Reflection Blog on the 4 Dimensions of
Emotional Intelligence
MSLD
641 – Module 3
January
27, 2017
This
reflection blog will discuss the 4 dimensions of emotional intelligence, and
how it applies to myself, my strengths, areas that I need to develop, and how
the dimensions have helped or hindered me in my performance and/or career.
Dimension 1: Self Awareness.
Dan
Goleman talks about this dimension of emotional intelligence to include having
a moral compass. When I reflect upon the
statement “having a moral compass”, I usually include several aspects to
this. Morality is taught in the home and
through religious beliefs. The Ten
Commandments listed in the Old Testament are a good start when building a moral
foundation. The Ten Commandments for
those who are not familiar are (and these are abbreviated): To worship only
God, Swearing (Lord’s name in vain), Keep the Sabbath, Honor thy Mother and thy
Father, Do not Kill, Do not commit Adultery, Do not Steal, Do not Lie (bear
false witness against thy neighbor), Do not covet thy Neighbor’s Wife, Do not
covet thy Neighbor’s Goods. I grew up in
the Roman Catholic tradition. The
Catholic Church expands the list of the 10 commandments to include the 7 deadly
sins. The seven deadly sins are
gluttony, fornication, greed, pride, wrath, vainglory, and sloth. They also teach introspection and an
examination of one’s conscience. This is
practiced as the sacrament of confession.
All of these things teach young people to develop their moral compass. The examination of one’s conscience, teaches
introspection. Why is this
important? I believe it is important in
today’s world where everyone tends to blame others or circumstances for
everything that happens in their life.
It carries over into the workplace.
Have you ever known a supervisor or a leader with whom nothing is EVER
their fault? The list of their excuses
is impressively long.
My
introspection and truthfulness has been strong throughout my life. It has even harmed me in ways when I was too
truthful or open about things for my own good.
For example, I admitted to some bad behavior when I was about 18 years
of age, and it cost me a chance to get hired by General Motors. Should I have disclosed what I had done? I don’t know.
I do know that my career path took a much different direction as a
result of my “confession”. During that
period of time, I don’t believe that the information could have been
discovered. However, I like to use the
phrase “Do the right thing, even when no one is looking”. I did and it cost me. Although in my later years I retain the
introspection and truthfulness necessary to round out my moral compass, I am
much more guarded about information that I disclose about myself. This has coincided with the development of my
emotional intelligence and my skills as a leader.
Dimension 2: Self-Management.
In
the military, we talk about self-starters as a bullet point on an evaluation
report. I think that Dr. Goleman is
going beyond motivated individuals who don’t need a lot of supervision. I believe that he is talking about managing
emotions. In the paragraph above, I
reflected on the morality of managing information about one’s self. Self-Management implies balancing emotions in
the extreme. Don’t get too high and
don’t get too low. Don’t let success go
to your head and hinder future performance.
Don’t let challenges that cause one’s emotions to drop keep you there
very long. Have resiliency against the
negative. Emphasize the positive. If one can marshal the positive emotions out
of situations, there is a better chance that they will be resolved. Furthermore, it will draw people unto you as
they see real leadership in someone who can withstand failures or less than
optimal conditions in a given situation.
I
failed in that aspect temporarily when confronted with an extremely toxic
supervisor a couple of years ago.
However, now I am grateful for having experienced that situation. It has given me insight into leadership,
emotional intelligence, and the art of connecting with people within an
organization. I have grown stronger and
more resilient as a leader due to that bad experience. It also awakened within me the need to search
out that something that transcended power or job skills. That something is emotional intelligence.
Dimension 3: Empathy & Compassion.
Having
empathy will increase the likelihood that one will be able to connect with
others in their professional career. Of
course having empathy and compassion will help in our personal lives, but the
focus here is on how it translates into an organization. I feel that I have great empathy for others
around me in the workplace. It helps me
connect with their needs. It helps me to
actively listen to them when they are describing a process that appears to be broken.
I
loved the examples that Dr. Goleman gave in his second TED video. He talked about the Good Samaritan. He talked about the speed dating test. Finally, he talked about the complete lack of
correlation between IQ and emotional intelligence. I thought of lots of examples in my own life
when I failed the compassion test, but also thought of some when I passed (I
hope!). As word gets around that many
people who hold up signs on the road begging for money, food, or work are
actually well-off and do that for a living, then people have a tendency to say,
“I won’t help any of them then”! How are
we to judge who is actually in need and who is simply a scam artist? Maybe it is one’s intuition or sixth sense if
you will. I had read somewhere that what
Dr. Goleman was saying was correct.
There are many mentally ill people on the streets and we need to help
them and not pass by them. Are we in too
much of a hurry? I remember many years
ago I was working in Detroit as a U.S. Customs Inspector. I had a good job, but didn’t have much
money. I drove 81 miles one way to get
to work. One day, as I was leaving work
and getting ready to drive back to my home in Flint, MI, two straggly looking
men approached me as I was about to get into my car. They asked for money because they were hungry
and needed something to eat. It was cold
outside and was just beginning to snow.
Something inside of me told me to help them out. I told them that I only had $5.00 in my
pocket (and that was a lot of money to me at the time!) and that if they really
needed food, I would give it to them.
They promised me that they would not buy booze, but would go get
something to eat. I gave them my last
$5.00 and they were happy! I don’t know
if they really went to buy food or went to the liquor store, but that was not
up to me to decide. That was up to God
to judge the recipients. That I may not
be judged as harshly, I will admit that there have been too many times that I have
failed to be the Good Samaritan and help people.
Dimension 4: Social Skills.
Social
skills is defined by Dr. Goleman as the ability to put the other three
dimensions into a framework that defines our social skills. Ironically, I am a late bloomer, but prior to
taking my MBAA courses through Embry-Riddle, I instinctively already had these
competencies. It is instructive and
enlightening to learn about how other people have studied them and written
about them. One addition that I would
like to add to Dr. Goleman’s viewpoint is what I call the “Multiplier Effect”
(ME). The ME means that by optimally
combining the first three dimensions of emotional intelligence, then the sum
total of the three becomes greater than the sum total of each individual
attribute added up as a distinct and separate unit. In street language, it means “Having your
stuff together”. I hope to continue my
growth and travel on that path. Although
I am 33 years into a military career, I approach each day as if it was my first
one. I try to learn something new or
something from someone at work every day.
I am better now than I ever was on a personal and leadership level, and
I want to continue to improve. I would
like to be accused of “Having my stuff together”!
References:
Daniel
Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU
(Links to an external site.)
Daniel
Goleman: Why aren't we more compassionate?
www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_on_compassion
(Links to an external site.)
Module
1 URL: http://hescottjohn.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-great-leadership.html
Module
2 URL: http://hescottjohn.blogspot.com/
Module 3 URL:
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