EI Overview

Emotional Intelligence Overview

What is Emotional Intelligence?

• Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, manage, and effectively express one’s own feelings, as well as engage and navigate successfully with others
• It involves the ability to regulate one’s emotions, to use them to make good decisions, and to act effectively
• EI is the basis for personal qualities like self-confidence, personal integrity, knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses, resilience in times of change or adversity, self-motivation, perseverance, and for getting along well with others

What EI is NOT

It doesn't just mean being nice

It's not about suppressing emotions

EI is not innate

• EI is something you can learn and practice over time
• EI is a learnable skill and accessible to everyone, regardless of their starting point
• A learned EI skillset can be adjusted to suit different situations, making it a versatile asset

• There’s a misconception that EI equates to simply being nice, diluting its real value and application
• Empathy and understanding are key components of EI, but they don’t negate the need for making tough decisions to taking firm actions when necessary

• EI is not about suppressing emotions, nor it it about letting emotions run wild - it’s about striking a balance
• It teaches us to recognize and understand our emotions, as well as those of others, so we can manage our behavior and relationships more effectively

Emotional intelligence at work: Why IQ isn’t everything

Emotional Intelligence Example

Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Tragedy

Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Tragedy

In the fall of 1982, an unknown criminal poisoned pain-relief capsules with cyanide and seven people in the Chicago area died

Burke displayed the hallmarks of EI - self-confidence, trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, openness to change, and optimism in the face of failure

Five months after the tragedy, Tylenol recaptured nearly 70% of the market it previously held

Overnight, Tylenol toppled from its preeminent position as the nation’s leading pain relief product, with many experts predicting that it would never recover

Many credit the resolution to the crisis to James E. Burke, chairman of Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol’s parent company)

Example of Burke's Emotional Intelligence

• When J&J got back into the market with tamper-resistant packaging, there was a lot of pressure early on to get back into television advertising
• Some believed that advertising would help reassure fearful consumers that the new packaging was safe
• Burke argued that advertising would have the opposite effect and said, “There’s nothing more offensive to me, if I’m frightened, than somebody telling me I ought to buy their product.”
• Burke was able to empathize with the consumer and put himself into their shoes - his view prevailed