Researchers found that healthcare professional high in emotional intelligence are far more effective in a number of key performance areas including stress management, showing that these skills are critical for healthcare professionals – and especially those in leadership positions.

February 26, 2008, San Francisco:  While stress is a challenge to almost everyone, the way doctors and nurses cope with stress can be a matter of life and death.  Fortunately new research reveals one key for dealing with the pressure: emotional intelligence.

In a study conducted with the obstetrics department of a major urban hospital in Bologna, Italy, the healthcare professionals high in emotional intelligence scored far better in an assessment of job performance and life success.  The highest performers scored an average of over 30% better on the “Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment,” a powerful measure of essential competencies for being smart with feelings.

Study coauthor Lorenzo Fariselli, manager of research for Six Seconds Italy, explained the importance of the finding:  “Stress is increasingly challenging for organizations and professionals worldwide, but it’s been unclear how to most effectively manage this problem.  Now we know that emotional intelligence is one of the most important ingredients for professionals to effectively cope and thrive in a challenging work environment.”  A White Paper explaining the study is online at www.6seconds.org/sei/wp-stress.php .

The study also found that the power of EQ, or emotional intelligence, was even greater for the most senior team members.  While on average EQ explains over 66% of the variation in performance scores, for the most senior team members that increases to nearly 80%.   In other words, the more senior you are, the more important it is to be an expert with emotions.

Joshua Freedman is Chief Operating Officer of Six Seconds and one of the world’s leading authorities on the development of emotional intelligence.  “Around the globe we’ve seen that emotional intelligence is the difference that makes the difference.  Leaders who choose to be emotionally intelligent create mission success and drive value,” Freedman says.

Freedman says many organizations view EQ as an investment they might make when they have the resources, but he offers a different suggestion: “EQ is most essential in times of stress and challenge; training in this area is a ‘life ring,’ not an ‘investment.’” He is quick to point out that developing these skills isn’t a major expense in time and resource – “We’re not talking about implementing some expensive or complex new system. EQ is something to be – a little more each week.”

Emotional intelligence (abbreviated “EQ” for “emotional quotient”) continues to gain attention around the world as an essential asset for success in work and life.  The science grows from research by Peter Salovey (Yale University) and John Mayer (University of New Hampshire) who published their first papers in 1990 showing how we have intelligence with emotions.  EQ was popularized in the mid 1990s by New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman.  To help people understand how to develop and apply this breakthrough concept, Six Seconds was established in 1997.

Six Seconds, The Emotional Intelligence Network, is the world-leading resource for emotional intelligence development with offices in six countries and over 1500 certified practitioners world-wide.  A not-for-profit organization, Six Seconds advocates for the importance of EQ and supports change agents making a positive difference in every sector of society (see www.6seconds.org for more).

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For Immediate Release

Contact Yoshimi Miyazaki (831) 763-0366

Links:

White Paper: 6seconds.org/sei/wp-stress.php

Powerpoint, key points from this paper: 6seconds.org/sei/media/Stress_EQ.ppt

SEI Assessment: 6seconds.org/sei/

A survey of 135 employees and leaders identifies the most critical challenges facing organizations today are 70 percent about people — finding the right ones, getting them doing the right work and setting the right conditions for performance. Responses show increasing concern with employee and customer feelings and urgent need to become better at the “soft” side.

San Francisco, CA December 14, 2007 — In a changing business climate, what are the key challenges to organizational success? According to a new international survey, it’s almost entirely a question of leading people and managing feelings.

Six Seconds, The Emotional Intelligence Network, invited leaders to identify the key challenges in the workplace today — and particularly the “people side” of the equation. The survey explores top issues as well as employee attitudes and the role of emotional intelligence in solving those key issues.

The 2007 Workplace Issues Report finds that this year …

• “Soft” issues such as finding and keeping talent are over 3 times as prevalent as “hard” issues such as finance.
• Leaders are twice as concerned about leadership than all other issues combined.
• Emotional intelligence and feelings of team- and non-team-members are among the most important resources an organization has in addressing challenges and reaching goals. Almost 90 percent of respondents identify EQ as highly important or essential to meeting their organization’s top challenges

Responses come from team leaders to executives in a broad range of industries and organizations ranging from under 20 to over 10,000 people. 135 responses were tabulated, primarily from North America but also from every other continent.Six Seconds is an international not-for-profit that supports the development of emotional intelligence. It is the first and largest organization dedicated to EQ. Through the Six Seconds Consulting Group the organization brings the world’s top EQ experts to works with Fortune 500 companies such as FedEx and Lockheed Martin; these projects allow Six Seconds to serve community organizations and schools, developing the key human skills to ensure future generations thrive.

The full The 2007 Workplace Issues Report is available online at www.6seconds.org.

For over a decade the concept of “emotional intelligence” has been a buzz around the world. While many authors have defined the concept, a new book finally shows leaders how to apply it.

San Francisco — July 16, 2007: “It’s common sense that you have to leave emotions behind if you want to make good decisions. There’s only one problem: it doesn’t work,” says Joshua Freedman, author of a new book for leaders. At the Heart of Leadership: How to Get Results with Emotional Intelligence (www.EQleadership.com) shows why emotions are critical to top performance, and how leading organizations such as the US Marine Corps and FedEx are using this science to gain an edge.

Freedman contends that in a new business climate, leaders need new skills. For example, the recent Booz Allen Hamilton study on CEO succession starts, “Welcome to the era of the inclusive chief executive officer” presenting the case that successful leaders build and maintain complex relationships, those who don’t have those skills are out. One in six CEOs will be out of a job within a year, half of those before their expected end of service (http://tinyurl.com/36eegt).

“In today’s climate, leaders excel if they are authentic, trustworthy, and great with people,” Freedman concludes, “and all these will grow from developing emotional intelligence.”

The book makes the case that being smart about feelings is the key to leadership. Business leaders agree — for example, Arlene Pfeiff, a VP at American Express calls the book “…an important read for any leader looking to take it higher.”

Arguably the world’s top authority on how to leverage emotional intelligence for organizational performance, Freedman blends science with stories from a decade of work with leaders. The book has a solid scientific basis — including an introduction by Dr. Peter Salovey (Yale University), one of the inventors of the science of emotional intelligence.

But it’s not a book about theory: It’s a how-to guide. In the words of US Navy Captain Tierian Cash, CHC, “The concepts in this book give leaders the tactical edge they need to handle the complexities of change. This is a practical approach to leading with emotional intelligence that can help leaders stay on course to accomplish their mission.”

Free excerpt and media kit online: www.EQleadership.com
Contact Yoshimi Miyazaki yoshimi [at] 6seconds.org (831) 763-0366
Source: Six Seconds

The new “hidden six” logo tells an important story about noticing what is often ignored in daily life: people and their emotions.  Six Seconds is a global not-for-profit organization helping all people learn the skills of emotional intelligence so businesses, schools and people thrive. To celebrate the start of their 10th year, the organization adopted a new logo that reminds people to pay close attention to one another.

San Francisco, June 20, 2007:  Emotions are everywhere, yet people have a tendency to ignore them.  According to Six Seconds, the world leaders in emotional intelligence development, this leads to horrendous consequences as people make decisions that disrespect themselves and others.
“Most of us have been taught to put feelings aside and struggle to do so,” explains Six Seconds’ President Anabel Jensen, Ph.D. “Looking at the headlines of any paper you can see how poorly this approach works.”  Instead Jensen and her team teach people to pay attention to emotions and use them as a valuable source of insight for problem-solving and decision-making.
The new logo shows a stylized number “6” hidden in plain sight on a field of blue.  Six Seconds’ COO Joshua Freedman explains the icon: “When we teach people about emotions and the power of six seconds of attention, their whole vision of the world begins to change.  Likewise, once you see the hidden 6 in the logo, you can’t not see it.”
At the same time, the organization has changed the name of the division focused on work with corporations.  The “Institute for Organizational Performance” has been renamed “Six Seconds Consulting Group” (www.sixseconds.com).  The new name is intended to create more coherence in the organization’s branding and convey Six Seconds’ commitment to form long-term consulting partnerships with corporations.
The new logo will appear in Six Seconds’ offices worldwide (Beijing, Bologna, Brisbane, Lisbon, London, San Francisco, and Singapore) this month and kicks off a year-long celebration of the organization’s 10 years teaching emotional intelligence.
In their first decade, Six Seconds has published the pre-eminent emotional intelligence curriculum for k-12 schools, numerous corporate training programs (including a course on organization change in use by the US Navy), three psychometric assessments, six activity calendars, an activity book, two journal workbooks, and a new book about emotional intelligence for leaders (see www.EQleadership.com).  In addition, they have trained over 100,000 educators and consultants, hosted five international conferences, and delivered over 14 million web pages of quality information to the public.
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Press Kit is online: www.6seconds.org/press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Yoshimi Miyazaki yoshimi [at] 6seconds [dot] org  (831) 763-0366

Download PDF:  Press Release: New Logo

More optimistic employees earn higher performance management scores even in a highly technical IT firm.  Using the SEI emotional intelligence assessment, researchers found optimism predicts almost 18% of job success.  The finding reinforces the importance of hiring and training for this learnable skill.  It also provides an edge to employees who want to be recognized as high performers.

San Mateo, CA: A recent study finds that supervisors are more likely to evaluate optimists as high performers.  In research conducted by the Institute for Organizational Performance (www.EQperformance.com), optimism scores are significantly correlated with scores from the company’s performance management system.  The study confirms that even in a technical position, emotional intelligence skills are key to job success.
The study tracks a highly technical information solutions team at NextiraOne in Italy.  Fourty-four IT team members were assessed using the “Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment,” otherwise known as the SEI.  Scores on the test were compared to scores on the company’s performance management system.  Just over 17.9% of the variation in performance scores were explained by the Optimism scale on the SEI.

NextiraOne is a leading provider of integrated enterprise network, IP telephony, data, voice and converged solutions and services that enable effective business communications (www.nextiraone.com).

Institute Director Joshua Freedman explains the significance of the finding: “Optimism has been widely linked to performance in people-oriented jobs such as sales.  This study shows that even in a highly technical role, emotional competence is key to success.”  Freedman is one of the world’s top authorities on developing emotional intelligence to improve performance.  His global team of consultants, trainers and researchers helps companies from Schlumberger to FedEx with leadership, sales, and organizational effectiveness.

The study, described in a white paper (www.6seconds.org/sei/optimism.php), offers an important edge to employees and another to businesses:

• For employees who want to be recognized as top performers, increasing optimism provides a valuable edge.
• For companies who want every competitive edge, hiring and training for this kind of emotional intelligence skill is a cost-effective way to increase performance.

A free Optimism quiz is available online (www.EQperformance.com/optimism/).
Using a statistical process called “multiple regression,” researcher Lorenzo Fariselli of Six Seconds Italia (www.6seconds.it) performed the analysis.  Fariselli says, “In this study we see more evidence that the emotional intelligence assessment measures factors important to real life performance.”  This data helps confirm the SEI as one of the most effective measures of emotional intelligence available.
The SEI is a statistically reliable, web-enabled emotional intelligence test.

Compared to other similar tests, SEI report offers the most extensive report with over 40 pages of practical interpretation with effective development suggestions. With two self-correcting indices, a consistency scale, 104 items, and 14 different norms applied in each report, it also uses the most advanced statistical analysis in the scoring algorithm.  The SEI assessment and reports are available in English, Italian, Chinese, Indonesian,  Spanish and French (now in research validation).  Strengths, Development, Group, and Leadership reports are available.  Details and the Technical Manual are available online (www.6seconds.org/sei/).

Study confirms that while some aspects of emotional intelligence (EQ) develops with age, there’s no guarantee that older means wiser. Using the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment, researchers found a slight but significant relationship between age and EQ. The study finds that many younger people are more emotionally intelligent than their older counterparts — and that not all aspects of EQ develop without training.

San Mateo, CA: There are many assumptions about emotional intelligence and age. Popular literature and “common sense” asset that older people are more aware, wise, and restrained. Is it true? Existing research indicates a slight relationship between emotional intelligence and age. How strong is this effect, and which areas of emotional intelligence are most affected by age? Are older people more self aware, better at self management, and/or do they make more principled decisions?

Using the Six Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI), a study of 405 American people shows that emotional intelligence (EQ) increases slightly with age. The relationship is r=.13 (p<.01) — slight but significant.

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 research is reported in a White Paper at www.6seconds.org/sei/wp-age.php .

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.

The study examined three aspects of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, self-management, and self-direction.

Self-awareness, called “Know Yourself” in the SEI assessment, increases slightly with age. Fariselli explains, “We hypothesize that as people grow they have more opportunity to learn about emotions and the gradations of emotions, increase emotional vocabulary, and experience more and more varied life situations. Perhaps they accumulate more feedback and integrate this into greater self-awareness.” Again, age is only mildly predictive of this dimension, so there are many younger people with a highly developed self-awareness and many older people who have not developed these competencies.

Meanwhile, self-management, called “Choose Yourself” in this model, does not increase with age. This suggests the competencies in this part of the model (Navigate Emotions, Exercise Optimism, Engage Intrinsic Motivation and Apply Consequential Thinking) need specific training in order to develop. In other words, it is less likely that these will “automatically” develop through life experience.

The strongest effect is in self-direction, where age predicts 3.9% of the development of a set of skills called “Give Yourself.” There are two specific skills in this area, Empathy (noticing and appropriately responding to others’ feelings) and Pursue Noble Goals (using principles and values to drive behaviors).

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.

Six Seconds ( www.6seconds.org ) is the leading international organization helping all people develop emotional intelligence. With offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, the not-for-profit publishes best-in-class tools for emotional intelligence training, conducts research, and supports the largest world-wide network of practitioners, researchers, and educators.

SEI is the premier emotional intelligence test focused on development. Compared to other similar tests, SEI report offers the most extensive report with numerous effective development suggestions. With two self-correcting indices, a consistency scale, 104 items, and 14 different norms applied in each report, it also uses the most advanced statistical analysis in the scoring algorithm. The SEI is available in English, Italian, Chinese, Indonesian, and Spanish, and French (now in research validation). Strengths, Development, Group, and Leadership reports are available. Details are available online at http://www.6seconds.org/sei/ .

While popular opinion has long said that while IQ is fixed, emotional intelligence – the capacity to use emotions effectively – can be developed. A new study shows that a highly effective 2-day training can increase scores even in a highly technical workplace.

San Francisco, March 6, 2007: Emotional intelligence is a critical competence for workplace performance – associated with enhanced performance, productivity, and customer loyalty. In today’s “human capital” oriented businesses, emotional intelligence is an essential ingredient for competitive advantage – but can these assets be developed? New research shows that even a short-term training program has significant benefits.

A team of 60 computer engineers at Svimservice, Italy’s top IT company, received a two-day training on emotional intelligence (or “EQ”). A month later their EQ scores had increased by a statistically significant average of 7%. As shown in the graph below, scores increased in all domains with the highest increases shown in Consequential Thinking (making careful decisions) and Recognizing Patterns (being aware of reactions). A White Paper on the Svimservice study is online at http://6seconds.org/sei/wp-increase.php .

This finding adds credence to what innovative leaders have long realized: Emotional Intelligence can be developed. The study is a reminder that human capital strategy should include training in this important arena maximizing workforce efficacy. While corporate America annually spends around $46B on training, few programs include a practical measure of ROI. This study demonstrates a simple and effective way to measure the benefits of “soft skills” training.

The research was conducted using the “Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment” <http://www.6seconds.org/sei/> (SEI), which rigorously measures eight core competencies of emotional intelligence. SEI is the best-in-class tool for assessing and developing emotional intelligence and is published by Six Seconds.

Six Seconds is an international nonprofit organization helping businesses, schools, and communities solve critical problems by developing emotional intelligence. With offices in the US, Italy, Singapore, China, France, and Australia and over 10 years of proven experience, Six Seconds is the world leader in emotional intelligence consulting.

Figure 1:

EQ = total emotional intelligence; KY = Know Yourself (Self Awareness); CY = Choose Yourself (Self Management); GY = Give Yourself (Self Direction).
EL = Emotional Literacy; RP = Recognize Patterns; CT = Consequential Thinking; NE = Navigate Emotions; IM = Intrinsic Motivation; EO = Exercise Optimism; EM = Empathy; NG = Noble Goals.

EQ for Families workshops available to improve family communication, health, and positive decision-making.

San Mateo, California: Emotional intelligence skills are essential for today’s families. As parents and children learn to recognize and manage emotions, their communication improves and they make better, healthier, decisions. A new curriculum supports schools, nonprofits, and counselors to effectively teach these skills (http://www.6seconds.org/family/).

Emotional intelligence — the ability to understand and effectively use emotions — has been shown to reduce problem behaviors, increase academic achievement, improve communication, and enhance life success. The curriculum focuses on four primary prevention skills that help children and care-givers to be healthly, safe, and strong.

The four EQ For Families workshops are published by the world-leading emotional intelligence advocacy organization, Six Seconds EQ Network (http://www.6seconds.org). Six Seconds is known for transformational training rich in wisdom, caring, and self-discovery. Using a teaching methodology proven in research and over 35 years of practice, the EQ for Families workshops are interactive, fun, and meaningful. Each workshop focuses on one key aspect of emotional intelligence.

The first module, “The Power of Feelings,” teaches the basics of emotional literacy. It aims to increase self-awareness and enhance families’ understanding of emotions — a key step to becoming more intelligent about feelings. This workshop is available for free download from the EQ For Families web page: http://www.6seconds.org/family/

Other modules include:

• Accountability: “Raising Strong, Caring Kids”
• Optimism and Resilience: “Bouncing Ahead.”
• Empathy and Acceptance: “From the Heart.”

Each module includes presentation materials, instructions, handouts, and even an announcement letter so teachers, counselors, and other parent-educators can use the materials quickly and easily. Publication was made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the East Bay Children & Youth Funding Circle, Women Donors Network.

Six Seconds, the publishers of the curriculum, is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization established in 1997 to spread emotional intelligence around the world. Six Seconds delivers highly effective training, publishes practical curriculum, and supports the world’s most extensive network of emotional intelligence practitioners (see http://www.6seconds.org). Named because the chemical compounds of emotion only last in our bodies for about six seconds, the organization brings the cutting edge science of emotional intelligence into easy and practical tools for businesses, schools, individuals, and families. Donations are welcome and may be tax deductible.