HEALTH SUTRA : A Unique Lifestyle: Are You Emotionally Intelligent ?

"Anyone can become angry—that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—this is not easy."
- Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics

What Is Emotional Intelligence ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

The ability-based model

Emotional Intelligence(EI) includes 4 types of abilities:

Perceiving emotions — the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts- including the ability to identify one’s own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.
Using emotions — the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.
Understanding emotions — the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.
Managing emotions — the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.

The Emotional Competencies (Goleman) model

The EI model introduced by Daniel Goleman ^[12] focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. Goleman's model outlines four main EI constructs:^[12]

Self-awareness — the ability to read one's emotions and recognize their impact while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
Self-management — involves controlling one's emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
Social awareness — the ability to sense, understand, and react to other's emotions while comprehending social networks.
Relationship management - the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict.

By above models we understand that
http://www.business.barclays.co.uk/BBB/A/Content/Files/Emotional_Intelligence.pdf
Most people do experience a range of both positive and negative emotions at work.
Examples can include:
▼ Satisfaction - you have done an excellent piece of work
▼ Exhilaration - you have won a major contract
▼ Pride - you have helped someone out of a difficult situation
▼ Anger - your work that has not been appreciated
▼ Frustration - because of delays in implementing your recommendations
▼ Anxiety - difficulty in meeting deadlines

When emotions are experienced, such as satisfaction, anxiety or frustration, the
human brain is programmed to respond to the threat and an emotional response is
triggered. However, acting on that first impulse can lead to things being said or
done that are later regretted. Emotional intelligence means that whilst you
acknowledge that emotion, you then take a step back from that situation and let
rational thought influence your actions.

What are the advantages of being emotionally intelligent in practical
situations ?

Benefits of Emotional Intelligence on Life, Education, Business, and Health
http://www.nexuseq.com/press/eq_benefits.pdf
Benefits of EQ, Compiled by Six Seconds www.6seconds.org

Life

"There is convincing evidence that psychological states do affect health. Depression,grieving, pessimism all seem to worsen health in both the short run and long term" (Martin Seligman, Learned Optimism, 1998).

Success depends on "mature adaptations" including altruism, humor, self-management, and optimism/anticipation. People do change over time (George Vaillant, Adaptation to Life,1995).

75% of careers are derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies, including inability to handle interpersonal problems; unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict; or inability to adapt to change or elicit trust (The Center for Creative Leadership,1994).

85-95% of the difference between a “good leader” and an “excellent leader” is due to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998).

People who accurately perceive others’ emotions are better able to handle changes and build stronger social networks (Salovey, Bedell, Detweiler, & Mayer, 1999 cited in Cherniss,2000).

Children’s abilities to handle frustration, control emotions, and get along with other people is a better predictor of success than IQ (Snarey & Vaillant, 1985 cited in Cherniss, 2000).

Emotions and reason are intertwined, and both are critical to problem solving (Damasio,1997).

Social and emotional abilities were four times more important than IQ in determining professional success and prestige (Feist & Barron, 1996 cited in Cherniss, 2000).

Education

After training in social and emotional skills, discipline referrals to the principals dropped by 95% (Johnson & Johnson, 1994).

Social and emotional skills create higher achievement (Ornstein, 1986; Lakoff, 1980).

Improved emotional skills increase “on task” behaviors (Rosenfield, 1991).

Increased social and emotional skills reduce discipline problems (Doyle, 1986).

Emotions give a more activated and chemically stimulated brain, which helps us recall things better (Cahill et al, 1994).

After 30 social-emotional lessons, hostility decreased and pro-social behavior increased (Grossman, Second Step).

EQ training increases focus, learning, collaboration, improves classroom relationships, and decreases both negative "put downs" and violence (Anabel Jensen, Self-Science Pilot Study,2001).

People who have poor abilities at reading body language are less academically successful(Katz and Hoover, 1997).

Children with highly developed social skills perform better academically than peers who lack these skills (Grossman, et al, 1997).

Students who are anxious or depressed earn lower grades/lower achievement scores, and are more likely to repeat a grade (Kovics and Baatraens, 1994).

Children’s written/spoken narratives are more accurate, detailed, and coherent when preceded by emotional content (Liwag and Stein, 1995, cited in Frey 1999).

Emotions are crucial to sensory development because they facilitate the storage and recall of information (Rosenfield, 1988).

Stress and threat cause the brain to downshift; this reduces the opportunity for neuron growth and causes learning to be inhibited (Ornstein and Sobel, 1987).

Low levels of empathy are associated with poor school achievement (Nowicki and Duke,1992, cited in Frey 1999).

Children who respond to setbacks with hope and resiliency vs. anger and hopelessness achieve higher academic and social success (Dweck, 1996).

Students who believe their teachers support and care about them are more engaged with their work (Skinner and Belmont, 1993); they value their work more, and have higher academic goals (Goodnow, 1993, cited in Frey 1999).

Children who are able to delay gratification are more popular, earn better grades, and had an average of 210 more points on their SAT tests (Shoda, Mischel, and Peake, 1990).

Scores on a test of hope are more accurate than the SAT at predicting college grades (Snyder,1991); the same is true of a test on optimism (Schulman, 1995).

Teachers can help students lessen their frustrations, prevent behavioral problems, and accelerate learning by providing students with information and skills to make appropriate choices (Dewhurst, 1991; Meyer, 1990).

Adolescents who feel their classrooms are respectful and caring are more likely to participate in class and complete their homework (Murdock, 1999 Cited in CASEL 2002).

Programs that teach social competency decrease delinquency, alcohol and drug use, and conduct problems (Wilson, Gottfredson, & Najaka, 2001 Cited in CASEL 2002).

SEL instruction can produce significant improvements in school attitudes, school behavior,and school performance (Zins, et al., 2003).

Students who participated in a social-problem-solving program had higher academic achievement six years later than peers who were not in the program (Elias, Gara, Schuyer,Branden-Muller, & Sayette, 1991 Cited in CASEL 2002).

Seligman tested 500 members of the freshmen class at the University of Pennsylvania. He found that their scores on a test of optimism were a better predictor of actual grades during the freshmen year than SAT scores or high school grades (Schulman, 1995).

Scores on a test of hope are more accurate than the SAT at predicting college grades(Snyder,1991).

Emotional intelligence is stronger predictor of college academic success than high school grade point average (Parker, 2002)

Business

The reasons for losing customers and clients are 70% EQ-related (e.g., didn’t like that company’s customer service) (Forum Corporation on Manufacturing and Service Companies,1989 - 1995).

50% of time wasted in business is due to lack of trust (John O. Whitney, Director, Deming Center for Quality Management).

In one year, the US Airforce invested less than $10,000 for emotional competence testing and saved $2,760,000 in recruitment (Fastcompany "How Do You Feel," June 2000).

In a multinational consulting firm, partners who showed high emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies earned 139% more than the lower EQ partners (Boyatzis, 1999).

American Express tested emotional competence training on Financial Advisors; trained advisors increased business 18.1% compared to 16.2%, and nearly 90% of those who took the training reported significant improvements in their sales performance. Now all incoming advisors receive four days of emotional competence training (Fastcompany "How Do You Feel," June 2000).

After supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies, lost time accidents were reduced by 50 percent, formal grievances were reduced from an average of 15 per year to 3 per year, and the plant exceeded productivity goals by $250,000 (Pesuric & Byham, 1996).

Top performing sales clerks are 12 times more productive than those at the bottom and 85 percent more productive than an average performer. About one-third of this difference is due to technical skill and cognitive ability while two-thirds is due to emotional competence (Goleman, 1998).

UCLA research indicates that only 7% of leadership success is attributable to intellect; 93% of success comes from trust, integrity, authenticity, honesty, creativity, presence, and resilience (cited in Cooper and Sawaf, 1996).

At L’Oreal, sales agents selected on the basis of certain emotional competencies significantly outsold salespeople selected using the company’s old selection procedure by $91,370, for a net revenue increase of $2,558,360. Salespeople selected on the basis of emotional competence also had 63% less turnover during the first year (Spencer & Spencer, 1993; Spencer, McClelland, & Kelner, 1997, cited in Cherniss, 2000).

The most effective leaders in the US Navy were warmer, more outgoing, emotionally expressive, dramatic, and sociable (Bachman, 1988, cited in Cherniss, 2000).

Workers with high work pressures and poor time management skills are twice as likely to miss work; employees who have strong self-management skills cope better with work pressures (Essi Systems, 1997).

After a Motorola manufacturing facility used HeartMath's stress and EQ programs, 93% of employees had an increase in productivity (HeartMath 2003).

One of the foundations of emotional competence -- accurate self-assessment -- was associated with superior performance among several hundred managers from 12 different organizations (Boyatzis, 1982).

In UK's Whitbread group, resturants with high EQ managers had higher guest satisfaction,lower turnover, and 34% greater profit growth (Bar-On and Orme, 2003).

Health

Impulsive boys are 3-6 times as likely to be violent as adolescents, and impulsive girls are 3 times more likely to get pregnant in adolescence (Block, 1995).

Optimism is a skill that can be taught. Optimists are more motivated, more successful, have higher levels of achievement, plus significantly better physical and mental health (Seligman,1991).

The chronically sad/depressed are 2 times as likely to contract a major debilitating disease(McEwen, Stillar, 1993) (Robertson & Ritz, 1990).

Developing a positive school community significantly decreased delinquency, alcohol and drug use, drop out/non-attendance, and conduct problems (Wilson, Gottfredson, & Najaka,2001, Cited in CASEL 2002)

Adolescents who feel connected to their school have significantly lower rates of emotional distress, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, violence, substance abuse, and sexual activity.(Resnick, et al.,1997 Cited in CASEL 2002).

Using stress management and emotional intelligence techniques, Delnor Community Hospital based near Chicago was able to reduce employee turnover from 28% to 21%, saving $800,000 in less than a year (Cryer 2003).

How To Measure Emotional Intelligence ?

Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ)
S
ome of the free online resources to test EQ are listed as follows :

http://www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
http://quiz.ivillage.co.uk/uk_work/tests/eqtest.htm(i took this test..its a good one)
http://www.helpself.com/iq-test.htm
http://www.testcafe.com/ei/

How to Improve Emotional Intelligence ?

The Emotional Intelligence Pocket Book - Upload a Document to Scribd

Scibd Download Links

Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence

The Emotionally Intelligent Manager

The Emotional Intelligence Pocket Book

Google Book Links

50 Activities for Developing Emotional Intelligence By Lynn Adele, Adele B. Lynn

The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace By Cary Cherniss, Daniel Goleman, Warren G. Bennis