Emotional Intelligence


Anyone can become angry—that's easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—that's not easy.

—Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, 350 B.C.

Emotional intelligence, according to Daniel Goleman, is the learned capability of managing feelings and emotional relationships in order to produce outstanding performance. According to Goleman, emotional intelligence predicts success better than any traditional IQ test. The roots of emotional intelligence lie with Howard Gardner, who in 1983 expanded the traditional dual-aptitude test (math and verbal) into a system of seven intelligences. In 1990, inspired by Gardner, Peter Salovey and John Mayer proposed that there was an eighth intelligence, namely emotional intelligence. In 1995 Daniel Goleman, an ex-New York Times reporter specializing in psychological topics, spread the word with his best-seller, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Goleman was essentially reviving the standard triadic psychological model of knowledge (cognitive domain), skills (physical domain), and feelings (emotional or affective domain), and focusing on the third—the domain of the emotions. Goleman, together with two other researchers, followed up in 2002 with Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. What follows is a brief summary of Goleman's major categories.

Emotional Intelligence: Five Domains

Goleman, basing his definition of emotional intelligence (EI) on Salovey and Mayer (see Fastpaths 1990), distinguishes five domains of emotional intelligence (see Fastpaths 1995, Goleman):

Toward oneself:

  1. Knowing one's emotions

  2. Motivating oneself

  3. Managing one's own emotions

Toward others:

  1. Recognizing emotions in others

  2. Handling relationships

Each of the domains adds a crucial set of skills for resonant leadership (see Fastpaths 2002, Goleman).

Emotional Leadership: Six Styles

Successful leaders effectively handle their emotions when dealing with others, and Goleman distinguishes six leadership styles (see Fastpaths 2002, Goleman):

  1. Affiliative

  2. Coaching

  3. Democratic

  4. Visionary

  5. Commanding

  6. Pace-Setting

Top leaders utilize the full repertoire of styles, invoking whichever is appropriate to the given situation.

Leadership Dissonance, Leadership Resonance

In Primal Leadership, Goleman defines emotional intelligence in the leadership domain along the two axes of "resonance" and "dissonance." Where resonance brings out the best in people by making them feel positive about their emotions, dissonance creates groups that "feel emotionally discordant." The "ratio of resonance to dissonance," he sums up, "determines an organization's emotional climate and relates directly to how it performs" (see Fastpaths 2002).

Goleman has made an impressive beginning in mapping out the descriptive domains of EI. The next step will be to build on this foundation, producing a robust discipline based on tools such as the emotional competence inventory, and on real business situations.

Fastpaths

1956

Benjamin Bloom: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. The classic text on the three domains: knowledge, skills, and emotional abilities.

1982

Richard Boyatzis: The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance. A study of competencies among managers, supervisors, and executives.

1983

Howard Gardner: Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. The breakthrough book on multiple intelligences; it proposes seven intelligences.

1990

Peter Salovey and John Mayer: "Emotional Intelligence," Imagination, Cognition, and Personality 9 (1990): 185–211. Salovey and Mayer outline the first model and definition of an "emotional" intelligence.

1995

Daniel Goleman: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Goleman's best-seller sets the agenda for the eighth intelligence, that of the emotions.

1995

Howard Gardner: Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. This, plus Gardner's 1983 book, is a major influence on Goleman's emotional leadership notion.

1997

Peter Salovey and David Sluyter (eds.): Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence.

1998

Daniel Goleman: Working with Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence as applied to the workplace rather than to private everyday life.

2001

Daniel Goleman et al. (eds.): The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace. Contains Lyle Spencer's "The Economic Value of Emotional Intelligence Competencies and EIC-Based HR Programs."

2001

Adele Lynn: The Emotional Intelligence Activity Book.

2002

Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee: Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Goleman and two other researchers tie emotional intelligence to corporate leadership.

See also Competencies Multiple intelligences




The 30-Second Encyclopedia of Learning and Performance. A Trainer's Guide to Theory, Terminology, and Practice
The 30-Second Encyclopedia of Learning and Performance: A Trainers Guide to Theory, Terminology, and Practice
ISBN: 0814471781
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 110

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