With the emergence of Emotional Intelligence many business leaders agreed with the basic message that success is strongly influenced by personal qualities such as perseverance, self-control, and skill in getting along with others. They could point to "super sales persons" who had an uncanny ability to sense what was most important to the customers and to develop a trusting relationship with them.
They could point to customer service employees who excelled when it came to helping angry customers to calm down and be more reasonable about their problems with the product or service. And they also could point to brilliant executives who did everything well except get along with people, or to managers who were technically brilliant but could not handle stress, and whose careers stalled because of these deficiencies. Business leaders well understood how valuable these "Emotionally Intelligent" employees are to an enterprise.
But what about the many workers who lack these important emotional competencies? Is it possible for adults to become more socially and emotionally competent? Many business leaders are less certain about this question. For instance, the dean of a major business school, when asked about the importance of Emotional Intelligence at work, enthusiastically agreed that it was crucial. But when asked as to how his school attempted to improve the Emotional Intelligence of MBA students, he said, "We don’t do anything. I don’t think that our students’ Emotional Intelligence can be improved by the time they come here. They’re already adults, and these qualities are developed early in life."
On the other hand, there are those who seem to claim that they can raise the Emotional Intelligence of a whole group of employees in a day or less. Scores of consultants now are selling workshops and seminars designed to help people become more emotionally competent and socially skilled. Some of these programs are quite good, but others make unrealistic claims. The worst ones are those that involve a heavy reliance on inspirational lectures or intense, short-lived experiences – and little else.
So who is right – the skeptics who believe that nothing can be done to improve emotional competence after the age of 15, or the hucksters who claim that they can turn emotional dunces into emotional Einstein’s in an afternoon? As usual, the answer lies somewhere in between.
A growing body of research on emotional learning and behavior change suggests that it is possible to help people of any age to become more emotionally intelligent at work. However, many programs designed to do so fail to recognize the difference between two types of learning.
They could point to customer service employees who excelled when it came to helping angry customers to calm down and be more reasonable about their problems with the product or service. And they also could point to brilliant executives who did everything well except get along with people, or to managers who were technically brilliant but could not handle stress, and whose careers stalled because of these deficiencies. Business leaders well understood how valuable these "Emotionally Intelligent" employees are to an enterprise.
But what about the many workers who lack these important emotional competencies? Is it possible for adults to become more socially and emotionally competent? Many business leaders are less certain about this question. For instance, the dean of a major business school, when asked about the importance of Emotional Intelligence at work, enthusiastically agreed that it was crucial. But when asked as to how his school attempted to improve the Emotional Intelligence of MBA students, he said, "We don’t do anything. I don’t think that our students’ Emotional Intelligence can be improved by the time they come here. They’re already adults, and these qualities are developed early in life."
On the other hand, there are those who seem to claim that they can raise the Emotional Intelligence of a whole group of employees in a day or less. Scores of consultants now are selling workshops and seminars designed to help people become more emotionally competent and socially skilled. Some of these programs are quite good, but others make unrealistic claims. The worst ones are those that involve a heavy reliance on inspirational lectures or intense, short-lived experiences – and little else.
So who is right – the skeptics who believe that nothing can be done to improve emotional competence after the age of 15, or the hucksters who claim that they can turn emotional dunces into emotional Einstein’s in an afternoon? As usual, the answer lies somewhere in between.
A growing body of research on emotional learning and behavior change suggests that it is possible to help people of any age to become more emotionally intelligent at work. However, many programs designed to do so fail to recognize the difference between two types of learning.