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Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Information Technology - UNC CAUSE November, 2006

Emotional Intelligence (EI): Implications for Information Technology

Robert Orr, Associate CIO Dr. John Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Human Resources

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Emotional Intelligence (EI): It’s Created Quite a Buzz:

Ever since Dan Goleman’s first book on EI in 1995, EI has become one of hottest buzzwords in corporate America. Ex.--When Harvard Business Review published article

on EI, it attracted higher percentage of readers than any other article published in that journal in 40 years!

Ex.--When Johnson & Johnson CEO read that same article, he was so impressed he sent copies to his 400 top executives!

It’s more than 10 years since the buzz began—and the interest—and controversy—continue!

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Emotional Intelligence (EI)

What is it? Here are two of many definitions out there: Emotional Intelligence, also called EI and often

measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.

A form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action. (Salovey & Mayer, 1990)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion


Emotional Intelligence (EI) Competencies: Four Major Groups

SelfPersonal competence

OtherSocial competence

Recognition 1)Self-AwarenessEmotional Self-awarenessAccurate self-assessmentSelf-confidence

2)Social AwarenessEmpathyService orientationOrganizational awareness

Regulation 3)Self-ManagementSelf-controlTrustworthinessConscientiousnessAdaptabilityAchievement DriveInitiative

4)Relationship ManagementDeveloping othersInfluenceCommunicationConflict ManagementLeadershipChange catalystBuilding bondsTeamwork & collaboration

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1)Self-awareness domain

Emotional Self-awareness – recognizing one’s own feelings and how they impact one’s performance

Accurate self-assessment - recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses

Self-confidence

“Accurate self-assessment was a hallmark of superior performance in a study of several hundred managers from twelve different organizations” (Boyatzis, 1982)

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2)Social-awareness domain

Empathy – aware of others’ emotions, concerns

Service orientation – recognizes customers’ unstated needs and concerns

Organizational awareness – ability to read undercurrents of emotion and political realities of a group

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3)Self–management domain Emotional self-control - controlling anger, stress Trustworthiness - letting others know one’s

values, principles, intentions and acting consistently

Conscientiousness - careful, self-disciplined, attending to responsibilities

Adaptability – open to information, willing to change assumptions

Achievement Orientation – striving to improve Initiative – act before being forced, proactive

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4)Relationship management domain Developing others – sensing others’ development needs and

bolstering their abilities Influence – handle and manage emotions in other people Communication – creating an atmosphere of openness,

fostering dialog Conflict Management – spotting brewing issues and taking

steps to calm Leadership – visionary, inspire others, shared mission Change catalyst – recognize need for change, remove barriers,

challenge status quo Building bonds – networking, knowledge frameworks, resources Teamwork & collaboration – practice domain competencies at

group level

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A Sample of EI Research: Penn State U. study (Sosik & Megerian,1999) looked at self-

awareness component of EI and transformational leadership:

63 managers, 192 subordinates, and 63 management superiors in sample

Transformational leaders who are self-aware possess high levels of self-confidence and self-efficacy and provide orientation for followers

Empirical support for EI being the foundation of other aspects of leadership.

Self-awareness enable leaders to understand the emotional implications of their own feelings and thoughts

Mgrs who maintain accurate self-awareness appear more effective to their superiors and subordinates

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A Sample of EI Research

But even before it was called EI… Met Life study (Schulman, 1995):

Salespeople who were optimists outsold pessimists by 57% over two year employment

Bachman, 1988: US Navy study found most effective leaders were

warmer, more outgoing, emotionally expressive, dramatic and sociable

Lusch & Serpkenci, 1990: Study found store mgrs’ ability to manage feelings

and stress directly related to net profits, sales per sq ft, sales per employee, etc.

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EI Research Specific to IT Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS), 1999:

Tested EI of 104 information technology specialists (using BarOn EQ-i, first scientific measure of EI)

Sample included systems analysts, technical support specialists, network administrators, systems analysts, programmers.

EI scores (average score, some high, some low) were slightly lower than other work groups (e.g., HR, Marketing)

“Traditionally, it has been believed that the cognitively smartest (highest IQ) make the best technical performers, but our initial research is showing that the high EQ IT professionals may be the real stars. They use their interpersonal skills to get more information, to get help solving problems, and are generally better liked by others.“ (Dr. Steven Stein, psychologist and President of MHS)

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Why EI for IT?Because It’s not about technology, it’s

about relationships

EDUCAUSE Top 10 issues – Dewey & DeBlois, 2006 Security and ID management – how will the campus

balance security and the tradition of open networking? Funding IT – interact with campus on achieving

institutional goals through technology Administrative/ERP/information systems – what are user

expectations and how will they be managed? Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity – key elements

are technology, people and communication Faculty development, support and training – role of IT:

driver, supporter, or in-between?

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IT is about Relationships

IT professionals are being called on now “to be partners in addressing campus issues, not just campus IT issues. . . . Our profession has evolved and our experience has deepened. It is time to

engage in higher education’s grand challenges.” (EDUCAUSE Executive

Team, 2006)

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EI Scenarios: Your Turn Scenario 1

An instructional developer has been working with a senior faculty member on adding “active learning” elements into some lesson plans and they have had several good conversations. When the developer presents a new lesson outline that features best practices in student interaction and group work, the faculty member rejects the plan and suggests the effort was a waste of time.

Why this reaction? (Fear of failure, uncertain of own ability, comfortable teaching in old way) How could EI help?

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EI Scenarios: Your TurnScenario 2

The help desk receives a call from a student asking for help in completing an assignment using technology. The student’s computer is loaded with spyware and the helpdesk suggests installing campus software to avoid this. The student, rather than thanking the help desk, turns rude and calls the help lame.

Why? (Anxiety over admitting he did know about spyware or anxiety that people would find out that he had been accessing inappropriate content. ) How can EI help?

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The DBA needs the SYS/Ops folks to grant access to certain features on the server in order to complete an important project. The Sys/ops folks say no problem but drag their feet in granting the access.

Why (Loss of control, job security)? How could EI help?

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A member of your staff does great work and always delivers on what the clients wants as opposed to another worker who has trouble meeting deadlines--but clients always ask for the second worker.

Why? (Ability to be empathic, helpful, understanding, non-threatening) How could EI help?

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EI Scenarios: Your Turn Scenario 5

You know your staff are great and work hard to support those they serve, yet the customer service indexes never reflect excellent levels.

What’s going on? (focus on technology instead of relationships) How could EI help?

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EI: Not without its critics

No "benchmark" to set itself against. While IQ has established ranges (high to low) and tests

designed to correlate as closely as possible with school grades, EI lacks similar objective benchmarks

Many psychologists believe if it’s an “intelligence” like IQ, then it cannot be developed.

Some critics say EI is “old wine in new wineskins”—a “repackaging” of social intelligence.

Despite the critics, EI continues to get LOTS of attention from scholarly and professional communities.

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Closing Thoughts:

“The measurement of emotional intelligence in the workplace is the first step towards improving it. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your teams, you can systematically work towards increasing the skills that count. The truly intelligent human being is one who is not only “cogtelligent” (cognitively intelligent) but also “emtelligent” (emotionally intelligent).“ Dr. Reuven Bar-On, the author of the EQ-i and the

person who coined the term "EQ" over twelve years ago

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Closing Thoughts:

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head -- it is the unique intersection of both” (David Caruso)

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Good EI Resources

Goleman, D., Boyatsis, R., & McKee, A. (2004). Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business School Press.

Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D. (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Feldman, D. (1999). The Handbook of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: Inspiring Others to Achieve Results. Leadership Solutions Press, Inc.

Cherniss, C. & Goleman, D. (2001). The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace: How to Select For, Measure, and Improve Emotional Intelligence in Individuals, Groups, and Organizations. Jossey Bass.

www.eiconsortium.org (LOTS of helpful info here!) http://ei.haygroup.com/resources/default_ieitest.htm

(Fun “mini” EI self-assessment tool on this site).

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http://www.eiconsortium.org/

http://ei.haygroup.com/resources/default_ieitest.htm


Emotional Intelligence: Implications

for Information Technology Dr. John Sherlock ([email protected])Robert Orr ([email protected])

Questions?

mailto:[email protected]

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