When thoughts and feelings are working together – when emotional intelligence is working – people are able to self-regulate their feelings and reduce the kind of reactivity that otherwise escalates into counter-productivity (as shown in the graph on the previous page).
“Emotion can lead to our worst decisions or our best ones: The difference is emotional intelligence.”
The challenge is to see the value of emotions, then to begin using these skills on a daily basis. Everyone has emotional intelligence -- for most of us, it's an underdeveloped area and an untapped resource that requires careful application. As Peter Salovey said, "Yes we can control emotions. The trick is doing it in the right way at the right time." 7 It's not a new idea: around 350 BC, Aristotle wrote, "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 – that is not easy." Emotional intelligence remains an emerging science. The research progress in the last 20 years is remarkable – but research into other intelligences has been underway for over 100 years. Meanwhile, this new science can be applied to help leaders understand what truly drives people – and thereby to accelerate performance.
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White Paper The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence
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