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ETHICS EQUALS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE  - Part II
by James Terrell

In Part I of our series on ethics and emotional intelligence we reviewed three of the 15 emotional subscales from the Bar-on EQi™ -- Self Awareness, Assertiveness, and Independence. In this issue we will examine three more of the critical subscales that support ethical productivity in the workplace. These skills are at the foundation of ethical behavior. They are known and can be taught, and learned, and continually improved - that's what Emotional Intelligence is all about!

"Empathy is the ability to understand what others might be feeling and thinking. It is the ability to view the world through another person's eyes."

Empathy is a crucial component of ethical behavior because in order to be truly effective, we must be able to gauge and understand how other people think, and sense how they feel. It would not have been possible for Joe Nacchio to loot the pensions of the Qwest employees if he had enough empathy to place himself in their shoes, and had enough moral courage to do so.

"Social Responsibility is the ability to be a cooperative and contributing member of your social groups."

Social Responsibility is the emotional intelligence that empowers you to recognize and appreciate the network of interdependent relationships that make up your community.

It inspires your enthusiastic, voluntary commitment to share your skills and help improve the well being of the whole group. It is the heart and soul of being an MVP on any team, and the source of that critical bond of loyalty that takes years to build and seconds to destroy.

"Impulse Control is the ability to resist or delay a temptation to act."

Our ability to control our impulses is the measure of our humanness. The longer we can delay our response to an upsetting stimulus, the more freedom of choice we have. Developing good impulse control means developing the ability to wait long enough so we can make decisions out of our intelligence and inspiration, rather than automatically responding with a knee jerk reaction.

[Editorial space limits each article to covering three subscales. There are at least three more that contribute significantly to ethical productivity. If you would like to read more on ethics please e-mail me at jbterrell@cgrowth.com. Happy New Year!]

* Each of the definitions of the subscales in this article (in bold) are quoted from The EQ Edge by Steven J. Stein and Howard E. Book, Stoddart Publishing, 2000.

©2003, Collaborative Growth