Free Coaching Resources - Book Reviews
"Working with
Emotional Intelligence"
By Daniel Goleman
(Bantam Books. 1998, New
York: New York. ISBN 0553-10462-4)
Reviewed by
Matt M. Starcevich, Ph.D.
Quoting from the
author, why write this book? "Because many of most organizations’ efforts to
encourage emotional intelligence have been poor, wasting vast amounts of time, energy, and
money". A valuable resource book summarizing the research and field of emotional
intelligence in a way that is practical for both business organizations and those charged
with training and developing employees. The footnotes are worth the price of the book for
those interested in the research roots and current works in a field that will
revolutionize how we look at both competencies and employee training.
The Emotional Competence Framework is:
Personal Competence
These competencies determine
how we manage ourselves
Self-awareness
Emotional awareness:
Recognizing one’s emotions and their effects. People with this competence:
Know which emotions they are feeling and
why
Realize the links between their feelings
and what they think, do, and say
Recognize how their feelings affect their
performance
Have a guiding awareness of their values
and goals
Accurate self-assessment:
Knowing one’s strengths and limits. People with this competence are:
Aware of their strengths and weaknesses
Reflective, learning from experience
Open to candid feedback, new perspectives,
continuous learning, and self-development
Able to show a sense of humor and
perspective about themselves
Self-confidence: Sureness
about one’s self-worth and capabilities. People with this competence:
Present themselves with self-assurance;
have "presence"
Can voice views that are unpopular and go
out on a limb for what is right
Are decisive, able to make sound decisions
despite uncertainties and pressures
Self-Regulation
Self-control: Managing
disruptive emotions and impulses. People with this competence:
Manage their impulsive feelings and
distressing emotions well
Stay composed, positive, and unflappable
even in trying moments
Think clearly and stay focused under
pressure
Trustworthiness: Maintaining
standards of honesty and integrity. People with this competence:
Act ethically and are above reproach
Build trust through their reliability and
authenticity
Admit their own mistakes and confront
unethical actions in others
Take tough, principled stands even if they
are unpopular
Conscientiousness: Taking
responsibility for personal performance. People with this competence:
Meet commitments and keep promises
Hold themselves accountable for meeting
their objectives
Are organized and careful in their work
Adaptability: Flexibility in
handling change. People with this competence:
Smoothly handle multiple demands, shifting
priorities, and rapid change
Adapt their responses and tactics to fit
fluid circumstances
Are flexible in how they see events
Innovation: Being comfortable
with and open to novel ideas and new information. People with this competence:
Seek out fresh ideas from a wide variety of
sources
Entertain original solutions to problems
Generate new ideas
Take fresh perspectives and risks in their
thinking
Self-Motivation
Achievement drive: Striving to
improve or meet a standard of excellence. People with this competence:
Are results-oriented, with a high drive to
meet their objectives and standards
Set challenging goals and take calculated
risks
Pursue information to reduce uncertainty
and find ways to do better
Learn how to improve their performance
Commitment: Aligning with the
goals of the group or organization. People with this competence:
Readily make personal or group sacrifices
to meet a larger organizational goal
Find a sense of purpose in the larger
mission
Use the group’s core values in making
decisions and clarifying choices
Actively seek out opportunities to fulfill
the group’s mission
Initiative: Readiness to act
on opportunities. People with this competence:
Are ready to seize opportunities
Pursue goals beyond what’s required or
expected of them
Cut through red tape and bend the rules
when necessary to get the job done
Mobilize others through unusual,
enterprising efforts
Optimism: Persistence in
pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks. People with this competence:
Persist in seeking goals despite obstacles
and setbacks
Operate from hope of success rather than
fear of failure
See setbacks as due to manageable
circumstance rather than a personal flaw
Social Competence
These competencies determine
how we handle relationships
Social Awareness
Empathy: Sensing others’
feelings and perspective, and taking an active interest in their concerns. People with
this competence:
Are attentive to emotional cues and listen
well
Show sensitivity and understand
others’ perspectives
Help out based on understanding other
people’s needs and feelings
Service orientation:
Anticipating, recognizing, and meeting customers’ needs. People with this competence:
Understand customers’ needs and match
them to services or products
Seek ways to increase customers’
satisfaction and loyalty
Gladly offer appropriate assistance
Grasp a customer’s perspective, acting
as a trusted advisor
Developing others: Sensing
what others need in order to develop, and bolstering their abilities. People with this
competence:
Acknowledge and reward people’s
strengths, accomplishments, and development
Offer useful feedback and identify
people’s needs for development
Mentor, give timely coaching, and offer
assignments that challenge and grow a person’s skills.
Leveraging diversity:
Cultivating opportunities through diverse people. People with this competence:
Respect and relate well to people from
varied backgrounds
Understand diverse worldviews and are
sensitive to group differences
See diversity as opportunity, creating an
environment where diverse people can thrive
Challenge bias and intolerance
Political awareness: Reading
a group’s emotional currents and power relationships. People with this competence:
Accurately read key power relationships
Detect crucial social networks
Understand the forces that shape views and
actions of clients, customers, or competitors
Accurately read situations and
organizational and external realities
Social Skills
Influence: Wielding effective
tactics for persuasion. People with this competence:
Are skilled at persuasion
Fine-tune presentations to appeal to the
listener
Use complex strategies like indirect
influence to build consensus and support
Orchestrate dramatic events to effectively
make a point
Communication: Sending clear
and convincing messages. People with this competence:
Are effective in give-and-take, registering
emotional cues in attuning their message
Deal with difficult issues
straightforwardly
Listen well, seek mutual understanding, and
welcome sharing of information fully
Foster open communication and stay
receptive to bad news as well as good
Leadership: Inspiring and
guiding groups and people. People with this competence:
Articulate and arouse enthusiasm for a
shared vision and mission
Step forward to lead as needed, regardless
of position
Guide the performance of others while
holding them accountable
Lead by example
Change catalyst: Initiating
or managing change. People with this competence:
Recognize the need for change and remove
barriers
Challenge the status quo to acknowledge the
need for change
Champion the change and enlist others in
its pursuit
Model the change expected of others
Conflict management:
Negotiating and resolving disagreements. People with this competence:
Handle difficult people and tense
situations with diplomacy and tact
Spot potential conflict, bring
disagreements into the open, and help deescalate
Encourage debate and open discussion
Orchestrate win-win solutions
Building bonds: Nurturing
instrumental relationships. People with this competence:
Cultivate and maintain extensive informal
networks
Seek out relationships that are mutually
beneficial
Build rapport and keep others in the loop
Make and maintain personal friendships
among work associates
Collaboration and cooperation:
Working with others toward shared goals. People with this competence:
Balance a focus on task with attention to
relationships
Collaborate, sharing plans, information,
and resources
Promote a friendly, cooperative climate
Spot and nurture opportunities for
collaboration
Team capabilities: Creating
group synergy in pursuing collective goals. People with this competence:
Model team qualities like respect,
helpfulness, and cooperation
Draw all members into active and
enthusiastic participation
Build team identity, esprit de corps, and
commitment
Protect the group and its reputation; share
credit
Numerous research works are sited to
support the contention that Emotional Intelligence (EI) was found to be twice as important
in contributing to excellence as pure intellect and expertise.
As a trainer the most valuable chapters
were found in section 4: A New Model of Learning. The reader is forewarned "Our
entire system of education is geared to cognitive skills. But when it comes to learning
emotional competencies, our system is sorely lacking". The good news is the following
22 guidelins for Emotional Competence Training are discussed:
Paving the Way
Assess the organization’s needs:
Determine the competencies that are most critical for effective job performance in a
particular type of job. In doing so, use a valid method, such as comparison of the
behavioral events interviews of superior performers and average performers. Also make sure
the competencies to be developed are congruent with the organization’s culture and
overall strategy.
Assess the individual: This
assessment should be based on the key competencies needed for a particular job, and the
data should come from multiple sources using multiple methods to maximize credibility and
validity.
Deliver assessments with care: Give
the individual information on his/her strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, try to be
accurate and clear. Also, allow plenty of time for the person to digest and integrate the
information. Provide the feedback in a safe and supportive environment in order to
minimize resistance and defensiveness. But also avoid making excuses or downplaying the
seriousness of deficiencies.
Maximize learner choice: People are
more motivated to change when they freely choose to do so. As much as possible, allow
people to decide whether or not they will participate in the development process, and have
them set the change goals themselves.
Encourage people to participate:
People will be more likely to participate in development efforts if they perceive them to
be worthwhile and effective. Organizational policies and procedures should encourage
people to participate in development activity, and supervisors should provide
encouragement and the necessary support. Motivation also will be enhanced if people trust
the credibility of those who encourage them to undertake the training.
Link learning goals to personal values:
People are most motivated to pursue change that fits with their values and hopes. If a
change matters little to people, they won’t pursue it. Help people understand whether
a given change fits with what matters most to them.
Adjust expectations: Build positive
expectations by showing learners that social and emotional competence can be improved and
that such improvement will lead to valued outcomes. Also, make sure that the learners have
a realistic expectation of what the training process will involve.
Gauge readiness: Assess whether the
individual is ready for training. If the person is not ready because of insufficient
motivation or other reasons, make readiness the focus of intervention efforts.
Doing the Work of
Change
Foster a positive relationship between
the trainers and learners: Trainers who are warm, genuine, and empathic are best able
to engage the learners in the change process. Select trainers who have these qualities,
and make sure that they use them when working with the learners.
Make change self-directed: Learning
is more effective when people direct their own learning program, tailoring it to their
unique needs and circumstances. In addition to allowing people to set their own learning
goals, let them continue to be in charge of their learning throughout the program, and
tailor the training approach to the individual’s learning style.
Set clear goals: People need to be
clear about what the competence is, how to acquire it, and how to show it on the job.
Spell out the specific behaviors and skills that make up the target competence. Make
sure that the goals are clear, specific, and optimally challenging.
Break goals into manageable steps:
Change is more likely to occur if the change process is divided into manageable steps.
Encourage both trainers and trainees to avoid being overly ambitious.
Provide opportunities to practice:
Lasting change requires sustained practice on the job and elsewhere in life. An automatic
habit is being unlearned and different responses are replacing it. Use naturally occurring
opportunities for practice at work and in life. Encourage the trainees to try the new
behaviors repeatedly and consistently over a period of months.
Give performance feedback: Ongoing
feedback encourages people and directs change. Provide focused and sustained feedback as
the learners practice new behaviors. Make sure that supervisors, peers, friends, family
members – or some combination of these – give periodic feedback on progress.
Rely on experiential methods: Active,
concrete, experiential methods tend to work best for learning social and emotional
competencies. Development activities that engage all the senses and that are dramatic and
powerful can be especially effective.
Build in support: Change is
facilitated through ongoing support of others who are going through similar changes (such
as a support group). Programs should encourage the formation of groups where people give
each other support throughout the change effort. Coaches and mentors also can be valuable
in helping support the desired change.
Use models: Use live or videotaped
models that clearly show how the competency can be used in realistic situations. Encourage
learners to study, analyze, and emulate the models.
Enhance insight: Self-awareness is
the cornerstone of emotional and social competence. Help learners acquire greater
understanding about how their thoughts, feelings, and behavior affect themselves and
others.
Prevent relapse: Use relapse
prevention, which helps people use lapses and mistakes as lessons to prepare themselves
for further efforts.
Encouraging Transfer
and Maintenance of Change
Encourage use of skills on the job:
Supervisors, peers, and subordinates should reinforce and reward learners for using their
new skills on the job. Coaches and mentors also can serve this function. Also, provide
prompts and cues, such as through periodic follow-ups. Change also is more likely to
endure when high status persons, such as supervisors and upper-level management model it.
Develop an organizational culture that
supports learning: Change will be more enduring if the organization’s culture and
tone support the change and offer a safe atmosphere for experimentation.
Did It Work?
Evaluating Change
Evaluate: To see if the development
effort has lasting effects, evaluate it. When possible, find unobtrusive measures of the
competence or skill as shown on the job, before and after training and also at least two
months later. One-year follow-ups also are highly desirable. In addition to charting
progress on the acquisition of competencies, also assess the impact on important
job-related outcomes, such as performance measures, and indicators of adjustment such as
absenteeism, grievances, health status, etc.
The only criticism is that sample programs
were not included. This is remedied for the interested reader by going to www.EIConsortium.org where you can download a full
technical report, model program summaries, and many other pieces of valuable information.
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