Class 4 - Emotional Intelligence

For this coming Monday's class we will be talking about emotional intelligence (EI or EQ). The students leading the discussion asked us to watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-jzWFQLopk

and take this quiz:

http://globalleadershipfoundation.com/geit/eitest.html

I have been working with a physician leadership development program that is heavily focused on growing emotional intelligence, so I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I have become more and more convinced that emotional intelligence is an important leadership trait. It's a wide ranging construct that incorporates many capabilities and behaviors, so it is not a silver bullet that is meaningfully summed up with one number, which I rather liked about this test.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I scored:

5    Self-awareness
9    Self-management
10  Social Awareness
10  Relationship management

As I reflected on those numbers, I felt the self-awareness score was too low, and the rest too high. So I have to conclude the tool is not great. I do like the constructs described in the analysis, which you can see here:

http://www.maetrix.com.au/emotional-intelligence/

In particular, I like this 2x2, which is not really a categorization tool like most 2x2s, but instead describes a flow.

I am a very reflective person, which is why I think the self-awareness score is too low. I spend a lot of time examining my own behaviors and thoughts and trying to improve the processes. Unfortunately, I have a lot of weaknesses. A trusted colleague said to me the other day, "You can go down a rat hole," meaning when I can get quite negative in my self-reflection at times. That's an indication of a lack of accurate self-assessment.

In terms of self-management, I think the score is maybe just a bit too high. I am very driven, though maybe not toward traditional goals. To be successful in the Army, you had to be adaptable. I do get frustrated at times when things aren't going the way I think they should, but I usually drive on despite that fact.

In terms of social awareness, I am a fairly personable person, and go out of my way to develop relationships (which leads to relationship management). I am empathetic (to a point where it sometimes gets in my way), and, through my many years in the Army, I believe I have developed a fine sense of service orientation, and even obligation.

In most of my professional career I have worked hard at relationship management, though I have to confess I have at times failed to work on that area as much as I should have within my own office/organization, while putting a heavy emphasis on bridging capital between my organization and other organizations. I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago and have since put an equal weight on both. The thing that motivated me the most as a leader was developing others; the thing I disliked the most was conflict management. In a sense, this mix led me to leave operations and pursue teaching. I found I was always seeking out opportunities to coach and teach when I was working in organizations. And what caused me the most stress was working with low performing, intransigent individuals. Becoming a teacher helped me play to my strengths and minimized my exposure to my weaknesses. I love working with bright young people who are looking to grow and make their mark on the world, and as a result, my job is very rewarding. And the fact that I had the self-awareness to make that jump, and to accept my strengths and weaknesses should indicate that my self-awareness score is a bit too low. Many people can't figure out what they are meant to do - I figured it out a long time ago.

class 1 - personality!

I had heard of the DISC personality test from some colleagues in the OD field, but had never taken it myself. Students in my OB course are teaching a class on personality on Monday and they have asked us to take two personality tests - the Big 5 and the DISC. We took my personal favorite, the MBTI, last week. I'm working with a group now that favors the SDI - which I have never taken, but would like to at some point.

I like personality tests, even the ones that ask stupid stuff like, "What kind of ice cream are you?" The reason I like them is they are great for starting conversations (which you will see from the Big 5, I really like). The main limitation of any self-report tool like these is the data source - meaning you. How accurate these are depends on 1) how self-aware you actually are and 2) how important it is for you to answer truthfully. I've tried to answer as truthfully as I can.

I think as leaders, the process of self-reflection is critical. These tools are useful for stimulating self-reflection, and so they are very valuable. Except may the ice cream flavor type ones.

A trick for overcoming the two errors I mentioned above is to have a couple of people whom you trust and who know you well take the test as if they were you. Sometimes they can help you gain real insight.

DISC

Free version of the DISC: https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

For the DISC, my results were Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance.

I have to say, the results were pretty close to how I look at myself.

"You have a strong inner motivation to influence people and circumstances. You thrive on competitive situations and challenging assignments. The stresses and pressures of everyday work and life are unlikely to reduce your effectiveness and enthusiasm."

Some descriptors:

• goal orientated and want to be recognised for their efforts.
• aim high, want authority and are generally resourceful and adaptable.
• are usually self-sufficient and individualistic.
• may lose interest in projects once the challenge has gone and they tend to be impatient and dissatisfied with minor detail.
• are strongly interested in meeting and being with people.
• are generally optimistic, outgoing, and socially skilled. (not sure about that last one - I said pretty close)
• are quick at establishing relationships. (not sure about this one, but I try)
• tend to enjoy change and variety in their work and non-work life. (absolutely.)
• are expansive by nature and tend not to like routine and repetitive work/activities. 
• are independent and uninhibited. (sometimes to a fault)
• resent rules and restrictions. (really have a hard time following rules - not necessarily intentional)
• prefer to be measured by results and are always willing to try the untried. (yes and I do a lot of weird stuff)

Big 5

Big 5: http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

I've done the Big 5 before, but I didn't save the results. Here are my results with some comments, along with what I think are the downsides of my scores:

Open-Mindedness

        High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.

        You enjoy having novel experiences and seeing things in new ways.     (Your 

percentile: 98)

Comment: I think this is accurate. Or at least, it is how I see myself. I try a lot of things and I really love trying new things. Downside of this is that I get bored easily and tend to seek change for change's sake.

Conscientiousness

        High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.

        You are neither organized or disorganized.     (Your percentile: 44)

Comment: I think this is probably a bit low vs. how I actually behave. I'm sloppy, I am not especially organized, but I have very reliable, and feel very badly when I don't follow through on something I have promised to do. I generally have issue with the fact that they lump together things like neatness and reliability. The questions seem to point toward anal retentiveness rather than how I think of conscientiousness. 

Extraversion

        High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.

        You are extremely outgoing, social, and energetic.     (Your percentile: 90)

Comment: I think of myself as a quiet extrovert, meaning I don't care for big crowds, don't flit about aimlessly, but do really like being sociable. 

Agreeableness

        High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.

        You tend to consider the feelings of others.     (Your percentile: 65)

Comment: I think this is about right. The weakness here is that I am sometimes a bit of a pushover.

Negative Emotionality

        High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.

        You are a generally anxious person and tend to worry about things.     (Your percentile: 87)

Comment: I do think of myself as higher on the anxiety scale, but I don't think I would be in the top 1/8th of the population. I suspect people tend to over report this response, meaning, the more anxious you are, the more anxious you perceive yourself to be. So I would guess my true score is in the low 70's. That's a weakness I have had my whole life. Sometimes I can channel it to motivate myself; sometimes it just kicks my ass. 

saving my result here: https://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/?o=100,100,100&c=25,81,63&e=75,88,69&a=88,75,44&n=69,50,81&y=1970&g=m

new course, old course

Spring classes start a week from Monday, and I have not written my syllabi yet. Luckily I only teach two classes, and only one of them is a new start. New starts are painful. You have to start from scratch, think through what you want to accomplish, what assignments would be both meaningful and instructional, fair for the level of student while at the same time pushing them to actually learn something. It's all a balancing act. And the act of putting it all down in a schedule is tedious. But that's the price you pay to have the privilege of being a teacher. 

I'm excited to take a second whack at teaching my organizational behavior course using open pedagogy. I am more confident that it is the right approach than I was when I tried it last year. This class is currently sitting at 24 - 10 more students than I had last year. I hope the larger size does not wreck the dynamics. Fourteen was intimate, and hard to hide yourself if you were not contributing. Twenty four may be pushing the limits, but we will see.