Emotional Intelligence Phenomenon on LinkedIn

 

For those fascinated by developments in our awareness and understanding of human emotional intelligence, what about this! On Linkedin, as with many social networking sites, new groups are and can be formed. Yet surely none can be like the recent launch of the Emotional Intelligence Network which blasts through many misconceptions. From its launch only months ago, some 20,000 LinkedIn members have joined it and more flood in. So which misconceptions are hit?

One is: ‘Emotional Intelligence is not globally relevant and applicable!’ That has been rubbished by worldwide comments and support from members.

‘Interest in it will be job specific.’ Now, self-evidently that is a nonsense, for seemingly every walk of life has joined and expressed interest.

‘Isn’t it relevant only to specific races and creeds?’ That appears to be shot to pieces!

‘Isn’t an issue or interest in this limited to the Developed World?’ No, that seems untrue too from the most cursory check of location of members joining.

The reality is the human emotional apparatus as a phenomenon appears common to all across the world. What is also true is that some ignore it and others, like those LinkedIn members, cherish and nurture its presence within us.

Late twentieth century research into Intelligence first by Howard Gardner and his team at Harvard, particularly on Multiple Intelligences, opened eyes and minds to the full human condition. Then in the1990’s, acknowledging Gardners work, Daniel Goleman published his ground-breaking and best-selling book called Emotional Intelligence. This unleashed an unquenchable thirst for more and more information and tutoring. It has since become an essential primer for anyone interested in this subject and for many satellite cognitive initiatives which have been spawned or strengthened.

But it is not just our growth in understanding that is significant. What Linkedin participation graphically has illustrated is something very special. It is the willingness – and even the joy, of people across the World to share the belief that we can enhance the way we all interact with each other in relationships as partners, as parents & grand parents, as friends, as employers and employees, and as suppliers and customers.

The greatest prize will be to banish the most ill-founded mis-conception of all: ‘that our emotions have no place in our judgements and decisions!’ All aspects of our Intelligence need harnessing. It is clearly a multi-faceted asset we have and includes not just the Intellect, nor just the Emotions, and nor even just the human spirit, but much else.

And who knows what its joint exploration by like-minded and like-hearted people across the world could achieve! The more its study and practice becomes incorporated into the Curriculum of Life the more likely it is that it will benefit us all. Maybe one day we will even be able to detect and treat people successfully before they commit atrocities like that witnessed in Norway.

The extraordinary worldwide response to this group augurs well for us all.

By Gerry Neale 

Author of Squaring Circles www.squaringcircles.co.uk 

Published & available from Pearl Press www.pearlpress.co.uk 

Available direct from www.amazon.co.uk

Schools Are Failing Emotional Boys

Eton School Head, Tony Little, is to be complimented. He has fired the debate on childrens’ emotional development beautifully. To his great credit, he is urging those involved in education to take on board that boys can be more emotionally aware – and more vulnerable, than girls. Also he is championing the fact that just as youngsters come in different shapes and sizes, they can each carry their own level or intensity of emotional awareness. He urges too that boys need to be taught differently to girls, even if educated in the same schools.

More importantly, he advocates that the level of a boy’s emotional awareness can condition the way he learns. He believes that boys reveal greater emotional reactions under stress. Also, boys perform better when they have one point of focus as a target. Meanwhile girls perform best when they are multi-tasking.   

My view is that teaching methods will have to change and change quickly to take heed of John Little’s comments, if more boys are to avoid becoming adults with inadequate emotional patterns in place. These will most often dog them throughout their adult life certainly until they have cause to re-visit and re-frame the patterns.

I believe education at school and university will have to become much more attuned to the emotional needs of the students. Subjective teaching of subjects in one form of intellectual presentation to whole groups will work less and less well. It has long been recognised intellectually that young people learn differently, one to another. Their emotional education and learning processes need to be incorporated into the curriculum in the same way.

More and more, research on human behaviour obliges us to accept the dramatic impact of human emotions on our learning processes, judgements and decision-making powers. Acceptance of the linkage of our emotional intelligence with our intellectual powers as human beings becomes unavoidable.

Reading, writing, and numeracy have long since been acknowledged as critical intellectual components to lay down the basic foundations on which students can build subsequent learning programmes. Now the ways we feel about learning new tasks will need to be incorporated too as a core emotional component.

The current disconnect between intellect and emotion in education has to be cured. To be more contentious still, too few in education are willing to accept that the inability in a student to read is as likely to be down to the way they are being taught rather than to any inherent disability. What has now come over the horizon is the challenging proposition that a students inability to ‘emote’ effectively is equally down to the way they are taught by teachers and parents - or perhaps more to the point, were not taught but in ignorance, copied their peers.

Gerry Neale

Author of  cognitive Novel ‘Squaring Circles: From The Dark Into The Light’
Available at www.amazon.co.uk

What Is The Invisible Killer of Self Improvement Techniques Sometimes?

One may ask, why don’t self-improvement systems always work for me? Aren’t they most often well- reviewed books or courses and don’t they clearly work well for many people? And why doesn’t a particular one I have bought work, when I really, really want it to work?  Is the invisible killer lurking in that book or course?

No! I would wager it is lurking within yourself.

Does it mean my wish to adopt the new skill or process is lacking?

Most often, no, because clearly you do want to change.

Could there be some obvious reason guaranteeing my failure which only I have not recognised?

Again, most often, No! It is likely that no-one else has spotted the real reason either.

Then, you might ask, is it simply because the key to achieve the change does not lie in the book or the course? Doesn’t it lie in my head and my heart? And what has been lacking previously is the full hearted and total intellectual commitment to it. Without that, isn’t  that why I have not succeeded in past attempts?

Yes that is closer to the hidden truth!

But before you rush back to the self-improvement material with not only a new-found  zeal but with your will energised to make it happen this time, there is a formal caution. Please do not think applying all the will you can muster will do the trick. It may briefly, but as soon as you relax the will, your particular normal behaviour will return and the possibility to sustain change will slip through your fingers. So, personally, I would not recommend that approach!

So let’s look at where that leaves you? I suspect that you believe you have acquired the detailed tutorial system as to how to solve a current emotional or financial issue. More to the point you believe you have satisfied yourself that that system involved is effective and workable. And now you really want to solve your issue in order to rid yourself of the inhibitions your current situation causes you. So, you might go back to square one and say that all I need to do now is read it diligently and then apply it

But haven’t you tried to do just that before and it didn’t work?

The surprise is that the invisible killer to self-improvement techniques most often resides within us; it has been harboured by us very often for years and relates to one or more cognitive issues of self-image, self-worth, self-esteem,.or even believe it not spirituarity

So how can one best address this?

As acknowledged, intellectually, we can see our current problem perfectly clearly. Equally we can see how, if adopted by us, the self-improvement technique would work and provide us with a solution. But emotionally or spiritually it is different. Deep inside, we could have a different problem which is handicapping us.

It is this. To acquire the self-improvement technique could put us so far out of a largely sub-conscious comfort zone. We were barely aware of its existence until the current situation unearthed it. No matter what, and no matter how hard we read or study, we are somehow neutered by this.

Consider this! Suppose the new technique is a wealth creation system. Maybe our family was never wealthy, in fact it eschewed wealth creation and counselled a frugal life. So, maybe consciously as a young person we wanted to change all that, but sub-consciously we did not. Why? Because we did not want to be seen to be disloyal to that long-standing family culture.

Maybe the self-improvement technique we have obtained is in itself a self-improvement technique which can be made available to others. Neverthless we have this sub-conscious doubt that if we cannot learn it then nor will they. So as we study, we are actually always doubting and questioning.

Maybe it is admitted by the creators of the technique that it is very profitable largely because so many people buy it although very few actually apply it. While for some that is no issue, ( they say: it is not for me to make a judgement about whether the purchasers adopt it or not’) for you it may be different. Maybe you are not comfortable about that. So your actual buy-in and commitment to the technique is muted and fails.

Of course it could be more simple still. It could be that you want to change, but you have a nagging doubt and lack of any sense of self-worth to pull it off.

I would suggest that you reflect quietly and honestly at the outset. Imagine you have completed the self-improvement. Visualise it completely and in your mind and your heart assess how you feel about that. Notice how little emotional indicators will pop as feelings you can identify. They could be intense or minor.

My advice is that you feel those feelings and decide on one of two outcomes.

First, if the feelings are not all-enveloping or traumatic, then take a deep breath and get cracking on the new technique, silencing yourself when the negative feelings reappear.

Or second, accept the feelings amount to a real emotional block. On that basis, it is best to investigate the origin. So take the preliminary step of seeking out advice or a book on that block before embarking on your main solution.

One amazing feature of our age is that there is not one single narrow aspect of Life that there isn’t at least one book written on it. So obtain it and first enjoy the sense of self-discovery as well as the later and more likely acquisition of your new skill or solution.

Good luck with it.

Gerry Neale

Author of Squaring Circles - A Novel of Self-Discovery www.squaringcircles.co.uk
Available at www.amazon.co.uk

Productivity Shrinks In The Summer!

 Who Says So? Research by Prevalin Allergy Nasal Spray reported in the Daily Telegraph shows we are more easily diverted from the job in hand in the Summer Months - June to September - than we are in the colder Winter months.

It seems the warmth makes us gossip more! And we find it more difficult to concentrate. Perhaps more troubling is that interviewees admitted in many cases that they really worked only one full day in each week of the Summer. They confessed to switching off for the rest of the week.

Day dreaming increased, as did attempting to leave early when the sun was shining. People surfed the web more.

The message for the substantial but increasing minority who work from home, is that the response from large customers or suppliers could be less quick in the summertime. If we want action from them, maybe we need to be on their case earlier in the process to allow for delays.

We are ourselves may notice our work habits change! Can we claim to be entirely immune from this reaction to the Sun, to longer and warmer days. Maybe having a clear action plan for the week, drafted on Sunday night or first thing Monday mornings could help to keep our progress on track throughout the week

And actually making a merit of taking a walk in the sunshine can make us feel that we not exempted from enjoying it. Also I believe one important habit is making sure at weekends, particularly if the weather is good, that we really chill out for at least part of the time in a way we wish we could in the week. Really enjoy it and absorb it. We can then use this to remind ourselves in the week.

Gerry Neale
Author
Squaring Circles  www.squaringcircles.co.uk
Available at www.amazon.co.uk

Vital Need To Have A Work Ethic To Get A Job

82% of UK Employers Cite The Work Ethic As Key To Securing Entry Level Posts!

Teachers and University Tutors, please please note. Instilling in youngsters the reward to be had in the world of work of giving value to one's employer as well as receiving value for that work done is key to reducing UK unemployment. Coupled to this is displaying the right attitude.

Yes I know, there is an issue of parental guidance and example here too, but that should be even more reason for those involved in education to grasp this nettle. Many parents will admit ruefully that good advice to their child is so often more palatable when coming from a third party rather than a parent.

This survey by the Centre for Social Justice - a Think Tank - has to be  a wake up call for all those who can influence the future of first time entrants into the world of work. Adopting low expectations from them, sloppy application to tasks set them and adopting a generally lax attitude to them does nothing to prepare them for work in the real world. And it has to be said that educators who do try to encourage the right approach by their students need applauding not lambasted for trying to create some form of 'elite'.

As indicated in the report, failure does not mean inadequate school and university leavers are getting jobs but merely contributing less than they should. They are simply not getting jobs! And they are being beaten to often by immigrants nursing no illusions. They know that if you want a job in todays' economy, you need to deliver value and adopt the right attitude. 

Gerry Neale

Author  "Squaring Circles"www.squaringcircles.co.uk
A Cognitive Novel Published by Pearl Press www.pearlpress.co.uk
Available from www.amazon.co.uk