How to Develop Emotional Competence

A. PERSONAL COMPETENCE

1.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
2.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

INNOVATIVENESS:
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

3.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

B.SOCIAL COMPETENCE

1.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 skill

.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

2.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

Thanks to: "Ajay Singh Niranjan" ajay_uor@yahoo.com


Another input:

Our "Intelligence Quotient" or "IQ" is generally thought of as our linear, analytical intelligence. Initially it was expected that IQ would be a strong predictor of success in careers. In fact it has turned out to be a weak predictor of success. IQ appears to be related to minimum standards to enter a given a profession. But once you have chosen your career, what actually leads to success is far more complicated.

Daniel Goleman popularized the phrase "Emotional Intelligence" with the publication of his book by the same title in 1995. In his book, Goleman cites research at Bell Labs that examined star performers, and tried to determine what distinguished them from more average performers. It appeared that star performers had stronger relationship skills than average performers. Harvard Business Review published the results of the Bell Labs study in 1993. Business interest in the study of "Emotional Intelligence" or "EQ" began in earnest.

EQ is actually a large collection of skills. Goleman has recently grouped these skills into 4 quadrants as shown below1.

1. SELF AWARENESS
Emotional self-awareness
Accurate self-assessment
Self-confidence

2. OTHER AWARENESS
Empathy
Organizational Awareness
Service Orientation

3. SELF MANAGEMENT
Self-Control
Trustworthiness
Conscientiousness
Adaptability
Achievement Orientation
Initiative

4. SOCIAL SKILLS
Teamwork & Collaboration
Developing Others
Influence
Communication
Leadership
Conflict Management


There is a fascinating relationship among these quadrants. Research is showing that EQ begins in the Self Awareness quadrant. The degree to which we are self-aware literally limits our ability to be aware of others, or to manage ourselves. The last skills to develop are our Social Skills, being dependent on the other 3 quadrants. Self-awareness is dependent on listening to feedback. So a willingness to truly hear others is a prerequisite for high EQ.
It is interesting that Socrates gave the advice "Know Thyself" approximately 2400 years ago. The historical Buddha (roughly 2500 years ago) made the study of the mind (profound self-knowledge) such an elevated practice that it became a major world religion.

So what is the link to Spiritual Intelligence? Dana Zohar, a quantum physicist, gave a lecture at the Science and Consciousness conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in April 2001. She was working on a new book on Spiritual Intelligence (or "SQ"), and at that time listed 9 characteristics of SQ. The first of Zohar’s points directly echoes the first quadrant of EQ – Self Awareness but goes beyond it to a sense of connection to the universe.
Spiritual Intelligence, according to Zohar, is:
1. Self-Awareness … you know who you really are and you know that you are connected with the whole universe.

2. Vision & Values Led – or Idealism. Children naturally want to serve, and so do we. Vision and values led is definitive of our humanity.

3. The Capacity to Face and USE Adversity…owning our mistakes and adversity and using pain and tragedy to learn

4. To be Holistic: seeing the connections between things. Being open to and interested in EVERYTHING.

5. Diversity…thriving in and celebrating diversity. I look at you and see what is different in you and I say "Thank God for that!"

6. Field Independence (Courage)…a term from psychology that means the courage not to adapt, to be independent.

7. The Tendency to Ask WHY? Questions are infinite. In Quantum Physics questions CREATE reality.

8. The Ability to Re-Frame…put things into a larger context of meaning.

9. Spontaneity. This is NOT acting on a whim…it comes from the same Latin roots as RESPONSE and RESPONSIBILITY. It is not conditioned by fear. It is appropriately "responsive to" the world.
Jim Collins became famous in the world of business with the publication of his first book, "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies" (HarperCollins, 1994) co-authored with James Porras. In it they described their in-depth research and their conclusions regarding 18 companies that were unique in their reputation in their industry, their resilience through hard times and their financial success over 50+ years. The central conclusion: truly great companies are Visionary and Values driven. This directly echoes Dr. Zohar’s 2nd characteristic of SQ.

In his latest book, "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t," (HarperCollins 2001) Jim Collins researched 11 companies who made the transition from being good companies to being "great" companies on par with the companies in "Built to Last". A key finding was that each company had what he calls "Level 5 Leadership" (see www.jimcollins. com for more information) . As I read about Level 5 leaders I realized that they seemed to demonstrate most or all of the characteristics described as "SQ" by Zohar. In addition, they showed a profound personal humility and a powerful faith that they and their company would prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.

Self-awareness and cultivating inner strength (or faith) has a solid grounding in all of the major spiritual traditions. Jesus went into the wilderness to meditate and to hear the voice of the infinite creator, as did Abraham, Moses and Mohammed. Buddhists and Hindus practice meditation for these purposes as well.

The implications for leadership are clear. High IQ doesn’t guarantee a good leader. High EQ has been correlated with success. But does it alone create greatness? Sustained and recognized greatness, even in the tough world of Corporate America, is obtained by something deeper. If a corporate leader is willing to deeply know herself and her place in the universe, she can reach the graduate school of SQ. With SQ comes the ultimate success – obtaining company success in such a way that customers, employees and society all benefit. And after creating a great company, the high SQ person sincerely deflects all praise onto the "wonderful people of this organization. "

What if EQ and SQ skills became part of the curriculum for all leaders? With solid analysis such as Jim Collins’ leading the way, perhaps that day will soon come.

Thanks to:
"Ajay Singh Niranjan" ajay_uor@yahoo.com