Research Review:Emotional Intelligence predicts components of subjective well-being beyond personality: A two-country study using self- and informant reports

 The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2012; 7 (2), 107 – 118.

Special thanks to Sam Turner, PhD for preparing this piece

The aim of coaching is to produce positive results with our clients. One possible way to consider a positive outcome is to take into consideration the roles of subjective well-being and emotional intelligence.

What is subjective well-being?

Subjective wellbeing, or simply SWB, refers to both cognitive well-being (judgments of life satisfaction) and affective well-being (the presence of positive feelings and the absence of negative feelings). Clients high in subjective well-being are likely to demonstrate a connection between activities and overall satisfaction with life and a consistent state of affective balance with more positive than negative feelings.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence, or simply EI, refers to the ability to accurately perceive, express, and regulate emotions to effectively cope with problems. Not surprisingly, people who are higher in EI tend to be higher in overall well-being.

This study aimed to test the notion that EI could predict the cognitive and affective components in subjective well-being using two international samples.

What are the implications for coaching?

• The authors suggest that, “Individuals who are good at identifying, understanding, and regulating emotions in both themselves and others typically feel better about themselves.”
• Beyond personality, emotional intelligence demonstrated value in predicting subjective well-being.
• Clients from different cultures can show differences in EI and SWB. One way to consider how this plays out, clients from individualistic cultures such as Germany may present with higher emotional expression than from more traditionally collectivistic cultures such as Turkey.
• With the absence of tools to measure EI and SWB, coaches should look for effective coping strategies, reliance on a broad social network, and an awareness and effective regulation of emotions in clients and those around them.

Research Review: “Tools for supporting intuition” by James Pritchard (2009; Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice, 2, 37-43)

Special thanks to Brodie Gregory, PhD for preparing this piece

Pritchard discusses the added value that personality and other assessments bring to coaching engagements that can support intuitive impressions. Tools like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Briggs Myers & Myers, 1980) and Leadership Development Framework (LDF; Fisher, Rooke, & Torbert, 2000) not only serve as useful conversation starters, but also help coaches gain a more holistic perspective on a client’s attitudes, preferences, and world-view. He notes that the MBTI provides insights into a client’s “natural preferences or personality style” (p. 37). He suggests that an individual’s personality is largely hard-wired, and that the preferences and attitudes captured by the MBTI are relatively consistent across different situations. The LDF provides a nice contrast, as it measures one’s world-view, which evolves over the lifespan with our experiences. In other words, unlike personality, it changes and develops with time and experience.

In addition to examining both assessments on their own, coaches can gain an even richer perspective on the client by using the results of one assessment as a lens through which to interpret the other. For example, the experience of one particular stage of development will be different for two clients who have very different personality profiles. Someone who is highly extroverted will experience a certain phase of life very differently than someone who is highly introverted.

Pritchard makes a compelling case for the value of objective tools and data for enhancing a coach’s understanding of the client as a whole person. In the article a case study is presented which evaluates how the MBTI and LDF were used with a client to assist in providing clarity around making informed decisions during a time of transition.

Assessments like the MBTI and LDF provide coaches with insights into a client’s present world-view and also his or her general preferences and attitudes. How do you validate your intuitive hunches? Do you incorporate objective tools and assessments into your coaching practice to help you to more thoroughly understand your clients’ preferences and perspective on the world?

Is Busyness Bad for Business

written by Susan David PhD and also posted in the Harvard Business Review August 3, 3012

Michael is busy. For weeks he's been rising early and getting home late. As division head, he's used to the budget season bringing strain. But this year he's been running the numbers — doing his "real work" — largely outside normal hours. His days are filled with meetings, often without clear objectives, and the invitations just keep coming in. To make matters worse, he's been asked to complete seemingly redundant paperwork and grapple with ever-changing spreadsheet columns. The constant activity is taking its toll.

Many of us can relate to Michael. The New York Times recently featured an essay in which writer Tim Kreider critiqued today's "crazy busy" lifestyle as unnecessary and destructive — a smokescreen designed to hide the fact that "most of what we do doesn't matter." The piece received hundreds of comments and was in the "most viewed" list for quite some time. He clearly hit a nerve.

But what should organizations — people like Michael and those who manage him — read into that conversation? Is busyness bad for business?

The answer isn't a simple "yes" or "no". While Kreider argues that we need bout of idleness to get inspired and work more effectively, there is evidence that workers benefit from busyness. Take one experiment conducted in 2010 by professor Christopher Hsee at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Hsee's team found that people who kept themselves occupied rather than waiting idly after a test felt happier. Interestingly, participants in the study were not likely to busy themselves unless they could justify the activity; they weren't interested in what Hsee and his colleagues call "futile busyness". But the results showed that even futile busyness is better than idleness.

In my organization's own recent research with a global firm, we discovered that a common characteristic among the company's great leaders was their recognition of the importance of busyness. They knew idle employees would suffer, and so pushed to instead create a stimulating work environment. For example, one leader responded to a downturn in work by encouraging team members to look for novel projects that interested them and might generate opportunities. Not only did this keep the group engaged, but some of the projects also eventually bore fruit. This wasn't futile busyness, of course. "Creative busyness" might be more appropriate.

Indeed, busyness seems to be most productive when the tasks we busy ourselves with are also meaningful. In a 2008 MIT study, researchers investigated meaning by asking participants to build Lego models. Finished models were either kept, or they were disassembled in front of the participant and handed back for rebuilding. (This was called the "Sisyphus condition", after the mythical figure condemned to repeatedly push a boulder up a mountain only to watch it roll back down again). Even though the two conditions involved exactly the same type of work, participants in the "meaningful" condition were willing to produce more models (and built them more efficiently, for a lower median wage) than those who mimicked Sisyphus. Surely Michael, who attends one meeting only to have another scheduled, and completes one spreadsheet only to be presented with new figures, is starting to feel like he's pushing that boulder.

Perhaps we are not so much caught in a "busy trap", as a "meaning trap". A meaningful life involves pursuing what we truly value, a sense of contribution in our work, as well as time outside of work to relax, enjoy hobbies, and spend time with loved ones. It's perhaps no surprise that the great leaders in our study were also expert at modeling work-life integration; they valued not only busyness but also meaning. How did their emphasis on both impact the bottom line? Positively. Their teams were more engaged, their revenues were higher and their turnover was lower than other groups'.

If you are responsible for keeping others "busy", consider the following:

1. People have a fundamental need to feel competent. It's your job to give them stimulating, meaningful work.
2. Rather than waiting out a lull, encourage employees to be creative and proactive.
3. Give them the time they need to complete key assignments. Don't let meetings or inefficient work practices hijack their workdays.
4. Help employees stay connected to the meaning in the work they do. Tie tasks to how they benefit the person, the team, the client, the organization.
5. Consider what makes life, and not just work, meaningful. Make sure your team members have time for it.

Don't Sabotage Yourself

By Susan David also posted in Harvard Business Review Blog, May 29, 2012

We humans are funny. Often we create beliefs or engage in behaviors that seem to help us in the short term, only to discover they get in the way of the lives we really want to live, or the people we want to become.

Allow me to share the story of my friend, Erin. Over lunch one day, she told both her mentor and me about a division director job she had truly wanted. The role offered good challenges, the chance to develop her skills, fabulous travel, and unparalleled flexibility. It would have been "a dream come true".

But then Erin began to recite a litany of reasons why she hadn't gone after the job. She wasn't good in interviews, having never received the coaching that so many candidates are privy to these days. She was overweight, which would surely make a poor impression. On top of all this, due to the economic downturn, many people more qualified than she would apply. She thought she'd be great at the job if she could have made it beyond the interview, but all things considered, she "knew" she hadn't stood a chance.

"So I never applied," she told us. "Instead, I sent the advertisement to a peer and encouraged him to interview." She paused. "He got the job."

How was it that this bright, hardworking, lovely young woman also had such an aptitude for self-sabotage?

There are plenty of smart, even gifted, people like Erin. They are bonded by a common behavior psychologists call "self-handicapping," which involves anticipating a real or imagined obstacle that might get in the way of success, and using that obstacle as an excuse.

Self-handicapping allows us to protect ourselves from the pain of assuming responsibility for our failures, and people do it all the time. In a groundbreaking 1978 study, psychologists Berglas and Jones found that participants who "succeeded" at a test (that was really just luck-based) were more likely to choose to take a performance-inhibiting drug before taking a second test. In other words, they actively set themselves up for failure on the second try. By doing this, they could blame their subsequent poor performance on the drug, and also protect their earlier feeling of success.

In a more recent set of experiments conducted by psychologist Sean McCrea at the University of Konstanz in Germany, participants were asked to take several intelligence tests under a variety of conditions. The research showed that people who were encouraged to make excuses for their poor performance — blaming poor performance on loud noises, for example — maintained high self-esteem, but were also less motivated to improve.

This kind of behavior is often so subtle and habitual that we don't notice we're doing it. Think about the manager who has to give a big presentation and fails to practice ahead of the event, or people who procrastinate on work projects and wind up "not having enough time" to do a good job. In a2010 HBR article, Jeffrey Pfeffer identified self-handicapping as one of three major barriers to building professional power: people avoid the pain of failure by never trying to build power in the first place.

What can you do to overcome self-handicapping? Here are four steps:

1. Watch for the warning signs. Drawing down your efforts, generating lists of excuses, or distracting yourself (music, alcohol, etc.) are signs that you're engaging in self-handicapping. Everyone needs to take breaks and manage energy during the work day, but these activities can be clues that you are veering onto the trail of self-sabotage. A mentor or colleague can often help steer you back on course.
2. Use "what-ifs" and "if-onlys" to help you generate goals instead of excuses. Research shows that the thinking people engage in during self-handicapping can just as easily be flipped to be motivational. When you ponder what could have gone better, or recognize obstacles in your way, you generate valuable information. Identify factors within your control, and see what you can do about them. Erin, for example, could have responded to the thought "I'm not great in interviews" by researching the right skills, practicing them, and requesting support from her mentor.
3. Recognize and manage your negative emotions. Research shows that when we use our "if-onlys" to motivate rather than excuse ourselves, we will also likely experience negative emotions, such as disappointment and self-directed anger . If you can notice these emotions and be kind to yourself in working through them, you're more likely to be able to move into positive, empowering behavior.
4. Go for mastery. Self-handicapping is most likely to kick in when we are trying to perform well in order to avoid negative feedback from external sources, such as criticism from colleagues. When we focus instead on developing mastery in a domain we care about, we tap into our inherent motivation to learn and grow. Recognize what matters to you, and brainstorm ideas to get yourself moving in that direction.

Going for what you really want takes considerable courage. Let's face it, even when you put forth your best effort, things don't always turn out as you would like. But by taking a risk you open yourself not only to the possibility of failure, but also the possibility of learning, growth, and real attainment. It's up to you to decide which is more perilous: the risk of disappointment, or the risk of never reaching your potential.

More blog posts by Susan David

What most impacts coaching skills and expertise? The role of significant life events

Life’s thumbprint: the impact of significant life events on coaches and their coaching by Francine Campone and Deepa Awal Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice Vol. 5, No. 1, March 2012. (Read the full journal inside the ICPA online member library; www.instituteofcoaching.org.)                                 

As coaches we come to our practice drawing on a reservoir of varied life events, coaching field experiences, and coach training and education.  This research analyzed three clusters of experiences and their perceived impact on coaching practice.  Three questions were examined:

1. What are the personal and professional experiences that influence coaches in their coaching practices?
2.  What are the dimensions of coaching practice that are impacted by personal and professional experiences?
3. What is the impact of specific life experiences on a coach’s values, mental models and coaching behaviors?

So what do coaches perceive to influence their coaching skills and expertise?

• Life changing experiences were cited as the most frequent influence of a coach’s development.  It’s not just weathering tough life experiences such as a divorce, illness, or accident; it is the ability to integrate the learning from the experience into the next phase of life and one’s work with clients. By doing so, a deeper development of empathy and coaching expertise can occur.
• Second, seeking opportunities for continuous learning and maintaining regular contact with other coaches and mentors were viewed as critical to coach development.
• Last, formal skills training and education on theory were seen to provide a deeper framework for professional decision making skills and reasoning.  Mentoring or supervision in coaching was identified as a significant developmental experience in the group surveyed.

This approach parallels Warren Bennis’ work on the core role of crucibles and authenticity in leadership development. What about you? What stands out as pivotal in your development as a coach?  

Coaching Best Practice

Revisiting our historic roots in the Socratic method

In our desire to help our community be up to date on the latest thinking we will be sending you one article a month that helps BRIDGE theory and research to the practice of coaching. 

This month we would like to introduce you to an interesting article published inCoaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice:  Life coach as midwife: reflections on a Socratic metaphor, by Joel Steinmet, 2012 March, 5(1) 43-54 

Why did we pick this article? 

Many of us are asked - where does coaching come from? 

Usually the answer is it emerged from the self-help movement, or psychology, or organizational consultation.  While all true, the kind of thinking and dialogue coaches engage in has much deeper intellectual roots. 

Did you know that much of what we do everyday has much in common with the Socratic method? Coaching has been described as a way to help people learn, a way for them to truly appreciate that each individual is an expert with valuable things to share.

Here is what our profession shares with the philosophical tradition. 

Philosophy and coaching have many commonalities, including: both highlighting the importance of leading a life that is full and satisfying; pursuit wisdom through questioning what a good life is; and asking questions as opposed to proving answers.

In Joel N. Steinmet article, he suggests four specific commonalities between Socrates' philosophy and coaching:

• Like Socrates suggested, coaches do not hold the specific solution or the best path for their clients;
• While we do not claim to have knowledge about others, we have an understanding of ourselves, even if that is simply the knowledge of ignorance;
• While we do not hold the specific path for our clients, Socrates suggests we are sensitive to the lack of interest or outright resistance to change;
• And lastly, a coach must understand whether a client has found their false or true self through means that are sometimes bold and overt and at other times merely a subtle suggestion. 

What do YOU think?

Please share your thoughts with us on one of social media channels.

Driving to a New Mindset in 2012 by Margaret Moore

A new year offers the opportunity to hit the refresh button and make a fresh start on something you've yearned to improve for a while, but you have not yet transcended the yearning stage to get to lasting success. In previous blogs, I've explored the dynamic duo that enables us to change -- first our motivation -- a burning desire to improve health, happiness, or performance, and our confidence -- a well-grounded belief that we have the ability to be successful.

Change doesn't happen unless we have a good dose of both motivation and confidence working together. And we can't let either slide even a bit. It's important to charge and recharge our motivational and confidence batteries daily.

But what exactly are we working to change? One reason that change isn't easy is that it has many moving parts. There are the destinations that we measure -- objective numbers like the pounds on a scale, resting heart rate, fitting into the jeans we wore at age 25, or subjective numbers such as rating one's stress level or peace of mind on a scale of one to 10.

Then there are the things that we first learn how to do and then do consistently to reach our destination -- new behaviors or habits such as adding more lean protein to breakfast or lunch to increase brain energy, or practicing 15 minutes of meditation three evenings a week to improve mental clarity, or doing an intense 20 minutes on an elliptical machine to relieve stress.

More fundamentally, what really must change -- in order to acquire new habits that get us to our hoped-for destination -- is our mind. Not just the new brain pathways that get laid down with lots of practice as we move from fragile and fledgling habits to don't-have-to-think-about habits. What we think about ourselves, our limits, our opportunities and the forces that affect us also needs to change. As Einstein said:A problem cannot be solved at the same level that created it. It's not possible to make lasting change in our lifestyles if our thinking isn't also transformed.

So how does one drive to a new mindset? We each live in a box that has a ceiling set by the limits of our perspectives. Changing your mind starts with pushing a hole through the ceiling and poking your head up to see something new for the first time. Maybe it's an "aha!" moment, or a discovery, a new insight, or an OMG realization. Eventually you've poked enough holes in the ceiling to rise up and reach an entirely new perspective. My primary goal as a coach is to help clients generate new insights; small changes of mind, that add up over time to equal an entirely new set of beliefs, thoughts and feelings.

You now ask, how can I coach myself to a new mindset? Let's say that this is the year you want to remove 10 excess pounds of adipose tissue that got deposited on your frame as you fretted more than ever about work and financial stresses in the past year or two. You are hitting your head on your ceiling with a bunch of thoughts. Let's examine how you might change them. Let's say that the most limiting thought is, "I would love to be more fit and energetic but I do not have time to invest in getting and staying fit given my work and family responsibilities and my long commute."

Now imagine your poking-through-the-ceiling thought is, "I do have time to invest in getting and staying fit." What would it take to get you to think that thought?

Put on your scientist's cap and start designing some thought experiments. One idea might be "I will get eight hours of work done in seven and a half hours if I use 30 minutes to exercise: 20 minutes to jog around my office building and yoga stretches for 10 minutes." Another thought might be, "I will drink only one beer on Friday and Saturday nights and wake up energetic for a 30-minute workout on Saturday and Sunday mornings."

Once you move into a curious, experimenting mindset, and over time get to exercising three times a week, you will start to discover a lot of other things. You've replaced the "I don't have time" thought with "I'm sleeping better so I'm less stressed at work and getting more done." And you might find that your best ideas for solving intractable problems arrive out of the blue during your fast walks. Or that you're more relaxed and focused in your conversations with your children.

By the time you've successfully completed the thought-shifting process, you can't even imagine how you could have been stuck in the "I don't have time" box you were just a few short months ago. You've changed your mindset. You're outside your box. Enjoy the new horizon.