I have been doing work recently with people who have huge IQs. I don’t say this lightly. They are faster at all discussions and this is not just about numbers – where they see a sea of numbers and go straight to the wobbly one – it’s about spotting the weakness in a strategy – the logic gap in an argument.
I do get there eventually, but I take longer – and it shows.
Then we start talking about people and those same people rate nil – in fact minus nil – on emotional intelligence. They don’t know how to deal with people unless they are the same kind of people as them, motivated by the same things, worried by the same things.
This weekend my daughter was talking about me getting older. She told me that now I need to start riding, what she calls, a push button horse. This means a horse that has no will of its own, it turns left or right or stops or starts or eats or sleeps as it is told.
It made me think that the colleagues I have been working with can only lead push button colleagues (or people who choose to be push button at work), not that they are not bright or lacking for ideas. But when you push their buttons they do what you know they will do. Without emotional intelligence you have to stick to leading push button colleagues.
When will emotional intelligence be understood? When will schools, universities and business schools start giving it equal importance. Why do I think it ranks up there? So that we have diverse, difficult, creative teams and leaders who can cope with stakeholders who operate differently from them. Please may it be soon.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Wesley // Jun 8, 2010 at 17:16
Julia, I’m afraid I have to disagree with your daughter! As you become older you may not have the same athleticism or agility of a younger rider, but you have more experience and empathy to manage a less than push button horse. You learn that your horse always has a reason for his behaviour and if you listen and analyse his actions and reactions, particularly with a hot and sensitive horse, you will be able to channel these qualities to a higher level of response and training. Though we have many up and coming young dressage and jumping riders – it is the old hands who are taking the big prizes!
2 Ben Williams // Jun 9, 2010 at 00:40
Julia,
I have heard a lot about Common Purpose, both good and bad, and I would like to know what your opinion is of people like Brian Gerrish who say that Common Purpose is all bad and part of New World Order.
Mr. Gerrish has made a lot of accusations against both yourself and Common Purpose, which if they had been made about me I would be on the telephone to my solicitor and demand a day in court. Yet, you don’t appear interested in what he says even though it sounds potentially libellous!
Would you ever meet with Brian, or invite him to Common Purpose so as to allay his fears?
Thanks. Ben.
3 Julia Middleton // Jun 14, 2010 at 12:15
Hi Ben
Thanks for your comment
Over the past few years, Common Purpose and I have indeed been the subject of bizarre commentary from a small group of people. We have refrained from taking legal action in the spirit of freedom of speech, and because it would not be the best use of charity funds.
However, as our chair of trustees Sir David Bell said in a recent statement, “freedom of speech does not bring with it a license to distribute complete untruths on the internet without challenge.” Our lawyers have now written to the authors of these remarks to make it clear that we will no longer allow such unfounded allegations to go unchallenged.
Julia
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