Challenging questions for Hilary Clinton and our society in an emotional intelligence meets politics moment — a Newsweek article (Hillary Tears Up: A Muskie moment, or a helpful glimpse of ‘the real Hillary’?) asks if Hilary’s display of emotion will be seen as a sign of weakness, or of honesty?  And in any case, the emotion trumps the facts:

No one will remember the hour of detailed policy talk that preceded Clinton’s emotional moment

Will Americans confirm that:

anyone who needed to carry Kleenex in her purse was unfit for the highest office in the land

or will the conclusion come that emotion helps

a candidate who is seen as aloof and too tightly scripted appear more vulnerable, more human and more appealing

What do we really want in a leader?  This brings up so many questions about trust and emotion — do we trust people who hide their emotions or show them?  Do we prefer “false strength” to authenticity?  I suspect that genuineness+moderate strength goes further than appearance of big strength.
I also enjoyed reading comments on this video on youtube - which raise the question: Was it real anyway?

What do you think? Fake or real tears? Weak or strong?

1.1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day (World Bank). Using this measure, global poverty is decreasing; as of 2004 “only” about 1 in 5 people world-wide lived in poverty (but almost half of the world’s population lives below $2 per day). 850 million people, right now, are going hungry.

Unfortunately, the world just can’t afford to feed these people. After all, it would cost over $24 billion per year for 10 years to end hunger (Food and Agriculture, UN, World Food Summit: five years later, in June 2002).

Oh - but wait - let’s put that $24b in perspective.

Worldwide, there are over 15 billion cigarettes sold - about $2.25b - per DAY. Plus, smoking adds huge costs to healthcare ($76b per year in the US), drops productivity, and increases waste (World Health Tobacco Atlas)

In 2002, the US spent $22b on potato chips and salty snacks (World Watch Magazine, March/April 2005).

And the “first world” throws out far more than $25b/year. For example, the UK alone uses 8,000 tons of wrapping paper each Christmas (Guardian).

So if you’re keen to make a New Year’s resolution - consider this: While 1.1 billion live on $1/day, many of us spend over $100/day. If all of us in this category were to put just 5¢ per day into a fund, hunger could end in under 10 years.

It’s not a financial problem - it’s problem of will. Again - emotional intelligence needed here!! Maybe it’s time for us to be hungry for change.

Watch Daniel Pink’s talk on demonstrating and encouraging empathy on signs by clicking here.

A final (almost!) posting for 2007 has to include this great list from the Good News Network.
It is still enormously uplifting.

Further links are on their site but here are the basics:

1. Hero Saves Teen on NYC Subway Tracks from Oncoming Train
NYC man’s quick-thinking saved a teen and himself as he dove onto the tracks of an oncoming subway train to rescue the boy who’d fallen ill from the platform. Wesley Autrey became America’s most famous hero of 2007, a few days after the year began, by pulling himself and the boy into the center trough which gave them just enough clearance to avoid the train.

2. Hope for Darfur
The UN Security Council voted to send peacekeepers to the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan in August, after months of wrangling. Up to 26,000 troops and police make up the world’s largest peacekeeping force, with a majority of the blue helmetsbeing worn by Africans from nations like Kenya. Additionally, a major discovery by Boston University researchers may prevent further violence in the future. Using satellite imaging, they have discovered a massive underground lake in the arid Darfur region of Sudan. By digging 1000 wells they hope to solve the problems of water scarcity — and food shortages — that create much of the violence in the first place.

3. Anonyous person gives $100 Million to struggling town
An unnamed ‘friend’ gave $100 million to the struggling old industrial city of Erie, Pennsylvania in November, to be divided among its 46 charities including the food bank, a women’s center, and a group for the blind, as well as its universities. “What a godsend for some of these agencies,” says one resident.

4. North Korea Shuts Down Sole Nuclear Weapons Facility, Commits to Peace
Almost a year after North Korea tested an atomic weapon, the nation’s leader pledged to permanently shut-down nuclear operations by year’s end and pursue peace with South Korea, as the two neighbors wrapped up their historic summit in October, the world’s last cold war opponents.

5. Oil COmpany Offers to Pay College Tuition for all Students in Town for 20 Years
Executives of Murphy Oil Corporation thrilled their hometown of El Dorado, Arkansas in January when they announced to students in a packed gymnasium their intention to offer college scholarships to everyone graduating from El Dorado High School over the next 20 years. The $50 million fund will dole out college money for any institution in or out of state equal to the tuition at an Arkansas public university.

6. Americans Set Record for Charity, Donating $300 Billion
t was reported by the Associated Press in June that “Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami.”

7. Bald Eagle Soars Off Endangered List: 11,000 Pairs from only 417
Representing one of the world’s greatest conservation success stories, the bald eagle’s population in the lower 48 states reached 11,040 pairs in 2007, sending the bird soaring off the endangered species list. This is a nearly 1,300-pair increase over 2006, after just 417 pairs remained in 1963.

8. Iraq Pulls Off Fairytae Win in Footballs Asian Cup
Iraq’s national football team, riding a wave of global sentiment, upset three-time winner Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup final. The team featured players from all three of Iraq’s main communities, and so provided a rare moment for celebration and unity throughout the country.

9. Billion tree Campaign Reaches One Billion Trees planted in One Year
The goal of planting one billion trees around the world was achieved in one year thanks to the many countries that took part in the challenge, the United Nations, and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Kenyan Green Belt Movement founder, Wangari Maathai. She exclaimed, “I am elated beyond words at the global action that was motivated by the Billion Tree Campaign. I knew we had it within us as a human family to rise up.”

10. U.S. Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall
hanks to advances in treatment, fewer U.S. cancer patients are dying. Death rate declines are accelerating,nearly across the board, dropping more than 2 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, for lung, prostate and colorectal cancers in men, as well as for breast and colon cancer in women. The declines recorded nearly doubled the rate of the preceding decade, according to the federal health agencies and the American Cancer Society. Cancer deaths among kids and teens in the U.S. have also become rarer, decreasing by 1.7% per year from 1990 to 2004.

There’s been so much talk about Mackey’s outburst about Wild Oats. Mackey is a guy who seems to have a lot of emotional intelligence, especially in his leadership. But something broke!

Check it out: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/12/whole_foods_ceo_caug.html

More about this…

The new White Paper by the Six Seconds EQ Network found that there is a correlation between age and emotional intelligence — but it’s slight and not true for all parts of EQ. Previous research by BarOn and Salovey & Mayer also showed that EQ increases with age. What’s new here is that on the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment there were some areas that did not increase.

Researcher Lorenzo Fariselli of Six Seconds Italia (www.6seconds.it) conducted the analysis,

“The finding suggests emotional intelligence is a developing ability; it is likely that accumulated life experiences contribute to EQ.”

The study also challenges many popular beliefs about “with age comes wisdom” and the widespread perception of a “generation gap” in motivation and altruism. The relationship between EQ and age is very slight – meaning there while a majority of older people are higher in EQ, there are many young people with higher EQ scores than their older counterparts. In addition, some of the aspects of EQ can only be developed through training. So in an era where emotional intelligence is a critical competence for success, this finding shows that young people committed to their own development have a edge.

Massimiliano Ghini is President of Six Seconds Italia and a leading authority on using emotional intelligence to improve business results. His hypothesis of the link between “Give Yourself” and age comes from the responsibilities of adulthood:

“For many people, adulthood and aging introduce increased need and opportunity to connect with and lead others – for example engaging a team or developing an organization’s vision. As people age they have more opportunities to practice these skills.”

Again, the link between age and Give Yourself is modest – so age is no guarantee for vision and wisdom.

Read the White Paper: Emotional Intelligence and Age.

I just finished posting new research on emotional intelligence and age.

This study started in a workshop where we were talking about Noble Goals. In our model, the “capstone” competence of emotional intelligence is Pursue Noble Goals — there are two reasons:
1. When we engage in the pursuit of purpose we are less defensive and reactive — less about our own ego and more about the larger vision. This allows us, even compels us, to manage our emotions more effectively.
2. Really, what’s the point? We can teach people to be more intelligent at problem-solving and they invent ways to hack the net. We can teach people to be more intelligent at engineering and they develop better ways of killing. We can teach people to be more intelligent about emotions and they become master manipulators. Voila, job done, let’s call it a day. Oh - wait - missed something…. So “intelligence” isn’t enough. We need to apply that intelligence — this is wisdom. So Pursuing a Noble Goal is a way to focus our emotional aptitude and move toward wisdom.

Anyway - point of the story: One of the managers I was training said, “Aren’t older people naturally better at this competence? It seems like young people, at least in my company, don’t really have a vision.” Hrmuph.

So I asked our research team to find out.

The answer is yes - older people are slightly more likely to be emotionally intelligent - at least in four of our eight competencies. I’m excited about this result - it shows that EQ is learned and it does develop with life experience and that age isn’t enough: You have to work to learn these skills.

This is an excellent article:

How Emotional Is Too Emotional?
Nan Mooney, Inc

Mooney says women frequently ask what to do about “being too emotional” at work — I get this question a lot too, and have worried that, as a man, my response might miss the point… so I was glad to read this!
“Professional women are frequently tagged “emotional,” as if it’s a flaw they should learn to overcome. But emotion in the workplace isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Excerpts:
In my varied career history, I haven’t found that women are more emotional than men on the job. We may be more comfortable expressing those emotions, since we live in a society that encourages women to be the feelers and men the thinkers and doers. But being quicker to key into the emotional aspects of a situation largely works to our benefit. It means we may pick up on a client’s or colleague’s unhappiness, make subtle adjustments in a plan or project to please everyone involved, and — best of all — form more trusting and respectful professional relationships.

The place where I think Mooney misses the mark is recommendations of what to DO about emotions. The central premise of emotional intelligence is that emotions are a resource to help us understand and manage the world — inside and outside. Emotions are information and energy — data and commitment. Emotional intelligence helps us access the data and tap the energy. When we DON’T do that, emotions well up and spiral out of control. Women and men are socialized to cope with “out of control” emotions differently (as Mooney suggests, bursting into tears vs pounding the steering wheel and cursing) — but it’s the same reaction.

The real secret is to access the information of the emotions - tune in, gain insight - and then use that data to make a better decision. When we do so, the energy of the emotions automatically transforms into a motive force toward resolution - that’s the power of emotional intelligence!

I love how emotional intelligence is becoming a truly international concept. Just saw this article from Bhutan saying that corporate success should contribute not just to GNP, but also to “Gross National Happiness” (GNH). Some good strategies presented for engaging a team - and a country. Here’s the premise:

There is a body of management practice, evolved mainly in US and Europe, on how to develop an organizational culture driven by vision and values shared explicitly by everyone. It is a management science about aligning organizations’ operational and personnel systems, including financial and other incentives facing all employees, strictly to their collective vision and values. It is also an art, to be practiced by leaders in inspiring and motivating their people. Likewise, one should not forget, by everyone else to inspire and motivate their leaders. And, by all to nurture an open and trusting work environment where passion and “emotional intelligence” matter just as much as professional and technical excellence.

Cool! And right on — if leaders truly used their emotional intelligence to create a trusting and trustworthy environment, can you imagine how organizations would thrive? GNH would go up!!

She goes onto point out that relationship-centered leadership creates adaptable organizations: “Wherever successful, the practice has created nimble and dynamic organizations that not only deliver first-rate outcomes, but also learn constantly from their successes and mistakes, adapting proactively to changing environment.” Sorely needed.