Article from: Australian Financial Review
July 27, 2004
NEWS; Pg. 5
Emotions belong in the office too
BYLINE: Catherine Fox.
Emotional intelligence is extremely useful in the workplace and it can be
taught, like any other skill, writes Catherine Fox. The concept of emotional
intelligence has generated so much interest in business circles since it was
popularised by Daniel Goleman’s book on the topic in the mid-1990s that it has
become a fixture in management lexicons. Confusion about what it means, however,
and how it can be applied in business circles has grown as quickly as its fad
status. According to Yale academic David Caruso, the idea that emotional
intelligence (or EQ) is more important than IQ, or that it simply doesn’t exist
are both incorrect and reflect the level of dissension about the topic.
The popular view of EQ as a suite of social skills designed to trigger “nice”
behaviour is misguided, says Caruso, who visited
Australia this month to deliver a seminar on the
topic at the Australian Graduate School of Management. There has been little
differentiation, he believes, between this popular definition and the scientific
approach, which is based on the concept that EQ is a cognitive ability which can
be tested.
With
Peter Salovey , Caruso recently wrote a book
specifically designed to help managers apply EQ, The Emotionally Intelligent
Manager: How to develop and use the four key emotional skills of leadership.
“The book was designed for professionals in the workplace, it’s a very practical
approach about the role of emotions at work,” he says. “There are four emotional
skills: the ability to identify emotions; the use of emotions to help thinking;
understanding emotions and their causes; and managing emotions.” His gripe with
some approaches to the subject is that even academic researchers have fallen
into the trap of using mixed models of EQ that are non-cognitive and mix various
parts of personality into something they call EQ. These models make it difficult
to define and test the skills that make up EQ, he argues. But it is possible to
teach these skills, says Caruso. “It’s not about being a nice person or EQ being
as important as IQ. Anybody can learn anything. I’m trying to learn Japanese and
I’ll never be very good at it. Someone may have a low emotional intelligence
skill but they can be taught. Some of the reasons it’s hard to do these things
is we don’t get feedback.” As an example, Caruso explains that the skill of
recognising emotions in others can be very effectively taught by showing
pictures of people in various emotional states, and testing the accuracy of
responses. But these are not the kinds of lessons included on the typical
training agenda because they are considered too soft or not very important.
Along with Salovey and another colleague,
John Mayer, Caruso has produced two ability tests for
EQ, and is continuing to research measuring and applying the concept in the
workplace. The way we think, he contends, is an emotional process. And emotions
enhance our thinking, which is a different message, Caruso says, from that of
Daniel Goleman. “Goleman says emotions have to be controlled and we have to get
rid of them. But emotions and thinking are inextricably linked and we think with
emotion.” Even the most emotionally repressed person can benefit from training
in the core EQ skills and recognise the need for them at work. Ask anyone if
they would go and ask for a pay rise when the boss is in a bad mood and they
will immediately understand the role of emotions at work, Caruso points out.
“Feelings do have a place in the workplace. It’s a scary thought and makes life
more complex. Emotions are not extraneous and we can understand them.” Many
managers, however, continue to relegate the techniques required for high EQ
either to the too-hard basket or dismiss them as peripheral. “Managers don’t
want to get into the soft-skills training, I talk about hard skills and the fact
we can measure it in the hard skills. We have an objective way of measurement.”
In his training and seminars for companies, Caruso says he is conscious of the
need to tailor the content for the people involved, provide practical examples,
testing and feedback. Once there is an acknowledgement of the impact emotions
can have on workplace performance, it’s essential to give employees a very
down-to-earth view of the topic and to approach it in a way that does not
intimidate or expose them. “I’ve been a manager and we try to talk their
language. We have to do something with it, and it’s not that hard. Some of this
change and development can occur by reading [about the topic] because it raises
awareness and gives you concrete skills. “By giving people a very practical view
of emotion in the workplace they are not threatened.” One of the messages Caruso
is keen to stress is the role emotions play in making critical decisions. His
consulting work has revealed a number of cases showing some of the worst
decisions about acquisitions and mergers were often the result of ignoring a
strong intuitive feeling. “Had they only gone with their gut they wouldn’t have
gone with their decision. It’s the little voice in the back of your head. Those
emotions were trying to send a message and you refused to listen.”