendowninto
thefollowingthreeareas:
Drivers:motivationanddecisiveness,traitsthatenergisepeopleanddrivethemtowardsachievinggoals.
Constrainers:conscientiousness,integrityandemotionalresilience,factorsthatcontrolandcurbthe
excessesofthedrivers.
Enablers:sensitivity,influenceandselfawareness,traitsthatfacilitateperformanceandhelpindividualsto
succeed.

Summary
Otherwritersandconsultantshavecomeupwithdifferentmodels.Toattemptasummaryofallthewriting,
whileintelligencequotient(IQ)purelymeasurescognitivecapacity,emotionalintelligenceisarguedto
involveemotionalcentresbasedinadifferentpartofthebrainworkinginharmonywiththeintellectual
centres.Peoplewithgoodlevelsofemotionalintelligencearesaidtobemoreabletomanageandharness
theiremotions.Theyarealsobetterabletounderstandotherpeoplesemotions,tocommunicatewith
them,relatetothemandinfluencethem.

EmotionalIntelligenceInTheWorkplace
Supportersoftheconceptclaimthatemotionallyintelligentmanagersare(forexample)betteratresolving
workplaceconflictandarebetternegotiatorsandbetterleaders.ThusGolemanarguesthatmost
managerswithMBAshavesimilarIQs(becausetogainanMBAdemandsacertainlevelofintelligence),
butthedistinguishingfeatureofgoodmanagersamongMBAholdersishigherlevelsofemotional
intelligence.Mayer,however,hassaidthatinhisviewnoteverymangerneedstohaveemotional
intelligence,thoughmanagersshouldbeawareofitinothersandvalueit.Tosomeextent,thismaybea
fruitlessdebate:inthesamewaythatsomepeoplehavehigherIQsthanothers,thereisacontinuumof
emotionalintelligence.Virtuallyeveryonewillhavesomedegreeofemotionalintelligence,andthequestion
maythenbecomehowitcanbedevelopedandharnessed(seebelow).Allwritersagreethatemotional
intelligenceisnotasubstituteforIQandtechnicalandprofessionalabilities.Managersneedtobe
professionallycompetentfirst.

DoesEmotionalIntelligenceImproveJobPerformance?
Whatevidenceistherethatemotionalintelligenceenhancesjobperformance?Itsproponentshavecarried
outresearchwhichclaimstoshowlinkages.Thereareexamplesfromdifferentcultures:
AveryclearrelationshipbetweenacompetencybasedmeasuresofemotionalintelligenceandBritish
managerscareeradvancementoverasevenyearperiod2.

Americanfinancialadviserswhowentthroughanemotionalcompetencedevelopmentprogrammehad
salesgainsof8%20%,significantlymorethanthosewhodidnotundergotheprogramme3.
TenemotionalcompetenciesemergedasthedistinguishingcapabilitiesofsuccessfulteamsinaGerman
chemicalcompany3.
Emotionalintelligenceisalsosaidtobeaneffectivewayofidentifyingleadershippotential,becausethe
qualitiesthatconstitutegoodleadershipsuchasdecisiveness,empoweringothersandopennessto
changeallreflectaspectsofemotionalintelligenceformoreonleadersqualities,seeourfactsheeton
leadership.

CanEmotionalIntelligenceBeLearned?
Golemanarguesthattryingtoteachemotionalcompetenciesviathetraditionalcourseiswrong.Long
establishedtrainingmethodsarebasedoncognitivelearning,whichdrawsondifferentareasofthebrain
fromemotionallearningemotionallearninginvolveswaysofthinkingandactingthataremorecentraltoa
personsidentity.Moreover,peoplearemorelikelytoresistbeingtoldthattheyneedlearnhow(for
example)tocontroltheirtemperorimprovetheirinterpersonalskillsthantheyaretobeingtoldthatthey
needtoimprovetheirtechnicalskills.Developingemotionalintelligencebringsadditionalbraincircuitryinto
playineffectthiscircuitryneedstoberetuned,whichtakestime.Itcan,saysGoleman,takeatleasttwo
monthstounlearnoldbehavioursandreplacethemwithnewones.Awayfromtheworkplace,the
Golemanapproachistofollowup360degreefeedback(whichidentifiestheirlevelsofemotional
intelligence)byencouragingpeopletoproduceactionplans.Backatwork,theyareencouragedtopractice
thenewbehaviourimmediately,withsupportfromamentororimmediatemanager.
HiggsandDulewiczarguethattheircomponentsofemotionalintelligencedivideintotwocategories.The
firstcategoryisthosethatpeoplecanclearlylearnthroughestablishedlearningmethods,suchaspersonal
developmentstrategieslikesensitivity,influenceandselfawareness.Thesecondcategoryrelatestothe
moreenduringelementsofanindividualspersonalitythataremoredifficulttolearn,likemotivation,
emotionalresilienceandconscientiousness.Forthiscategory,thedevelopmentapproachshouldconsistof
trainingstrategiesthatexploiteachindividualscharacteristicstothefullandondeveloping'coping
strategies'thatminimisetheimpactofpotentiallimitations.Otherorganisationsandindividualshavedrawn
updifferentapproaches,butthetwomentionedaboveillustratethatthatthereisnosingleagreedwayof
developingemotionalintelligence.

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