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Dr. David Caruso on The Emotionally Intelligent Manager and
the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso mode of EI
Posted on Thursday, July 08 @ 13:19:10 PDT by Editor
David Caruso and Peter Salovey applied the groundbreaking
scientific work they’ve done together with Dr. Jack Mayer on
emotional intelligence in a practical book for managers. While
many books have touted the benefits of EQ at work, The
Emotionally Intelligent Manager is excellent for leaders who want
to understand the real science behind the “EQ buzz.” In
an enjoyable interview, Dr. Caruso introduces the ability model
of emotional intelligence and explains how this insightful and
scientifically rigorous approach has bottom-line value.
David, thanks for taking the time to do the interview.
It is a pleasure to do so Josh as I admire you, and the work of
Six Seconds.
What led you and Peter to write the Emotionally Intelligent
Manager?
The idea and motivation came from other people. Every time that I
spoke on EI, ran a workshop, or did an assessment, people would
ask us whether we had a book they could read to learn more. The
academic articles didn't meet the real-world training needs
people had; they were calling for a practical application of the
research.
We debated for a very long time whether we even should do such a
book. Would it support our focus on academic research? Was the
field ready for this? Did we know enough about the ability model
of EI to complete an entire hands-on book? After lots of
passionate thinking, the answer was ‘yes!’ We saw that
bringing the core science of emotional intelligence to the
workplace could have business value and also be written with
scientific integrity.
There have been so many books on EQ in the last 10 years. What
does this one add?
Our book is focused purely on the ability model of EI and its
application to what I know best -- the business world. The
application of the ability model to the workplace is new,
it’s practical, and gets to the heart of what many people
need to practice to get the benefits of emotional intelligence to
be a better a leader.
What’s different about the ability model?
Emotions are a complex and sophisticated form of information.
This form of reasoning has been known as emotional intelligence.
While there are many approaches to emotional intelligence, the
approach I’m talking about here is the original, scientific
conception. It’s based upon the decade of research and
theorizing by psychologists Jack Mayer and Peter Salovey, the
originators of the theory of emotional intelligence. This is an
ability model of emotional intelligence which defines emotional
intelligence as the ability to reason with, and about, emotions.
Emotional intelligence combines feelings with thinking, and
thinking with feeling with four related, but different,
abilities:
Identifying Emotions -- the ability to accurately recognize how
you and those around you are feeling; it’s how you gather
information, or data, contained in emotions.
Using Emotions -- the ability to generate emotions, and to use
emotions to actually help thinking; it’s key to
problem-solving, creativity, and also empathy.
Understanding Emotions -- the ability to understand complex
emotions and how one emotion leads to another; this ability to
make sense of the meaning of feelings is important in building
effective relationships, for example. It lets you strategically
use emotions.
Managing Emotions -- the ability to intelligently act on the data
of emotions in your self and in others; it lets you apply
effective strategies that help you achieve positive outcomes.
And without giving away the book -- what’s the key to
applying that model at work?
Emotions contain data and to ignore them means ignoring
competitive information. The four EI abilities -- Identify, Use,
Understand and Manage Emotions -- are the keys to leveraging the
wisdom in feelings (which is, by the way, the title of a book
that Peter and colleague Lisa Feldman-Barrett recently edited).
The book is about helping people take an intelligent approach to
emotions, which allows our ideas to be accepted by executives.
The book is not anti-IQ; we recognize that since EI is a form of
intelligence, it works with thinking and problem solving. In
other words, people are most effective when their EQ and IQ are
working together. Which means leaders don’t have to fear
emotional intelligence!
Could you give an example of an “intelligent use of
emotions” in the workplace?
Sure! Let’s talk about emotional awareness, an ability many
people agree is essential for effective communication. Being
“open to feelings” may make people emotional, but to be
emotionally intelligent they need accuracy in their emotional
awareness.
Consider someone who is emotionally open and aware, but who
usually “gets it wrong.” He picks up on emotional cues,
and is sensitive to other’s emotions, but he’s
misinterpreting the data or reading the wrong cues. Perhaps
he’s coming to a conclusion that people are annoyed when
really they’re busy and involved. You can imagine how
he’d be constantly questioning and defensive because his
perceptions were inaccurate. As he learns to become more accurate
(or even to ask more questions), he’ll become more
intelligent in the way he’s using emotions.
You talk about the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence
Test as "the only ability measure of emotional
intelligence." What does that mean?
I have to watch that hyperbole! An ability test means that you
have to actually use your abilities to take the test. Where a
“self-report” test will ask something like, “How
accurately do you read people’s faces?” On this test
you actually read faces. The result is an objective measure,
something more like most IQ tests, but this one is about
emotions.
As far as I know it is the only test of its kind, but even so, I
want to avoid over-dramatizing this. It’s a solid, well
researched test that is reliable and effective -- and it is
unique.
In working on the book, what was one of the important
"aha!" realizations for you?
The book was originally intended to raise awareness, to inform
managers and leaders of the role of emotions in their work and
life. And it certainly accomplishes this objective.
But the surprise, and it may sound sort of strange, was that I
learned we could teach people to better adapt to their world
through something as simple as a book. True change requires a lot
more than reading a book, but we worked very hard to provide
strategies that people can apply right away to various aspects of
their lives. This realization came to me from the feedback which
readers have sent our way, which has been extremely rewarding!
What's the key piece of research or data that you've found makes
senior managers sit up and listen about the importance of EI?
Emotions contain data and to ignore them means ignoring
competitive information. The idea is that how you feel influences
how you think and what you think about. Emotions matter -- all
the time.
But that is often not ‘hard’ enough for senior
managers, and frankly, it shouldn’t be enough. It has taken
quite some time, but we are finally seeing some data on how EI
influences team effectiveness, the communication of a vision,
interpersonal relationships, and a team-centered leadership
style. Leaders higher in EI seem to encourage and support
followers more than other leaders, and there is even some salary
and promotion data in one study that suggests EI plays a role in
these hard outcomes. It is preliminary work, but still exciting.
If you could have a million managers tape one key idea under
their computer screens and think about it a little each week,
what's the message you'd send?
Identify - Use - Understand - Manage Emotions.
That is our model and what we call our 'Emotional Blueprint' --
when people put these abilities into action, they get better
results.
What are you, Peter, and Jack working on now?
We’re working in three areas right now:
We have an academic book on EI that we are completing to update
our model of emotional intelligence and tell the scholarly world
about the new work in the field.
The second effort is the research release of a youth version of
our ability test. This has been many years in the making, so I am
really excited about it. At the same time, I’m apprehensive
about assessment and research with adolescents. This field
requires the highest standards and care, and when you work with
kids, as you certainly know yourself, the standard is even
higher. So the apprehension is an intelligent, appropriate
feeling that’s causing us to focus on our ethical priority
-- “first, do no harm.” The approach we have taken
requires time and it is responsible, ethical, and above all else,
helpful to people.
The third area is to enhance our ability approach to EI. The
research literature is something that we always contribute to and
monitor, but I am hoping that a research grant that we are
writing will get funded to allow us to move the field forward
some more.
Why are you, personally, so committed to this work?
The work that Peter and Jack did was fabulous, and my goal was to
let more people know about it. They are incredibly smart,
responsible and decent guys and they looked to me to apply their
work. So I have a feeling of obligation to them.
Secondly, I have found this model to be extremely helpful to my
clients and believe that the model brings managers a tool to
create more effective lives. In other words, it really works.
And, lastly, I find that I need to refer to the four abilities --
Identify, Use, Understand, Manage -- in order to "get things
right" in my own life. And, I try to use the Emotional
Blueprint after I get something wrong. It is a very powerful
learning experience, and also, a very humbling experience. I
always know when I have messed up, because my kids are so fond of
telling me. Their feedback usually begins with their favorite
phrase, “Well, Mr. Emotional Intelligence....” That is
when I know that there is work I need to do to act in a more
emotionally-intelligent manner. And, of course, many a colleague
has reminded me that if I manage emotions better, I’ll get
better results.
How did your wife and kids like the book?
You’ll have to ask them yourself, Josh! This is a book for
managers, but my family was intimately involved in the book. My
wife encouraged me every step of the way, and as a child
psychologist, had some great insights to share with me. She is
very expressive of her support for me, which is a behavior I try
to learn from her. My daughter was taking a psychology class when
I was writing the book, learned about EI, and had some terrific
questions for me about how one can approach problems with our
ability model. (And her picture is in the book as an example test
item). My older son leveraged his PC skills to generate some of
the book graphics and was anonymously featured in one of my
anecdotes. (However, his recollection of the event differs
somewhat from mine.) My younger son was the photographer for my
author photo, something we are both quite proud of.
Anything else you want to add?
You know, our work is driven by friendship. Jack and I met in
grad school in 1979. Peter was a grad student at Yale in 1983
when I went there to do a postdoctoral fellowship. Peter and Jack
met at emotion conferences and started to collaborate and form a
friendship. Later, Jack and I lived near each other once more and
we saw each other a lot until he took his job in New Hampshire.
Jack asked me to work with them back in '95 really as a means to
stay in touch and give us an excuse to visit and call each other
frequently. Some of the best times have been when the three of us
are together, whether lecturing in Tokyo, or having dinner at my
house.
We don’t always agree with one another, and successfully
managing our differences is one key to the success of our
relationship, and of our work together. It has been a productive
relationship, too, in part because we each bring a different
perspective to bear on the field. The biggest plus for me in this
work has been the relationships I have been able to develop and
the friendships which have flourished as a result. And, my work
in the field has brought me into the lives of people I would
otherwise never have met. In many ways, these are the best
outcomes one could hope for.
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The Emotionally Intelligent Manager : How to Develop and Use the
Four Key Emotional Skills of Leadership
David R. Caruso and Peter Salovey (Jossey-Bass, 2004).
David Caruso, Ph.D., brings a rigorous scientific perspective to
improving workplace performance. He is the co-founder of the EI
Skills Group, and a Research Affiliate in the Department of
Psychology at Yale University. He works with executives and
leaders from major corporations in the areas of assessment and
executive development. David is the co-author of the MEIS and
MSCEIT, ability tests of emotional intelligence with colleagues
John Mayer and Peter Salovey.
The MSCEIT test is available from Six Seconds. More information
on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso model and test are available online
-- and you can reach Dr. Caruso on this site as well:
www.eiSkills.com