FRAMES
Psychology may play a greater role
in the business of Interior Design than
most might think.
When it comes to business, we’ve all heard the phrase,
editor of Psychology Today — in his book, Emotional
“Leave emotion out of it.” But according to a growing
Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, a New
number of industrial-organizational psychologists and
York Times bestseller.
researchers, the more we acknowledge, understand and
appropriately use our emotions to guide our actions, the
“Emotional intelligence helps [designers] cross the
bridge between the unspoken inner-world of hopes
more likely we are to get ahead in the workplace. And
within a client and the screaming reality of construction,”
in a highly creative and personal field like Interior
says Kathryn Cherne, a principal with Chicago-based
Design, understanding your emotions and those of your
firm Design Inside and a former practicing psychologist
clients can help make your designs more holistic and on
with the University of Michigan. “The interior designer
target. It also can help improve your relationships with
is in a unique position from the other members of a
co-workers and team members.
construction team. As a bridge between tradesperson
“It’s impossible to leave emotion out of anything,”
and client, the designer must embrace balance, aware-
says Susan Kornacki, Co-Founder of EI Skills Group, an
ness, responsibility and empathy in order to successfully
emotional intelligence assessment and skills training
communicate with all parties and keep the project
consultancy in New Haven, Conn. “Our emotions are
on track.”
formed from our senses, they’re what make us human.
The ability to feel, use, communicate, remember,
And interior design is an incredibly sensory profession,
describe, identify, learn from, manage and understand
so it’s vital to be tuned into that.”
emotions is necessary for the smooth progression of any
But getting ahead isn’t about simply feeling your
emotions, Kornacki says, it’s about using the wisdom
of the emotion.
design project, Cherne says.
And that’s incredibly important to interior designers
since, according to Jodie Leppa, IIDA, CID, LEED AP,
President-Elect of the IIDA Northland Chapter, and
THE BASICS
Office Director of the Minneapolis-based commercial
Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to
design firm SmithGroup, design is an emotional profession.
identify, assess and manage the emotions of one’s self,
OF MIND
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“Creativity is driven by emotion,” says Leppa, who’s
of others, and of groups. The term was first introduced
participated in several SmithGroup-sponsored EI training
by psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer in
sessions. “If it was not, our environments would
1990, but was popularized five years later by Daniel
be, sadly, purely utilitarian and lacking in spirit or
Goleman — a Ph.D. from Harvard University and former
substance.”
We explore the relationship between
emotion, perception and the profession.
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Based on the business acumen EI can provide, it’s
no surprise that by the mid-1990s corporate America
got wind of the concept and researchers began studying
Perceiving emotions; using emotions; understanding
helped her deal with co-workers and everyday job stressors,
emotions; and managing emotions.
but also in her dealings with clients.
the link between higher emotional intelligence skills
ing on competencies including self-awareness, self-man-
other’s emotions,” she says. “Then I’m able to use that
and success in the workplace. Among that early
agement, social awareness and relationship management.
knowledge to facilitate effective discussions and, ulti-
research was a 1997 study of 130 executives, which
found that how well people handled their own emotions
mately, manage them to meet the client’s goals for a
Regardless of the precise definition or the assessment
space that reflects their brand and culture.”
means, the theory is the same: The more we understand
determined how much people around them preferred
emotion, the more we can use it to our advantage. The
to deal with them, according to the Rutgers University-
first step to developing solid EI skills, Kornacki says, is
up on subtle cues in a person’s body language, facial
based Consortium for Research on Emotional
to acknowledge the desire to do so. Simply being aware
expression and tone of voice. “I am able to tell if a client
Intelligence in Organizations.
of your intentions can help to heighten your sensitivity
likes something before they even open their mouth, or
Since then, academic and corporate proponents of
EI continue to claim that having a higher EI can lead
any skill, awareness, practice, more awareness and more
practice is what’s going to help people identify emotions
Design, effective communication and strong relationships
and then manage their own emotions most effectively.”
But given that the concept of
colors,” she says.
At EI Skills Group, after the initial workshop,
Kornacki and Caruso coordinate follow-up coaching
sessions with interested clients where practice involves
And practice comes in various forms.
There are single-session training semi-
EI is relatively new and the
get a sense of their color preferences based on certain
dialogue. For example, extroverts tend to prefer warm
“EI is absolutely trainable,” she says. “But, as with
to improved communication and relationships. And
DEFINING THE DIFFERENCES
Cherne says that her training has enabled her to pick
to external and internal emotional stimuli.
in almost every business, but particularly in Interior
are vital to one’s success.
nars, weekend retreats and weeklong workshops, for example,
offered for individuals,
field is rapidly growing, it
groups, or entire organiza-
still has varying definitions
tions. But not all training
RESOURCES
For more information on
emotional intelligence
in the workplace, check out:
and means of measure-
begins with an emotional
ment. Most, however, fall
intelligence assessment
WORKING WITH
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
into three main model
test, which Kornacki says
by Daniel Goleman
types — an ability-based
is the best way to deter-
model, a mixed model or
a trait-based model.
mine what areas need the
most practice.
Kornacki and her partner
at EI Skills Group, David
Caruso, Ph.D., rely on an abilitiesbased model to define EI and to
assess their clients. According to Caruso —
“If you score really low on
identifying emotions, for example,
it might be hard for you to make a
decision about someone’s emotional
state based on the visual information on their
co-creator of the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional
face,” she says. “But you may score high in other areas,
Intelligence Test (like an IQ test that measures emotion-
so we wouldn’t want to focus on those as much.”
al skills) — emotional intelligence combines feelings
38
“The tools I’ve learned help me to be sensitive to
Other models measure one’s emotional skills by focus-
No matter how interior designers decide to learn and
THE EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE CONSORTIUM
www.eiconsortium.org
THE EMOTIONALLY
INTELLIGENT MANAGER
by David R. Caruso and Peter Salovey
EI SKILLS GROUP
www.eiskills.com
showing them a series of slides and asking them to
identify the emotion in the image. Afterwards, they’ll
go back through each slide and dissect the person’s
eyes, the intensity in their face, the energy, their body
language and expression. Participants also learn
through auditory training by listening to movie clips,
and eventually they’re asked to actually emote certain
words in a group setting.
Aside from being able to pick up on subtle emotional
cues from clients, and knowing how to communicate
expectations and manage conflict more effectively,
Cherne says, a designer with high EI is not easily
threatened by criticism.
“I don’t feel the need to defend myself if a client doesn’t
like a particular pattern or attack a contractor for not
understanding a drawing,” she says. “Instead, I prefer to
take these inevitable bumps as an opportunity to listen
and learn from other people.”
As for how long it takes to truly become emotionally
intelligent, Kornacki says it doesn’t happen overnight.
with thinking, and thinking with feeling. It can be
hone their EI skills, the outcome can be advantageous to
“The awareness part can happen overnight, but the skill
described as four related, but different, abilities:
their practice. Leppa says her EI training has not only
building takes time.”
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