EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

What is Emotional Intelligence?

• Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions.
• In a nutshell, Emotional Intelligence is the ability to:
  • Recognize, understand and manage our own emotions and;
  • Recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others.

The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence

• Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence:

1. 1. Perceiving Emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to accurately perceive them. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.
   2. Reasoning with Emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.
   3. Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean.
   4. Managing Emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a key part of emotional intelligence. Regulating emotions, responding appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of emotional management.

A Brief History of Emotional Intelligence 1930s – Edward Thorndike describes the concept of “social intelligence” as the ability to get along with other people. 1940s – David Wechsler suggests that affective components of intelligence may be essential to success in life. 1950s – Humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow describe how people can build emotional strength. 1975 – Howard Gardner publishes The Shattered Mind, which introduces the concept of multiple intelligences. 1985 – Wayne Payne introduces the term emotional intelligence in his doctoral dissertation entitled “A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self-integration; relating to fear, pain and desire. 1987 – In an article published in Mensa Magazine, Keith Beasley uses the term “emotional quotient.” It has been suggested that this is the first published use of the term. 1990 – Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer publish their landmark article, “Emotional Intelligence,” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality. 1995 – The concept of emotional intelligence is popularized after publication of psychologist and New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Civil Services

• Better decision making: Biological evidence suggests that decision-making is neurologically impossible without being informed by emotions. So, EI furthers neutrality and impartiality when there is conflict of interest.
• Better Communication: Emotionally intelligent people listen to other people and know how to communicate effectively (Goleman 1997). Hence, an emotionally intelligent Civil Servant manages to execute policies effectively through better communication with public at large. Empathy and integrity takes precedence over personal biases when one is emotionally sorted out.
• Better coordination with subordinates- The quality of EI makes a public servant more aware and compassionate. Ego, pride or other negative emotions fail to creep in such personalities.
• Management of disruptive emotions- A civil servant while working in high pressure environment often becomes subject to political pressure, life threats etc. Only a public servant who is Emotionally Intelligent would be able to handle such pressures without succumbing to anger, depression or compromise.
• Better execution of Policies- According to a research working with colleagues who aren’t self-aware can cut a team’s success in half and, lead to increased stress and decreased motivation.
• Fosters Leadership- Self-awareness is at the core of everything. It describes the ability to not only understand one’s strengths and weaknesses, but to recognize emotions and the effect they have on herself (public servant) and her team’s performance.
• More efficient administration: Because Emotional intelligence helps to -
  • respond to situations very flexibly.
  • take advantage of the right time and right place.
  • make sense of ambiguous or contradictory messages.
  • recognize the importance of different elements of a situation.
  • find similarities between situations despite differences that may separate them.
  • draw distinctions between situations despite similarities that may link them.
  • synthesize new concepts by taking old concepts and combining them in new ways.
  • develop ideas that are novel.
• Build Trust with people: Emotionally intelligent people listen to other people’s emotions and can empathize with them. Emotionally intelligent people act ethically and build trust through integrity and reliability.
• Better negotiations: Emotionally intelligent people can negotiate and resolve disagreements. This characteristic is the heart of public service.
• Leading by Listening: To build stocks of social capital, one of the most important skills a public administrator needs is the ability to listen -- to self and others
• Better Governance: All public service is people service. Relationships are at the heart of governance. To the extent that public administration mirrors the hearts and minds of people, it is governance. EI helps in building relationships with people and ensures better implementation of public schemes.
• “360 degree Leadership” -- public administrators with high enough levels of emotional intelligence :
  • Lead up -- build social capital with political superiors and elected officials;
  • Lead down -- build social capital with lower-level staff;
  • Lead across -- build social capital with peers;
  • Lead out -- build social capital with stakeholders outside ministry -- NGOs, academics, media, citizens etc

Neuroscientific research shows some stunning differences between the classical bureaucratic assessment of emotions and current scientific understanding (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997,): Traditional Perception on emotions     Modern neuroscience on emotions Make us inefficient                                   Make us effective Sign of weakness                                     Sign of strength Interfere with good judgement                  Essential to good judgement Distract us                                               Motivate us Obstruct, or slow down, reasoning             Enhance, or speed up, reasoning Arbitrary and tyrannical                            Build trust and connection Weaken neutrality                                    Activate ethical values Inhibit the flow of objective data               Provide vital information and feedback Complicate planning                                 Spark creativity and innovation Undermine management                           Enhance leadership Hence, for public administrators, management of emotions and leadership skills are not mutually exclusive

Closing Thoughts on EI in Public Service

• Evidence from evolutionary biology and nueroscience shows that EI have primacy over IQ for building group intelligence and social capital.
• Without the guidance of emotions we cannot be intelligent. Without the guidance of emotions we cannot be rational.
• People who are high in emotional intelligence know how to listen to their emotions and regulate their intensity so they are not hijacked by them.
• Emotionally intelligence people know how to deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.
• Thus, emotionally intelligent behavior is a prerequisite for building bridges of mutual understanding and trust in the space between people -- in “administrative space.”
• “Emotional Intelligence” is the very marker that distinguishes routine management from outstanding leadership and the marker that distinguishes dead organizations from living organizations (Ashkanansy, Hartel, Zerbe, 2000).
• To promote effective and efficient governance, large stocks of social capital are needed to fill the gaps of mistrust in every ministry, in every department, in every office, and in every nook and cranny in administrative space.

 

Promoting EI in children

• As adults, our life is largely influenced by what we experienced in our childhood. The increasing rates of distress in adults is deeply rooted in the imprints we received as children, around how to express feelings and emotions.
• According to recent research people with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and benefit academically, professionally, and socially.
• And early childhood is the best time for children to develop “social skills” and “emotional intelligence”.

 

SEL in schools

• Our modern environment is motivated by instant gratification and hence a student’s attention span is getting shorter and shorter.
• There is academic competition at the global level, peer pressure, cyber-bullying, embarrassing childhood moments to vulnerable moments of failure or rejection.
• Thus, coaching children to manage negative emotions is vital.
• The discussion around incorporating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools is at all-time high.
• From effective problem-solving to self-discipline, from impulse control to emotion management and more, SEL provides a foundation for positive, long-term effect on kids, adults and communities.
• Learning to deal with the pain of loss or failure or the sting of rejection can be one of the most vital skills that is taught through SEL.
• Overcoming these things each time it happens helps the mind build resilience in the same way that vaccines help the body become resilient towards viruses.
• As they navigate their teen and early adulthood years, this will help them develop a strong mind capable of overcoming setbacks as well as a productive mind that can find inspiration and happiness.
• Our education system should adopt SEL systems.

 

Role of parents

• Fine parenting lies in comprehending the emotional source of a problematic behavior in children.
• When a child’s emotion rushes high with unbearable feelings or meltdowns in trivial situations or “crying over little things”, this is where a child’s “emotional intelligence” needs to be worked upon.
• These include:
• Teaching the child importance of empathy and not sympathy
• Giving space to children
• Encouraging children to play with children of mixed age. This gives the child exposure to real life scenarios like handling your boss and team members.
• Allowing children to take charge of their lives.
• Being a pillar of unconditional support, love and respect for the child.
• Also, ‘Gender-neutral parenting will help children develop higher emotional intelligence.’
• Children who conform and become captive to restrictive gender rules only cultivate the qualities and skills acceptable to their gender.
• As a result, they can grow up emotionally stunted and can lose out on wholesome development.

Conclusion

• Good mental health allows children to think clearly, develop socially and learn new skills.
• It helps them to develop self-confidence, high self-esteem and a healthy emotional outlook on life.
• After all, children who will one day develop into adults are the future of our society and country.