Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Effectiveness
Will Wilson, PhD and Lori LaCivita, PhD
I/O Psychology
Harold Abel School of Psychology
Capella University
September 29, 2008
What can we do to better attain our own potential? Why don’t our workers reach the potential that we see in them? What characteristic most distinguishes effective employees from average workers? What separates organizations that do well from organizations that fail or who simply never seem to grow and develop beyond a limited degree of success? Upon examination of this issue, it is evident that organizational and employee and leader development involves much more than sheer, raw intelligence and hard work.
Perhaps there are factors that we are not recognizing and addressing that could have a direct effect on the attainment of potential and effectiveness. Most of us “try harder” and try to think “smarter”, but maybe that isn’t enough. Maybe we are missing something important. As an increasing body of research is being developed to address this topic, it is becoming more apparent that other factors, such as the ability to understand and master one’s own emotions and to read and respond appropriately to the emotions of others, make up a form of intelligence, that is equally important as that of raw intelligence (Goleman, 1995). This intelligence, referred to as “emotional intelligence”, pertains to the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge as well as the ability to regulate emotions to promote educational and intellectual growth (Cooper & Sawaf, 1997). Any effective leader or manager must understand their personal strengths, weaknesses, and even “trigger points” as a leader and as an individual. We use these to understand and work on the results we consistently attain in our work as well as personal lives. For some unknown reason, we have been taught to avoid our emotions and how they affect us. One route to understanding these emotions and employing them effectively in the workplace is through the understasnding of the concept of emotional intelligence.
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December 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I’m an I/O psych doctoral learner. Love the learning, the thinking, and the writing except for times like right now when I should be writing a paper and I’m distracted. HOWEVER, that’s part of my EI; the flow with the gut kind of intersects the mind and says- get to the creative stuff. I wish I had read your wonderful paper before today. I hope you’ll get this email. I have a passion for so many things- it’s hard to live in a linear world when you’re able to see the implications of so many things. Mindfulness. This will be fragmented, I must get to my paper. About me: I have 2 master’s degrees: 1) Counseling Psych, 2) Organizational Communication (research 1 schools, traditional classroom). Taught college level, lots of consulting, own a business that I put on hold to do doctoral work. I’ve been accepted at AIU in San Diego, traditional classroom setting, great I/O program, love the people, consulting center places you in organizations to “practice” but you get paid. I deferred until January, but cold feet about relocating, cost, husband, 3 sort of grown kids brings EQ to the surface and realize I can’t do it all, have it all, or be all. Back to your paper. I’ve only skimmed your paper. Do you know a professor at Rutger’s who is expert in IQ? We talked but can’t remember name (cognition) but remember voice, my enthusiasm, feelings of gutsiness, and I learned something. A human connection. That’s what’s missing in organizations. You say all the right stuff but (don’t be mad if I missed this point) you don’t mention creativity, a mind that doesn’t stop thinking about alternatives, usefulness, possibilities. Have you heard of Five Factor Model? FFM? Of course you have. Why do they put neuroticism (negative) with the four positive personality traits? The word implies one who is neurotic. An untrained hiring person would say bye-bye to a prospective employee without looking at the other 4. MOST org. members have lost creative abilities- just ask them. That’s what they think so we need creative ways to bring them into world of creativity. Potential? I’m tired of that concept. Who knows what one’s potential is until the person understands the org. implication and what the word means. Practice Potential!!! Every day, find a way to track potential. Teach employees to track success, like, “I helped a co-worker today unravel a computer glitch.” Huge, it’s the little stuff that makes an org. work. Culture? Yes, of course. But do employees know what culture is and how it influences individual, team, and org. success? How do you measure ORG culture and the inherent values of individuals? It’s not about knowing you have EI, it’s about practicing it. Leaders must make decision- either we create our work or we fail to work. Or fail, period. You can’t say, “Make up a form of intelligence” unless you provide totally understandable and applicable way to do that. We forget who we are. We lose our voice then come home and beat up our families. How sad. This notion of “find your passion…” makes most think they’ve somehow missed the boat. Others found their’s, why not me? What’s passion? Too many assumptions about where to take these pent up emotions that could be productive and useful. We leave our personalities at the door and if we’re at our desks and laugh real loud, we get strange looks. How does that make you feel? One more thought, work environments are scary. I’m into researching bullying. It’s pervasive, ugly, and psychologically devestating to the “target.” Look at the research- 37% self report having been bullied vs 5% sexual harrassment. Bullies steal emotions, turn them inside out, make us crazy. Then they hide while the target loses support networks and quits. Family suffers, even reported suicides. That’s my emotional bandwagon. Maybe the “ability to regulate emotions” should be “ability to feel free about releasing your emotions” in positive way, then bullies wouldn’t shed their’s on innocent victims. Well, that’s it for today. I hope you write back. I’ll read the rest of your work. Nancy
March 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Your article was great. I got a lot out of it on various levels. It was its emphasis on behavior that made it relative to me, even though my area of specialization is educational psychology. Nancy’s input is critical how for greater effectiveness in organizational management, and fits well with your references from accomplished leadership thinkers who advised organizations to keep the emotions in organizational life. These business scholars, you stated, often suggested that it is in the realm of intuition rather than analysis that we should look for the lost keys of management. This would no doubt require exercising intuitive thinking and integrating it with practical experience effectively. Alas! “creativity.” Susan
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
How do we make a difference? Look at the diversity in our courserooms. Everyone is unique, talented, and creative. I have found most are open to suggestion and new ideas. Research helps, but unfortunately I am often viewed negatively if I discuss theory, its role in organizational learning, culture development, leadership, communication, and performance. So I try to sugar coat my points that are supported (or opposed) to research, theory, and statistics (altho I am finding openness to the use of statistics…primarily in business and finance. Bottom line … all the talk about Human Capital and Talent Management is worthless unless we find a way to instill in organizational leaders that understanding potential and bring the quiet person forward, involving all employees in decision making processes, we’re losing a battle. Frankly, I’m tired of trying to convince people that I know what I’m talking about and measuring every word I say. Frustrating, but I won’t give up. Let’s keep the dialogue going. It’s so enlightening, thought-provoking, and insightful.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
CLARIFICATION: My point about theory and research, and feeling like I have to be so careful was aimed at organizational managers, those who hire consultants. Not fellow coursemates. They’re the best.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
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