Focus: The Many Levels of Emotional Intelligence

It no longer draws strange looks or expressions of disbelief when the subject of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is discussed in a business context. Since Daniel Goleman first brought the concept into the broader public awareness with his book Emotional Intelligence in 1995, EI has now been extensively studied and widely accepted as an important enabler for success in leadership, and for building teams and entire organizations that foster engagement, creativity and success.

There still remain some misconceptions as to what EI really is, and how to both develop and demonstrate it in an organizational setting. There is no question that emotional intelligence begins with the individual and his or her ability to be aware of their emotional state, to assess it accurately, and to effectively ‘use’ their emotions in a particular situation. And it is also so much more than this. So once again Daniel Goleman provides a perspective in his book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (2013), where he now advocates for the importance of EI at three distinct levels: Self, Others, and the Wider World.

The fundamental focus of EI has always begun with Self. One of the emerging practices that is assisting a better focus on self is that of mindfulness. This has evolved far beyond its roots in eastern religious traditions, and its mainstream popularization, to a recognition of mindfulness practice as essential to success at the executive level. Ellen Langer, a Harvard Professor of Psychology and expert on mindfulness believes that one of the best ways that a senior leader can cope with the volume of information that they have to deal with, make decisions appropriately and, master the complex relationships that must manage is to cultivate a consciousness of awareness. They must notice what they ‘need to notice’ and to sift through the extraneous elements to deal with the truly crucial aspects that require their attention and action. The practice of mindfulness helps to sharpen that focus.

To focus on Others, the EI literature has typically emphasized the need for a leader to have empathy for others: members of his or her team, colleagues, their boss or for the clients with whom they interact. Over time, I have met with many well-intentioned leaders who felt that they were running an ‘empathy deficit’ – a low level of empathy - and were concerned that they were somehow deficient as a leader despite having what they considered to be a successful, engaged team. A new stream of research in emotional intelligence is actually avowing the benefits of compassion over empathy. Compassion implies that a leader understands the difficulty that someone is facing and is motivated to help them solve their problem, without vicariously experiencing the ‘pain’ of the other person, which empathy presumes. It is believed that this helps the leader to be more effective. Studies by neuroscientists using functional MRI scans have actually demonstrated that different areas of the brain ‘light up’ whether we experience empathy or compassion. Empathy lights up the same regions of the brain as activate when we experience pain ourselves, so there may be hope for those leaders who feel a little short on empathy to painlessly assist their team members with a more compassionate approach to problem-solving.

Turning our attention to the Wider World requires a very robust foundation of both emotional and critical thinking skills. EI is always an amalgam of cognition and emotion and with the incredibly complex decisions that leaders face in a seamless, 24/7, globalized world success demands both clear thinking and effective emotional self-management. This requires all of the skills outlined above along with an ability to manage anxiety while dealing with complexity, and not just balancing but relating to and understanding the needs of multiple, diverse stakeholders in a constantly changing, often unpredictable environment. Surely a ‘tall order’ to fill but supplementing education, knowledge and experience with a healthy ‘three tier’ framework of emotional intelligence skills can help most leaders to master the challenge and succeed.

If you are interested in understanding your emotional intelligence and how to improve it, Fred Jacques will be facilitating Emotionally Intelligent Leader, starting September, 2017. This program is eligible to apply for grant funding up to five weeks before the program start date which will cover 2/3 of program investment. 

About the Author: Fred Jacques, PhD
Fred is a leadership educator and consultant with over 30 years of experience in both the public and the private sectors. He has designed and delivered leadership development programs that incorporate best practices in seminar-style instruction, experiential exercises, 360-degree feedback and individualized coaching. Fred is a sought-after facilitator and coach and is known for his attention to client needs and his sense of humour. Fred has a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Haskayne School of Business and an M.A. in Applied Behavioral Sciences from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at City University. He is a Certified Human Resources Professional and is accredited in the use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the EQi-2.0 and numerous other assessment tools.