I N T E R N A T I O N A L
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional Intelligence
a critical
success factor
© Drake International
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WHITE PAPER
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
A CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR
DRAKE INTERNATIONAL
Drake International is a global HR Services company and a leader in sustainable HR practice and talent management.
Established in Canada in 1951, Drake’s business philosophy has stayed true since inception – ‘organisations achieve the
highest level of performance when they are staffed with the right people, working with the right skills, knowledge and
behaviours, using the best processes and technology-driven solutions.’
One of a highly select number of global organisations providing a network of services so comprehensive it adds value
across the entire HR function, Drake’s portfolio of offerings include:
• Permanent and flexible recruitment
• Employee assistance programs
• Retention strategies and consulting
• OH&S training and consulting
• Psychometric, behavioural and skill assessments
• Performance management solutions
• Top performer profiling
• Succession planning
• Team Building
• Knowledge management systems
• Training and development courses
• Call Centre & Payroll Outsourcing
• Six Sigma
• Executive Coaching
For over 50 years Drake has grown to span numerous borders, industries and professions. With 25 metropolitan and
regional offices across Australia, as well as New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, Canada and the United States, Drake is positioned to help you manage your greatest asset – your people.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is fast emerging as a critical success factor to increasing the performance of a company.
In the past, IQ was commonly thought of as a key to success, however research now suggests that brilliant minds do not
necessarily make brilliant managers. EQ now is being employed by many companies around the world to help provide
them with a ‘competitive edge’.
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© Drake International
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
CONTENTS
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE - AN INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 4
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE? ................................................................................................................... 4
EQ VERSUS IQ ............................................................................................................................................................... 4
WHY IS EQ IMPORTANT? ............................................................................................................................................ 5
WHAT ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS OF EQ? ......................................................................................................... 5
WHY DO SOME MANAGERS FAIL ......................................................................................................................... .. 6
THE DANGERS OF LOW EQ ....................................................................................................................................... 6
MANAGING YOUR OWN EQ..................................................................................................................................... 7
DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM’S EQ .............................................................................................................................. 8
EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES CAN BE LEARNED.................................................................................................. 8
EQ - THE ULTIMATE AIM ............................................................................................................................................ 9
APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Curious about your own EQ?
EXCLUSIVE OFFER ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
The information contained in this white paper is general information meant to provide an introduction to the topics
covered. To find out how this information applies in practice to any specific situation, readers are advised to seek a
consultation with a qualified recruitment specialist at Drake.
© Drake International
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AN INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient
or EQ, is sometimes called ‘charismatic leadership’
because it has a motivational and transformational effect
on the team.
In its purest sense, emotional intelligence is being
intelligent about emotions. This is the basis of what is
called ‘Emotional Intelligence’ or EI, also known as EQ
(Emotional Quotient) as compared with IQ (Intelligence
Quotient).
The term means evaluating the way we understand and
manage ourselves and other people and the way we
interact with them - particularly the members of our
teams.
While IQ is about how smart you are, EI or EQ is about
how emotionally mature you are. There are four main
areas of emotional intelligence development, each of
them interlinked:
In my opinion, EQ values the human side of human
resources. It proposes that success in life and career is
not necessarily about IQ, academic or technical brilliance
or levels of competence in information technology; it
is about understanding people and your own unique
emotions.
This is highlighted by the recent survey of top professional
services firms which found that technical proficiency
without people skills is no longer valued. Brilliant minds,
as you’ll read in this Drake Whitepaper, do not necessarily
make brilliant managers.
EQ is also about self-awareness: knowing and
understanding ourselves and managing our own
emotions.
Maintaining positivity and discouraging negativity. Then
looking outside ourselves and using that self-knowledge
to understand other people.
EQ has been found to strongly contribute to job
satisfaction - which in turn contributes to job
performance, the goal we are all striving to reach. I hope
you enjoy the journey.
Ron Urwin
Chairman, Drake Australia
• self-awareness
• self-management
• social awareness and
•relationship management.
Where did EQ originate? Although the term isn’t new,
US psychologist Daniel Goleman popularised it with his
books, notably Working with Emotional Intelligence, in
which he suggested that workplace competencies based
on emotional intelligence are more critical to optimum
performance than intellect or technical skill.
EQ VERSUS IQ
In the past, people believed that Intelligence Quotients or
IQs were the key to a career. It’s now known that IQ on its
own is not a satisfactory indication of work competence.
What also counts is EQ or how well people handle things.
Take a group of first year employees in one organisation.
In this group, intelligence in the pure academic sense
ranged from average to high. There was also a range of
family and demographic backgrounds. There was a range
of emotional intelligence from very low to very high.
What happened to this group twenty years on? Some
are at the top of their organisations, some in the middle,
some have their own businesses and a couple have moved
to the country in search of the quiet life. Some are doing
well and some not so well, with disaster trails in their
careers and personal lives.
What made the difference? Why are some successful and
some not?
Based on a US research study, it’s most likely that their
results in life, successful or not, are related to their
emotional intelligence.
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
‘Emotional intelligence - their social skills, the way they
handle frustration, control their emotions and get along
with other people - is the common element accounting for
the differences in the lives of this group of people1.’
This example is similar to stories about people who came
from disadvantaged childhoods and use this background
as a reason for their continued failure - or their success. Is
it the background or the way the person reacts to it?
EQ on its own is not necessarily enough to guarantee
job performance. However, EQ provides the basis
of competencies that do lead to satisfactory job
performance.
So emotional intelligence can be as powerful and at times
more powerful than intelligence. That’s because it’s said
that IQ can’t be changed - your ‘smarts’ don’t necessarily
get smarter - but emotional competencies can be learned.
WHY IS EQ IMPORTANT?
EQ is vitally important both personally and as a manager
or leader.
Why is EQ important to you personally?
From an individual viewpoint, EQ is important because
a high EQ typically results in people being able to deal
better with high complexity or with just about anything
life hands out with balance and maturity.
Typical key characteristics of a high EQ individual include:
• High EQ people have a deep-rooted sense of self, which
also helps them to understand other people.
• They keep things in proportion, which helps them retain
focus and understanding of what’s important in life.
• They retain a positive viewpoint almost all of the time
and can be relied on to put an ‘opportunity’ spin on
anything that happens, and are highly adaptive.
• They are known to have their own definition of ‘success’
in life and so are successful in whatever they choose to
do.
• Their work performance and personal productivity
is likely to be high and consequently, so is their job
satisfaction.
Why is EQ important to you as a leader?
As a manager or leader, your emotional intelligence
obviously has a significant impact on the people you lead.
Leaders can have an inspirational - or a toxic - effect.
People are unique and need to be handled differently
according to what motivates each one. If leaders don’t
read the mood of the team correctly, they can create
discontent; a sense of lessened self worth. People feel off
balance and this affects their performance negatively.
When people are feeling good about themselves, they
work better and more creatively, and this effect impacts
results positively.
The result? A highly cohesive team, increased productivity
and performance - impacting on the bottom line.
As a leader, developing your own emotional intelligence
and that of your team is critical not only for improving
results but also for your own career progression:
Australian organisations are becoming increasingly aware
of the value of emotional intelligence.
‘Factors once derided as soft skills - communication,
teambuilding and leadership, for example - have been
much more important’ according to a recent survey of five
top law firms and four top accounting firms2 by leading
Australian business magazine BRW.
‘Partners who are able to manage teams, motivate people
and communicate well are attractive to clients, as well
as staff,’ the BRW report continues. Further: ‘All those
interviewed say that there is no longer any place for a
highbilling, technically proficient partner who has no
people skills’.
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF EQ?
If EQ rather than IQ can make the difference between
‘success’ and ‘failure’ in life or productivity in the
workplace, imagine the extraordinary results an entire
team with highly developed EQ could achieve.
Perhaps your team is already highly developed but you’d
like to explore their future potential? The four main
areas of emotional intelligence development are selfawareness, self-management, social awareness and
relationship management.
© Drake International
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1. Self-awareness
Self-awareness is being aware of your own emotions which helps you recognise them in other people. It also
means being able to appraise and express your own
capabilities and progress. To gain an insight into your
own self awareness, ask yourself questions such as ‘How
well do I hope with whatever life throws at me? Or, how
aware am I of my own strengths and weaknesses?’ When
you understand your own emotions, you can then look
at regulating your emotions (self-management), and
recognising other people’s emotions (social awareness).
2. Self-management
Self-management means that once you are aware of your
own emotions, you apply that knowledge to managing
your own behaviour, or to use old-fashioned but still
effective terms, self-discipline or self-control. Questions
you might ask yourself to gauge your self management
levels could include: ‘How well do I cope at work if I’ve had
a bad morning at home? Or can I fix things and forget
them?’
WHY DO SOME MANAGERS FAIL?
Many managers score highly in self-awareness, and
possibly also in self management, but that may be as far
as they go in developing EQ skills. Social awareness and
relationship management is somehow missing. They need
a balance of all four EQ elements to achieve results, as you
can see in the examples below.
The ‘new broom’ manager
How many times have you seen a new manager or CEO
come into the workplace, briefly check out the situation
and immediately implement a new strategy to ‘turn the
place around’? He or she carefully explains the strategy
with charts and presentations and then wonders why the
department or organisation is just not enthusiastic.
The team has not been won over and reacts by paying lip
service only. There’s almost a ‘working to rule’ situation
verging on sullen mutterings. Time goes by and after a
few token changes, things gradually return to the way
they were before and the status quo is maintained.
3. Social awareness
What went wrong?
Social awareness or empathy helps you create resonance
or a positive reaction to you from other people. You’re
aware of how others feel, of what is seen as appropriate
behaviour in your environment or role. Evaluate your own
social awareness by asking yourself ‘How good are my
relations with work colleagues? Or, how well do I relate to
support staff/suppliers/contractors?’
The new leader simply didn’t get ‘buy in’ or involvement
from the people who would make the new strategy work.
The figures were there, the results charted.
4. Relationship management
Relationship management is the end result of being
selfaware, self-managed and socially aware. You
understand your own vision and emotions, so you
understand the group’s vision and emotions and you’re
also in control of forces within your capabilities. To get an
indication of how good your relationship management
area is, ask yourself ‘How well do I relate with my team? Or
how do I think they feel about me?’
If you can see clearly the elements of all four components
for EQ, from here you can, in theory, create resonance with
the group ... you can influence, inspire, and be a catalyst
for change. You can manage any conflicts and create an
atmosphere of cooperation and strong bonds within the
members of the team.
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© Drake International
Plenty of logic, no emotion.
The new leader didn’t take time to think things through.
How would I feel if I were part of this team faced with this
new strategy? What would help me want to make it work?
What would be the end results and how would it affect me
and my career plans?
This manager was totally lacking in social awareness
and relationship management skills. He simply
‘powered through’ to meet his own objectives instead
of considering how the team could achieve both his
objectives and their own.
Brilliant minds don’t always make brilliant
managers
Another type of manager who may have challenges in
managing high EQ teams is the techno-genius. Academic
brilliance and high IQs are low on the value scale when
we’re evaluating EQ.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
You’ve heard of absorbed academics or triple-degree IT
graduates who have no idea how to manage members of
their team. Quite a challenge when they’re responsible for
other people’s results - brilliant minds don’t necessarily
make brilliant managers.
Again, this type of manager could have strong selfawareness and possibly self-management, but limited
social awareness or relationship management skills.
THE DANGERS OF LOW EQ
The personal effect
Low EQ manager + low EQ team = chaos.
One organisation planned to restructure the service
department to improve efficiencies, which meant the
original department members would have to change
their client listings. The restructure was a promotion for
the team with increased responsibility and increased
remuneration.
But the team was furious. They resisted all change and
were openly territorial and obstructive with the new
people ‘honing in’ on what they regarded as ‘their clients’.
Result: anarchy and chaos.
You’re a high EQ manager so you should have no problems
in dealing with your team no matter how high or low
their EQ, right? Wrong, because until or unless you turn
the team around, there is a very real danger to you as a
manager.
The team was being promoted with increased
remuneration but because they had to change their
client listings they almost mutinied. Eventually, the
entire project had to be stopped while the team were reassessed and reviewed.
What’s the greatest stressor in the workplace? Quite
possibly, negativity. Organisational psychologist Rhonda
Andrews relates the example of a major transport
company which had lost four key production managers in
three weeks3. Of course there were several issues involved,
but the common factor was the negativity and repetitive
whining from a small minority group -contaminating the
workforce.
This team had never examined its own emotional
intelligence before and was fascinated to discover that
almost all the members did not feel adequately prepared
for the added responsibilities. Money was not the
problem, training was.
In their exit interviews the production managers all said
it was an accumulative effect -they were sick and tired of
listening to complaints.
This is because their inner resources for managing
negativity were completely burnt out. As a manager, you
could be forced into making a career change at a time not
of your own choosing and may even move into a different
direction away from your original career path simply
because of the low EQ of your team.
Self-awareness in admitting the problem to each other
was the first step. Recognising their own strengths (they
did have the skills) and weaknesses (they needed training
to develop the self confidence to move to a higher level)
was the next step.
Once the group looked at how they had functioned in
the past, and embraced the concepts of EQ involving
selfawareness and self-management, they were in a
position to change.
It’s easy to spot a low EQ environment: there is no
emphasis on staff retention, building relations, effective
management and leadership and increasing productivity.
This obviously can have a devastating effect personally
and generally leads to high turnover and low productivity.
From being aware of their own feelings, they moved
on to being aware of each other’s feelings and from
there to the group feelings. This helped them manage
the relationships within the group -and outside it.
They started helping each other by building up each
other’s self-confidence, creating positive appreciative
atmosphere, reviewing and suggesting solutions for
problems and sharing successes.
The effect on the team
If the decision had never been made to review the EQ of
the team, it could have been a very different outcome.
What happens when you have an entire team with a low
emotional intelligence? Answer: the problem is multiplied
by the number of team members.
© Drake International
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
MANAGING YOUR OWN EQ
There are few good managers or leaders with very low
EQ. They may have survived in the traditional autocratic
management days but today’s companies and the
marketplace have changed, with increased competition,
globalisation, flatter organisational structures etc.
Of course, a manager with a low EQ can sometimes be
disguised for a while by a high EQ team. It’s certainly true
that a high EQ team can ‘manage’ a low EQ manager many of us have seen that happen. It’s usually done by the
team deciding that there are some things it’s better for
the manager not to know, so they simply manipulate the
unsuspecting manager and go their own way - for a short
while. Eventually, cracks generally develop in this kind of
arrangement and it all falls apart.
So there’s no escaping the fact that as managers, the EQ
buck stops with you. You are the one who needs to use EQ
to manage yourself and your team.
Managing your own EQ means:
• Further developing motivational levels to achieve
• Developing persistence in the face of overwhelming
odds as well as petty frustrations
• Regulating your own moods so that external situations
don’t influence your ability to think clearly
• Controlling impulses and delaying instant gratification
for the sake of the more important result
• Empathising, communicating and being perceptive
• Being positive and constructive
• Thinking about other people’s feelings and hidden
agendas
• Working on and enjoying your relationships with other
people.
So how do you develop EQ?
First take the Quick Test in Appendix A and see how you
rate.
If you think you would like to improve your EQ, start
thinking about the four main components of EQ. As a
reminder, the steps are:
1. self awareness
2. self management
3. social awareness, and
4. relationship management.
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© Drake International
The consoling thought for the few of us who are less
than perfect is that even people with ‘super smarts’ don’t
always get it right. It seems that people with high EQs get
it right more often than people with high IQs. Even if your
EQ is not at a relatively high level, it can be developed
further.
DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM’S EQ
What about managers who have high EQ themselves but
are not entirely convinced about their teams?
Firstly, let’s look at why managers fail. Generally,
managers don’t make it as team leaders because they
either can’t change themselves or they have poor
relationships with their teams. Obviously managers with
high EQ don’t have these rigidity or relationship problems
- so how can they develop the team’s EQ?
Some steps to developing high EQ teams
The solution is to ‘train the brains’ of the team in EQ
concepts. Here are some suggestions:
• Take the organisation on the full journey, organise an
EQ evaluation on each team member. This will have the
group assess their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Organise an EQ workshop or team-building workshop.
Getting the team to start understanding their own
emotions will assist with regulating their emotions and
recognising other peoples.
• Use and embrace the concepts of the EQ workshop
solutions on a daily basis with your team.
• Review individual behaviour in the light of EQ work
competencies and capabilities.
• Research EQ yourself, and ensure EQ is part of your
companies training program.
• Develop strategies for handling negative behaviour
and promoting positive behaviour. Share successes and
encourage a positive atmosphere.
• Look also at where it all starts: recruitment. Not just of
high EQ people but of the right EQ level to match each
job.
• In the hiring process, ensure that some form of EQ
assessment is undertaken.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES CAN BE
LEARNED
Are you born with high EQ or can you improve it? As we
said, it’s believed that IQ can’t be changed but EQ or
emotional competencies can be learned.
Self and social awareness can certainly be learned.
We can all learn to be aware of other people so that we
can evaluate their feelings and emotions and use the
evaluations as the basis of thinking or action.
Can behaviour be changed? Yes, almost always, although
this depends on the type of person you’re dealing with
here. The main types are:
• Followers - the middle majority will change if you
change the people they’re following. That is, the natural
leaders.
• People who want to improve. These people are a joy and
will be very rewarding to work with, and enjoy change.
• Leaders - Identify the leaders or ‘influencers’ in your
workplace - they are the people who can help you achieve
your outcomes, and typically already have high EQ levels.
3. Monitor and review - Results
As with every organisational development program,
it’s important to monitor and review progress and set
timelines.
EQ - THE ULTIMATE AIM
Developing your own and your team’s EQ can be a very
rewarding journey. For yourself, you increase your own self
confidence and the knowledge that you can handle any
obstacle life puts in your path. Your balance, self-discipline
and general emotional maturity provide both satisfaction,
results and returns in both your personal, family and
business life.
The rewarding journey for your team leads to equal
satisfaction for them too - recognition, respect and
excellent working relationships as well as enjoyment
and fulfillment in their work and advancement in their
careers.
When negativity starts going down and productivity goes
up, staff retention figures improve and the bottom line
is positive, you can be sure the effect of improved EQ has
something to do with it.
• Then there are the people who just won’t change no
matter what happens. So there’s not a lot of point trying
to change them. They may, hopefully, choose to find their
future in a different direction.
How do you go about learning/teaching emotional
competencies?
Here are three steps:
1. Assessment -Discovery
The first step is to assess the current situation. How
well do you or your team rate? Try the quick quiz in the
Appendix A but remember this is only a guide.
There are excellent behaviour assessment programs
available for personal and team assessment so check with
your Human Resources Department or talk with your
recruitment company.
2. Identify areas of improvement - Training
Once you have assessed and identified areas which need
work, there are excellent reference books, websites and
training available. Your HR Department or recruitment
company can probably recommend training organisations
specialising in these areas.
© Drake International
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
APPENDIX A
Curious about your own EQ?
Take our quiz, by answering a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’
to 20 questions, all of which are based on the four
components of emotional intelligence.
1.
Can you motivate yourself, most of the time? ‘Yes/No’
2.
Do you get dispirited or even angry in the face of
frustrations, or can you usually overcome them after
your initial reaction? ‘Yes/No’
3.
Can you still think reasonably clearly even if you are
frustrated or upset in some way? ‘Yes/No’
4. Do you believe you usually can control your moods?
‘Yes/No’
5.
Can you delay gratification? Do you have to have
everything now even if it would be better if you
waited? ‘Yes/No’
How did you score?
If you answered YES to the majority of the above
questions, this means that you have rated fairly high
on the EQ scale. However, its important to note that
this is only a guide, and we recommend undertaking a
professional psychometric behaviour assessment to get a
true and a accurate insight into your EQ levels.
EXCLUSIVE OFFER
Contact Drake today on 13 14 48, if you would like a
deeper insight into your own or your team’s emotional
intelligence levels, behavioural preferences and
personality traits.
Simply mention this whitepaper and you will receive a
25% discount on a individual behaviour assessment.
6. Are you always aware of other people’s feelings?
‘Yes/No’
7.
Do you regularly scan your environment organisational (external) and industry (internal)?
‘Yes/No’
8.
Do you feel you know your strengths and weaknesses
fairly well? ‘Yes/No’
9. Do you generally feel hopeful of a positive outcome
and try to create a positive environment? ‘Yes/No’
10. Are you a juggler? Can you handle many things at
once and be adaptable to - and optimistic about changes and challenges? ‘Yes/No’
11. Do you have a sense of efficacy -that you have what it
takes to control your own destiny? ‘Yes/No’
12. Is your relationship good with work colleagues (not
just your team)? ‘Yes/No’
13. Is your social and family life important? ‘Yes/No’
14. Do you relate well to support staff/suppliers/
contractors? ‘Yes/No’
15. Do you feel you achieve your desired work
performance levels? ‘Yes/No’
16. Are you self-confident that you can cope with
whatever life throws at you? ‘Yes/No’
17. Your skills: are you content with your current skills?
‘Yes/No’
18. Do you communicate well with the other members in
your team? ‘Yes/No’
19. Do you give feedback to support staff or other people
who report to you? ‘Yes/No’
20. Do you feel you inspire your own team to produce
results? ‘Yes/No’
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© Drake International
The assessment is generated from Drake’s unique
behaviour and personality profiling system - Drake P3.
This technology helps generate powerful behavioural
profiles revealing a person’s main behavioural d rivers
and tendencies, communication style, motivation needs,
emotional intelligence, energy levels and much more.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1 The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence
in Organizations. www.eiconsortium.org.
2 BRW June 26,2003, ‘The new p rofessionals’, by Lucinda
Schmidt.
3 Rhonda Andrews BSc, DipEd, DipEdPsych, MAPS,
Managing Director of Barrington Centre, Melbourne.
© Drake International
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
13 14 48
www.drakeintl.com
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© Drake International