Better assessments = Better innovation

 

A Case Study by Patricia Harmon, Ph.D. 

The CEO of a global, European electronics company and his senior team were discussing a problematic issue that had plagued the company for some time. It was perplexing to say the least. They were experiencing lagging levels of innovation in various parts of Asia. No one could figure it out.  Their senior management at the regional levels believed that they hired talented and motivated individuals, and paid them well for their work.

Looking for answers they hired a Canadian University MBA group to do a country by country analysis to uncover any patterns or trends that might lead them to resolving this issue. At the same time, they arranged to have all of their country managers and division heads profiled with the EQ-i to see what insights, if any, might be found. 

A clear pattern emerged with their 67 managers and division heads. Empathy levels were low while assertiveness levels were high, relatively. What could that mean? they pondered. In discussing this finding, senior management members offered that they were proud of their direct, no-nonsense management style. “That is how you get things done and make things happen around here” some said with obvious pride.

As the meeting progressed, a clue emerged. The managers who ran the regional offices in Asia were all European expatriates. The style of management of these Europeans was typically a direct, say-it-like-it-is approach. This style that did not mesh well with some of the more indirect, subtle, Asian management styles where “yes’ can mean “no” and much effort is in ‘saving face’ at all costs.

Those two management styles could not have conflicted more, resulting in a cross-cultural communication clash that inhibited the trial and error practices that accompany innovation.  It was a light bulb moment. Not surprisingly, the university findings corroborated this result.

Shortly thereafter the company amended its management practice and focused more on hiring local managers, where possible, together with providing cross-cultural training to expatriates.

If you are interested in finding out more about Pat Harmon’s studies on Innovation, check out her new book entitled The Mind of an Innovator.

Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions

 

New Book Links Emotional Intelligence to Stress and Decision Making

The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions—And What to Do About It (Jossey-Bass, May 2010) integrates the most powerful concepts that are shaping the future of leadership and business, such as stress, decision making, emotional intelligence, cognitive ability, and brain science. This book is endorsed by MHS president, Dr. Steven Stein and other well-respected EI practitioners, including Reuven Bar-On, Richard Boyatzis, David Caruso and Marcia Hughes. This latest addition to the EI literature is a must-read for all leaders.

In The Stress Effect, emotional intelligence and leadership expert Dr. Henry L. Thompson explores the powerful and undermining effects of stress on good decision making and what leaders can do to improve their decision-making effectiveness—especially when stressed. Dr. Thompson explains that when leaders’ stress levels become sufficiently elevated—whether in the boardroom, the classroom or on the front line of a manufacturing process—their ability to effectively use their emotional intelligence and cognitive ability in tandem to make wise decisions is significantly impaired. Until now, experts have argued that increasing your emotional intelligence will help you cope with and manage stress. The Stress Effect shows that stress actually blocks access to your emotional intelligence as well as your cognitive ability, two critical components in the decision-making process.

The Stress Effect shows leaders how to build resilience to stress and explores a variety of decision-making techniques as well as performance aids to improve decision making under stress. The book includes a free assessment of the seven best practices (ARSENAL) for building Stress Resilience to evaluate your stress hardiness.

Book reviewer Michelle K. Malsbury has this to say about The Stress Effect:

“This was one of the best books on leadership and stress that I have ever had the pleasure to read and review. I would suggest it as a text for all leadership, management, and business courses at the Masters level and above in universities around the world.”

For more information, visit www.thestresseffect.com.

The smart new way to get hired: EI and your career

 

Announcing the release of a new book on emotional intelligence: The Smart New Way to Get Hired: Use Emotional Intelligence and Land the Right Job by Lisa Caldas Kappesser, a certified career and executive coach and president of EQ Coaching Solutions. The foreword is written by Dr. Steven J. Stein.

Lisa unveils how to identify, use, and enhance emotional intelligence to make a smart career choice, find the best job, and score the job offer. In today’s competitive job market it is all about managing emotions so they do not interfere with a productive job search. It is also about connecting with the employer in an interview. When 5 or 6 qualified candidates are being interviewed for one position, it is one’s EQ skills that can give you the edge in making that personal connection.

Her book, The Smart New Way to Get Hired provides a quiz that helps job seekers assess their level of emotional intelligence. Practical examples and exercises teach them how to stand out in the job search, by using the four areas of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social skills. Readers learn how to overcome job search roadblocks and gain confidence and skills in understanding themselves and in dealing with employers. Lisa explains how potential employers look for emotional intelligence in structured interview questions and shares tips on how job seekers can answer these questions to display their emotional intelligence skills and thus have the competitive edge over others in today’s job market.

For more information, visit the author’s website.