Improve your Emotional Intelligence

I am meeting a lot of people who feel helpless to do anything in this economic onslaught.  As I say to them - “there is always something you can do” - even small things that get you rolling again.

The benefits of high Emotional Intelligence have been well catalogued. Emotional Intelligence accounts for more than 85% of exceptional achievement. While technical skills can be necessary for productivity, these are insufficient to explain the differences between high and mediocre achievers. High performers show emotional intelligence as task complexity increases. 

The best leaders have found effective ways to handle their own and others emotions. Understanding the powerful role emotions play in the workplace sets great leaders apart from the rest. Also leaders emotional resonance sets the tone in the group effecting the outlook of all those around him. Having and developing high emotional Intelligence is therefore also key in the area of leadership.

What about our current economic climate? We are seeing the need more and more for Transformational (charismatic, personable, lead from the front)  rather than Transactional (work for reward only) Leadership skills. As always occurs  when things are volatile. And guess what - our friend Emotional Intelligence is even more important and more impactful on Transformational Leadership because its personality led with people skills to the fore.

So what can you do about this? Well you can improve your EQ (Emotional Quotient) through training. You can improve your Organisations EQ through training also - improving their ability to achieve what they need to achieve.

Now thats something you can do.
Talk to these guys www.adeo.ie

Aidan Higgins

Decent Management?

Some of the public sector management stories remind me of a something I came across about the battle of Balaclava in 1854. Famous for the charge of the light brigade and “the thin red line” it became a logistical nightmare. While the British soldiers were up to their waists in water and cholera in summer clothes during the Russian winter, eating their own horses and dying by the thousands, the supplies they needed to survive languished in their ships for months - just down the hill from the front line - because the paperwork had not been properly done. 

Front line staff  in public sector organisations are in my experience mostly doing their best often with back end management unable to meet their needs - not because there are too few but because there are too many. And I am beginning to believe that most of these poor managers are not aware of their capabilities and how bad they are.  And their managers are not helping by filling in review forms (where reviews are done at all) in a manner which rewards mediocre performance.

Listening to people who work in some areas of the public sector there are stories of mind boggling bureaucracy and failures. Improvements are resisted by a culture where positional power is taken so seriously it becomes the target of management rather than customer service. This leads to interdepartmental barriers, territoriality and lack of joined up thinking. I often wonder how old the process are in these organisations - did they every go through the BPR’s of the 90’s and are we dealing with systems put in place over 50 years ago.

 I was at a hospital clinic some time back and as often happens I and about 20 others were kept waiting in the outer area for the consultants to arrive. There was a young woman on the front desk who was constantly getting enquiries about how long people could expect to be waiting. Of course she could not help - willing as she was - because she had not been informed. So she sat there working on her computer while 20 pairs of eyes stared at her and as people got more and more annoyed due to the delay and lack of information. I could feel the stress in the room and I felt quite sorry for her. I happened to sit down beside her and I asked how often it was like this …

“Oh” she said “every clinic”.

I kindly suggested that she should get a privacy screen so she could do her work without all those eyes burning a hole in her head. She confirmed that she had in fact asked for one and it was coming.

“Really?” I asked “when did you order it”.

She replied “3 years ago….”

This is a complex problem overall and will have to be resolved because the inefficiences generated by this culture drain our countries tax revenues at a far greater rate than is recognised I believe.  A little compassion for those who work for you might be a good start.

Aidan Higgins

Evolution time.

Darwin is famously quoted as saying “It is not the biggest or strongest that survive but those most adaptable to change”.  In biological terms its the idea that the organism that best adapts to the environment will survive best and therefore pass on their genes to the next generation. This ideology has been used in most competitive organisations for many years and is an adage used to improve flexibility and innovation within the organisation. For this the general axioms are reduce bureaucracy and encourage change mechanisms within the organisation so that adaptation can occur. In a competitive market place this means change or go out of business.

Evolution is at its most powerful when a defined enviroment gets squeezed, forcing competition. When there is loads of food, space and resources then Evolution slows down but when the pressure comes on its evolve or die.

In the current recession most competitive environments are adapting by cutting overheads, changing processes, getting closer to the customers and such. Some businesses are being clever and taking advantage by defining their niche while the competition is weak and instead of focusing on quarterly results at any cost are getting closer to customers and understanding them and their needs better and improving their processes so that when the gloom lifts, as it always does, they will find themselves positioned at the top of the food chain and the number one in their space.

Others are in survival mode - taking any bit of business that comes along in order to survive. So they try to break out of their niche to areas where they may not have a competitive advantage. Or take the long road to product diversification requiring them while at their weakest to learn a new skillset and a new market. For some this is necessary and there is a natural tension in this and decisions need to be made.

What however is to be done with organisations who are slow to react with rigid bureaucracy, an inflexible workforce and a culture that resists change.  Those without a very strong position in the market will die.  I am watching this in some organisations in this country with awe. Organisations who need to move fast and adapt have either management who cannot change or a workforce, possibly unionised, who are all about “us and them” and never “we” who argue  while their more flexible competitors (abroad) are eating their dinner.

Most interesting is the Public Sector who seem like rabbits caught in headlights and seem to be able to do nothing but CUT things. People. Services. Budgets. What about performance inefficiencies? What about getting more done with less by reducing the amount that needs to be done? What about mapping processes across departments? What about putting real managers into the Health Service for example? From outside the crazy culture that exists? If you get more done with the same people everybody keeps their job and the customers get their services and “everybody goes home with a balloon”.

The question arises - does Evolutionary pressure come to bear on the Public Sector Organisations - if they don’t shape up will they go out of existence. Well - no - in reality it does not apply. On an organisational level.  This is why it is sometimes it is prudent to privatize these organisations to allow their new environment to apply pressures that their current environment does not allow.

But what about Ireland Inc? What about the economic status of Ireland as a whole. The Public Sector Organisations are just parts of a larger whole. And so long as they are as they are and they remain as they are Ireland will suffer. Ireland is in an Evolutionary squeeze. Other more competitive entities are putting their hands up to eat our dinner while we are distracted with political expedience. Ireland Inc is in danger of dying out perhaps? I wonder if those who are focused on their own little territories and those who block improvements at the local level think of what they are doing in these terms?

Perhaps they should.

Aidan Higgins

Success in hard times.

Is it always true that if we work harder we will do better? In times like we are passing through now, if we put our heads down and push are we doing the right thing? What happens if we are already working very hard and if we are already expending more of ourselves than we like and leaving nothing for our personal lives  - the wringings from a dishcloth. Is this sustainable?

The term work smarter is very old. However the term applies still to the concepts of using your efforts more wisely.  What about working more intelligently? A friend of mine once said to me - smart is short term - intelligence is long term. I see a lot of well meaning managers and leader, leading by example, burning the candle at both ends and bringing their people with them. For a time the work culture in  Japan for instance precluded you leaving the office before the boss left even if it meant staying until midnight. Corporate in Japan had to turn off the lights in their buildings to make people go home. Bosses mean well and often lead this way - “work harder and we’ll get through this!” 

But what about working more Intelligently. What about waking up your people to Awareness and making them more Emotionally Intelligent? What about using training to improve the success of your people, who properly motivated use these new skills to be better in all facets of their jobs. We have been hearing for years that we need to engourage people to be leaders and to strive independently for their team in their own interests as well as the teams. Well what about giving them the tools to develop their Self Awareness, Self Regulation , Empathy and Social Skills, all of which are directly related to success.

In 2004 Stanford’s Graduate School of Business stated that “Emotional intelligence skills such as vision, building relationships and developing people are more important to leadership success than typical leadership traits, such as external/market orientation, financial acumen and planning“. This study involved 265 corporate executives, directors, managers, business owners, and consultants.  Sir John Egan, former head of the Confederation of British Industry, BAA and Jaguar is quoted as saying that “It is the really inspirational leaders who stand out in a crisis…Emotional intelligence is a big plus in hard times“.

I met someone the other evening - a small business owner  - who said that becoming aware of his personality type made an immediate difference to the running of his business. He said he was able to re-organise his and others work to match his strengths. I have watched how the processes that improve awareness and Emotional Intelligence build better teams, comradeship and networks in business.

Better still its something we can do something about. Its not “out there” with the financial difficulties, its internal. We can get our people awake and working better together by applying simple techniques and opening up their awareness of themselves and others quite readily.

And success breeds success.

Aidan Higgins

The All Black Principle

The All Black (New Zealand) Rugby team just did a Tour of the Four Home Unions and once again demonstrated their superiority and why they are known as the best team in the world. I think they have a lesson for organisations.

They completely dominated the international Matches against strong opposition and as they often do they pulled away in the second half of the match. They have high levels of fitness, individual skill and motivation but so do the home union teams. So what is it that makes them so superior when all thing seem equal? How does a country of 4 million inhabitants consistently produce the best team in the world when countries like France, England, and Wales have much higher numbers?

I was at a meeting once where Ollie Campbell the Irish outhalf at the time was asked why the Lions had gone down to such a  crushing defeat in New Zealand back in the early 80’s - he talked about pace, fitness, strength, professionalism. I played against the All Blacks myself in 1989 when they were capatained by Buck Shelford and that year they completely dominated the International Matches and again it was pace, fitness, strength and professionalism.

Rugby went professional in the 90’s and anyone watching the game now will see players that look less like bar room brawlers and more like comic book heros in shape and fitness. Pace and professionalism have also been added and yet the All Blacks continue to dominate (albeit not winning the world cup - but thats for another post) with a remarkable consistency without those marked advantages of the past. How?

Well my view is their understanding of the game, their ability to change their game plan quickly and their telepathic communication. I often see the other international teams being beaten in the first half and having a good coach who alters the game plan at half time after which they can often come out a different team and win the game. But they have to wait for the coach and if the game changes again they have no access to the coach until the end.

The All Blacks however have a complete understanding of the game and when they sense weakness in the opposition they exploit it there and then. they learn quicly what the opposition are doing, they adapt their game plan quickly and go for the jugular. They are empowered (not hampered) by their coaches, they communicate effectively from 1 to 15 to ensure they work together and they are free to adapt again if or when the opposition adjusts.

Organisations compete for everything, competition is key to success, market entry, exit etc. In the workplace are our people encouraged to learn and do the people in our teams understand the whole game plan? Do they communicate effectively and are they empowered by their managers and leaders to make the moves quickly that are required to succeed? In winning organisations they are.

Aidan Higgins

Neanderthal Management

I have decided to coin a new phrase “Neanderthal Management” - I may not be the first to use it but I am going to use it from now on - a lot. Its a phrase which to me describes perfectly some of the things I see going on around me which is called “Management”. 

This was sent my way. It illustrates it nicely. 

Once upon a time it was resolved to have a boat race between an Software Company team and a Health Department team. Both teams practiced long and hard. On the big day they were as ready as they could be. The Software Company team won by a mile.

Morale sagged in the Health Department and senior management determined to find out why they lost. A working party was set up to investigate.

They concluded that their rivals had eight people rowing and one person steering, whereas the Health Department competitors had eight people steering and one person rowing.

Senior management immediately hired a consultancy firm to study the team’s structure. Thousands of pounds and several months later they concluded: Too many people were steering and not enough rowing.

With a view to establishing a vision for victory going forward, the team structure was changed: three ‘Assistant Steering Managers’, three ‘Steering Managers’, one ‘Executive Steering Manager’ and a ‘Director of Steering Services’. Then a performance and appraisal system was put in place to give the person rowing the boat more incentive to work harder.

The next year, the Software Company won by two miles. Addressing the issue head on, going forward, the Health Department laid off the rower for poor performance, sold off the paddles, cancelled all capital investment in new equipment and halted development of a new canoe.

The money saved was used to fund higher than average pay awards to senior management.

Neanderthal Management? - going on all the time.

Read the news.

Aidan Higgins

Putting the tin hat on it

Today is the 29th of February. And today provides me with an opportunity to review a certain perspective and attitute to employees and motivation by certain elements in this country.

I have been working on or with employee motivation and performance for years now and I advocate there is a correlation between employee performance and workplace happiness based on correct employee motivation. I hold also that certain sectors of Irish Employers still feel that treating staff well is a sign of weakness.

An interesting discussion with a HR manager the other day led to us disussing his experience that companies who are known to be good/best employers are doing so because being top of their game they can afford it. I tried to make the point that perhaps they were on top of their game because they were good to their employees? I also tried to explain the point that money is not the most important factor in employee motivation - the top three being appreciation, the ability to make a difference and getting help on personal problems.

I find there is a cynical approach to employment in certain sections of this country where an adversarial approach is insitigated and perpetuated and sometimes by special interest groups. I remember asking a question a few years back of Jim O Hara - one of the Leading lights in Intel in Ireland. I asked him “Do you think Irish companies get the Unions they deserve?”. He agreed they probably did. I also think Managements attitude often does contribute to many of the problems that occur. I think its a matter of truly caring for employees and showing it. I believe many have learned not to over years of adversarial management and the whole “us and them” philosophy.

I was talking to an employee of the HSE the other day who I asked to tell me one good thing about their employer. Not their job mind, their employer. After 5 minutes of embarrassing silence they he said “let me call you tomorrow on that”.

I have recently discussed with another public sector employee in a 365 service environment the situation of Rota preparation and the managers reluctance to actually give people the time off they request when it made no difference to cover overall. When he asked why he was told ” We can’t do that….they might get used to it”.

Now I have come across stories again and again like that and I believe that besides the adversarial approach to work management contributed to by both sides there is also a lack of real care about employees. Aside from the social aspects which this is not about - it makes good business sense to treat people well. A quote from a documentary shown on RTE made by a German Poet in the 1960s which was recently reshown comes to mind…. “The Irish love their children as long as they’re children”. Too strong? - perhaps - but this attitude has to change.

Its needs a Management initiative - and it will need trust and time. And it will need government support. Its not getting too much of that sort of attention. And now we are getting to the reason I am sounding off today on February 29th.

The Irish government have announced their understanding of a need to do something to recognise the need for work life balance for employees (and management too it must be fair) and so they have decided to announce a “work life balance day” where we consider this important aspect of well-being of Irish employees…….  and yes …….. they did indeed make it today - Feb 29th in a leap year.  Speaks volumes really.

Aidan Higgins

The Enneagram in Business - Barriers to Acceptance

I have been using the Enneagram with business for over ten years now and it get clearer and stronger to me every day. Its general acceptance among the business community is becoming a reality - but slowly. Some of this is I believe is to do with the way it is taught and the language that is used to teach it. I know that if someone rolled into a business training session I was a part of, with their own spiritual agenda (whatever that might be) and tried to force it down my throat it would taint the taste of whatever I was taught and perhaps put me off it for life.

The fact that the Enneagram originated in Philosophical tradition (as did Psychology) and was taken forward initially by Jesuits in the US  (such as Don Riso of Riso and Hudson ) means that it has been taken by the spiritual community and has emerged from there to the business world. Having come from the business world to the Enneagram myself (the opposite route) it is obvious to me that the language used for teaching must be adapted to the new audience.

I have also come across attitudes that suggest that the business community does not need the Enneagram and in fact it may be harmful in the wrong hands. I would point out that there is a greater need than ever for the Enneagram in business and not just because of its impact on Emotional Intelligence and on the performance of the bsuiness. What about people being happier with their lives and their lot? Most Business is about dealing with or working with other people. Its 30% of our waking time so surely its a good place to start. Also the Enneagram is the sort of learning that is taken home from work and lifts the lives of others at home and in ones social circles too.

When I was researching the Enneagram for my dissertation I interviewed a lot of Enneagram trainees and almost all of them who were introduced to the Enneagram at work continued the learning on their own time outside work, perceiving its value. However when I broach the subject of the Enneagram to business people who have never seen it, I see a suspicious glint in their eye and the question that most often comes out is “is that like the Belbin thing or that Myers Briggs thing” and I have to say yes….but NO! There is a lot of history with those two models (fine for their time) of being labelled with no real benefit. Coupled with that is their immediate fear of being ”found out”.

However they do get found out - by themselves. The Enneagram is about self realisation first and foremost and about self improvement. When you can identify the colour of the lens through which you view life you comprehend things very differently. As Helen Palmer repeats regularly “you can see things as they really are”. Often the most powerful of the revelations are based around the fact that the focus of attention is different for each type so you selectively perceive your own truth. Further you crave different certainties in life than other types - so you focus on getting them. It takes time and it takes awareness but the rewards are the understanding of what drives you, your resultant actions and reactions as a result and the understanding of how others differ from you in these respects. So you drive up your Emotional Intelligence and the resultant rewards can be considerable.

Heavy stuff ? It can be. Enjoyable? Certainly. But it requires change and this creates fear initially. So the language must be carefully chosen when the invitations are sent out. This is important stuff. Hardly Sales skills 101.

Aidan Higgins

I’ve been Indexed

A friend of mine, Dr Paul O Leary, who runs the Entrepeneurship Module on the Trinity MBA has just introduced me to a new profiling tool called Predictive Index. The system, when introduced to me as a profiling tool, was met with skepticism at first. As a true Enneagram disciple I find other lesser systems incomplete and to be honest I only listened with one ear when we first discussed it. However Paul is an ethical, clever and focused individual and he opened my eyes to its potential.

The Predictive Index was developed by Arnold S. Daniels in 1955 who devised a survey that could accurately measure a wide spectrum of psychological and behavioural characteristics. During the 1950’s, having helped to develop behavioural tests for positions within the US Air Force, the system was developed and evolved further over the next 15 years. Since then, PI tell us, it has had its reliability continually tested as a predictor of workplace behaviour with it ihas claimed over 400 validity studies across a broad range of jobs, industries and countries. Certainly its US standards compliance seems notable. 

Basically what this tool does is profile the personality against the systems own markers and within those confines it determines much about the suitability of a person for a role with an organisation. This prediction is based on the codified knowledge accumulated from existing customers and more importantly from existing employees in those roles within the client organisation itself. From this it can be simply determined which employee profiles are “likely” to suit which jobs and be successful at them. Further it can detect types who for instance are likely to be highly stressed in particular roles and those risk takers who could possibly commit mass murder accidentally if left in charge of large and dangerous equipment in monotonous roles (I could be one of those :)  ).

I did the base test over the Christmas Holidays and I have to say it got me spot on. For a 10 minute test to be so accurrate was astonishing. Given my own levels of awareness and my understanding of my type through NLP, the Enneagram and Myers Briggs I can see that it was amazingly consistent with those (at the level it addresses).

The report included terms such as “risk taker” and “out of the box thinker”  with “focused on future goals” and “makes decisions and takes action” which would contribute to my chosen roles and also overlaps my Enneagram and MB types.

Paul is introducing this product to the Irish Market and I think it will do well.

Aidan Higgins

The Enneagram in Business

The Enneagram is all about improvement and uses levels of health and talks of stripping away the “Veil of Illusion” to see things as they really are which has consequential significant improvement on awareness and interpersonal interaction at work. 

As a Manager what would one give for ones team to have improved communication, conflict management and collaboration skills?

As a Leader in an organisation what is it worth personally to have a greater self confidence, self control and influencing skills?

As a team member how much better if you and your team mates understand one another better, are aware of each others moods and how to react to them and can build bonds better with one another. How much time is saved getting the team from forming to performing – this time could be reduced using the Enneagram training and even by applying it to build the team in the first instance.

Recent improvements in understanding of motivation and empowerment also indicate benefits to the Organisation of a workforce with a balanced lifestyle - where the elements of their personal life are operating in tandem. This alone has a positive impact on ones work performance. This is especially true over the medium to longer term and a good balance prevents burnout, stress and improves absenteeism and retention.

The Enneagram is seen by some as being a bit “West Coast” (US) and it suffers from credibility in terms of “pop” psychology. Further when introduced for the first time to the individual it can create a negative response related to fear of being labelled (and fear of change). Credibility is also hampered by some of the spiritual language used by some of its teachers – and while this is not of any particular doctrine – I have spoken to many to whom it was off-putting. However the Enneagram is gaining ground world wide and is used in some of the biggest companies in the world. It is also taught in Stanford and Harvard.

A difficulty with teaching the Enneagram surrounds the practicality of the typing process. The interviewees who describe the “Oral Tradition” training method talk about the feeling of trust, the time taken to properly understand, the honesty of the panel members etc. Delivering this in a business format can prove problematic given the time restraints and the competitive nature (and sometimes negative nature) of the Organisational environment. However the opportunity does exist to deliver a more structured and formal approach more suitable for business - one which I have been working with recently.

The value of the Enneagram is somewhat intertwined with its complexity and the revealing nature over time of the training. Value is described in revisiting it and renewing it. My own experience shows a direct correlation between its impact, time spent and the application.

However it was seen that taken as a short term course where the training is “bought into” by the trainees the Enneagram training has a significant influence. I have spoken to many people who were introduced to the course this way speak of the immediate benefits and recommend it highly.

The Enneagram can improve ones outlook so much so that many who were introduced to the course through work continue its study on a personal basis. I  have seen that employees often continue Enneagram courses on a personal basis after being introduced to the Enneagram at work and this begs the question why do their Organisations not provide a further program of training over a number of years given the benefits and the feedback they must be getting from their employees who benefit from the inherent focus on growth. 

Its a different way of training but then aren’t we supposed  to be embracing difference for competitive advantage?

Aidan Higgins