How to exercise emotional intelligence in an age of disruption.

Exercising emotional intelligence is tricky in an age of disruption. Aristotle was clear about the nature of reason.?He stressed the need to think things through. He did not say that IQ should take precedence over emotional intelligence. He did suggest that going over the deep end would lead to uncontrollable results.

Each one of us carries an inner portfolio of photographs. Call them life experiences. They have themes such as identity, time, memory, sense of place, vision, and representation. You will notice with self-analysis that themes and ideas overlap. As you explore your collection, you might notice a dialectic of curiosities. You will want to see and touch each experience.

Does this enhance your understanding of others or does it make you feel more isolated? In theory, emotional intelligence should give us the tools to better manage, lead, and guide others to an agreed objective. When executed well, it should reveal your sincerity beyond a calculated outcome. Defining standards should be avoided. However, you will notice that when things click professionally, they will spotlight the unique flavours of individuals rather than the reputations of the people involved.

How to measure emotional intelligence

Exercising leadership was always a sticky wicket. When the stakes are right, your average soul seeks to be comforted and reassured by the symbols of their tribe. Conversations stop becoming discussions and resonate only as an echo in a chamber with similar sentiments giving birth to further dissonance outside the group identity.

Neuroscience technologies such as eye-scanning, facial recognition, and biometric readings give researchers a template on which to construct models that relate patterns of behaviour to different emotional states. The risk is that these models create self-determined patterns of behaviour indicative of aggregate groups and not people as distinct individuals.

In today's insanely social world, people use emojis to convey sentiments about themselves and the brands they consume. Emojis represent a symbolic language almost similar to runes. Nearly a third of global internet users are classified as emoji super-users. Studies claim that this number will double. As the use of these icons grows beyond millennials and Gen Z, they will leave a trail of breadcrumbs for others to follow. Emotional expressions then risk being scooped up by big data. Number crunchers love this way of interpreting things. Are employees as gullible as managers suggest? No, because aggregates are not people. People do not always act in predictable and rational ways whether they are buying what they think they need or not.

However, guessing someone's emotional state is risky because emotions are fickle and change. Emotional Intelligence can tailor products and hope clients do not peep behind the curtain. This is to take people as fools. They are not as foolish as some suggest. What is compelling is something most strategists lack: genuine empathy. All audiences have genuine priorities. Knowing what makes people happy is only the first step.

Personalities can be seen as clothes. Certain clothes suit the wearer just like certain behaviours suit the environment, space, and context of the situation. Loud garments just like overtly expressive behaviour stand out to disrupt. Emotional intelligence comes to life among leaders when it is connected to the people you are with, their language, movements, and attitudes. In other words, observing what drives people forward in a positive manner can provide important clues about who they are as people.

Bringing it back home

To wrap up, I'd like to share a quote by Lao Tzu. His words should serve as a template to anyone concerned by emotional intelligence and its impact on leading in an age of disruption:

"True perfection seems imperfect,

yet it is perfectly itself.

True fullness seems empty,

yet it is fully present.

True straightness seems crooked.

True wisdom seems foolish,

True art seems artless.

The Master allows things to happen.

He shapes events as they come.

He steps out of the way

and lets the Tao speak for itself."

About The Author

Andrew Scharf is an Award-Winning MBA Admissions Consultant ?? Executive & Career Coach recognised for helping top performers, and aspiring professionals be all they can be. His?mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world at Whitefield Consulting . Have a professional project you would like to discuss, send him a DM.