Emotional Intelligence Learner Guide

Learner Guide
Apply the principles

and concepts of
emotional intelligence
SAQA ID 252031
Apply the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence to the management of self and others
NQF Level 5, 4 Credits
Version 1 Learner Guide 1

Table of Contents
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................3
Programme entry level requirements..........................................................................................................3
Programme Outcomes.................................................................................................................................3
Assessment.................................................................................................................................................4
Learning map (delivery structure)..........................................................................................................5
Learner Support..........................................................................................................................................6
MODULE 1 PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.....................7
UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.......................................................................................8
1.1 The principles of emotional intelligence.....................................................................................8
1.2 The concepts of emotional intelligence.....................................................................................11
1.2.1 Self-esteem......................................................................................................................................12
1.2.2 Self-image........................................................................................................................................12
1.2.3 Self-confidence................................................................................................................................13
1.2.4 Self-awareness.................................................................................................................................13
1.2.5 The Johari window...........................................................................................................................14
1.2.6 Locus of control...............................................................................................................................19
Class Activity 1: Principles and concepts of emotional intelligence.....................................................22
MODULE 2 ANALYSE THE ROLE OF EI IN RELATIONSHIPS.................................................23
ANALYSING THE ROLE OF EI IN RELATIONSHIPS.................................................................................24
2.1 Personal and interpersonal competencies - interactions in life and work situations...............24
Teamwork.................................................................................................................................................24
2.1.1 Self-awareness.................................................................................................................................26
2.1.2 Self-Regulation................................................................................................................................26
2.1.3 Motivation........................................................................................................................................27
2.1.4 Empathy...........................................................................................................................................27
2.1.5 Social Skills.....................................................................................................................................29
2.2 Techniques for giving and receiving feedback..........................................................................29
Class Activity 2: Analyse the Role of Emotional Intelligence in Relationships....................................32
MODULE 3 ANALYSE THE IMPACT OF EI ON INTERACTIONS............................................33
ANALYSING THE IMPACT OF EI ON INTERACTIONS..............................................................................34
3.1 Positive and negative impact of emotional intelligence............................................................34
3.2 Consequences of applying emotional intelligence....................................................................35
Teamwork.................................................................................................................................................35
Class Activity 3: Analyse the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Interactions..................................39
MODULE 4 EVALUATE OWN LEVEL OF EI FOR DEVELOPMENT.......................................40
EVALUATING OWN LEVEL OF EI FOR DEVELOPMENT.........................................................................41
4.1 Analyse own responses to life and work situations...................................................................41
4.2 Analyse strengths and weaknesses............................................................................................41
4.3 Techniques for improving own emotional intelligence..............................................................44
Class Activity 4: Evaluate Own Level of Emotional Intelligence for Development.............................46
Reflection.............................................................................................................................................47
Facilitator Observation Checklist.........................................................................................................47
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT....................................................................................................................48
Knowledge Questions..........................................................................................................................48
Practical Activities...............................................................................................................................48
Witness Testimony...............................................................................................................................48
Logbook...............................................................................................................................................48
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING.................................................................................................49

Programme overview
Programme Overview
Welcome to this learning programme that will lead you to greater understanding of
applying the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence.
As you work your way through the learning programme you will gain competence
against the following Unit Standard:
Apply the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence to the
Programme
management of self and others
SAQA ID 252031 Apply the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence to
Unit Standard the management of self and others
NQF Level 5, 4 Credits
This learning programme is intended for all persons who need to apply the
principles and concepts of emotional intelligence to the management of self and
others. This Unit Standard is intended for managers in all economic sectors. These
managers would typically be second level managers such as heads of department,
section heads or divisional heads, who may have more than one team reporting to
them.
Programme entry level requirements

It is assumed that people learning towards this Unit Standard are already competent
in:
 Communication at NQF Level 4.
 Mathematical Literacy at NQF Level 4.
 Computer Literacy at NQF Level 4.
Programme Outcomes
This learning programme is outcomes-based which means we take the responsibility
of learning away from the facilitator and place it in your hands.
Your learning will begin in the workshop where you will identify the skills and
knowledge you require in order to meet the specific outcomes and assessment
criteria contained in the unit standard.
In this learning programme, we will be covering the following learning outcomes:
Module 1: Module 2:
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Analyse the role of emotional intelligence in
the principles and concepts of emotional interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships
intelligence in respect of life and work in life and work situations
relations
 Explain the principles of emotional intelligence  Explain the importance of personal and
with reference to examples from life and work interpersonal competencies in relation to
situations interactions in life and work situations
 Describe the concepts of emotional  Analyse techniques for giving and receiving
intelligence with reference to examples feedback to identify practices reflecting
emotional intelligence

Programme overview
Module 3: Module 4:
Analyse the impact of emotional Evaluate own level of emotional intelligence in
intelligence on life and work interactions order to determine development areas
 Motivate the positive and negative impact  Analyse own responses to life and work situations
of emotional intelligence through in terms of the principles and concepts of
examples on intrapersonal and emotional intelligence
interpersonal level  Analyse strengths and weaknesses with reference
 Explain the consequences of applying to the concepts and principles of emotional
emotional intelligence with reference to intelligence in order to identify development areas
examples from life and work situations  Describe techniques for improving own emotional
intelligence in relation to development areas
identified
During the workshop you will complete a number of class activities that will form part
of your formative assessment. In this you have the opportunity to practice and
explore your new skills in a safe environment. You should take the opportunity to
gather as much information as you can to use during your workplace learning and
self-study.
The workshop will be followed by summative assessment tasks to be completed
through self-study in your workplace. In some cases you may be required to do
research and complete the tasks in your own time.
Assessment
It is important to note that the onus is on you, as the learner, to prove your
competence. You therefore need to plan your time and ensure that your Portfolio of
Evidence is kept up to date and handed in timeously.
A Portfolio of Evidence is a collection of documents of work you have produced to
prove your competence. You will compile your portfolio from activities, tools and
checklists associated with the unit standard and relevant to the unit standard being
assessed.
You will be given the following documents to assist you in creating a portfolio of
evidence:
 Learner Guide: The Learner Guide is designed to serve as a guide for the
duration of your learning programme and as the main source document for
transfer of learning. It contains information (knowledge and skills required)
and application aids that will assist you in developing the knowledge and skills
stipulated in the specific outcomes and assessment criteria. The learner
guide also indicates the formative assessment class activities that you need
to complete towards your Portfolio of Evidence.
 Learner Workbook: The learner Workbook contains all the class activities
that you will be completing to show formative learning. These will be
assessed as part of your portfolio of evidence as formative assessment. You
will be handing in the Learner Workbook as part of your Portfolio of Evidence.
 Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide: The Learner Portfolio of Evidence
Guide provides details about the assessment, such as the assessment
preparation, plan and specific summative assessment activities that you need
to complete in the workplace.

Programme overview
Both formative and summative assessment is used as part of this outcomes-based

learning programme:
 Formative Assessment: In order to gain credits for this Unit Standard you
will need to prove to an assessor that you are competent. The Class
Activities throughout your Learner Workbook are designed not only to help
you learn new skills, but also to prove that you have mastered competence.
You will be required to develop a Portfolio of Evidence to hand in to an
assessor so that you can be assessed against the outcomes of this Unit
Standard. Where you encounter a Class Activity icon, you must complete the
formative assessment activity in the Learner Workbook. Comprehensive
guidelines for the development of your Portfolio of Evidence may be found in
the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide for the particular learning programme
that you are working with.
 Summative Assessment: The NQF’s objective is to create independent and
self-sufficient learners. This means that you will also be required to do
independent research and assignments, such as Knowledge Questions,
Practical Activity (completed in the workplace), Witness Testimony and
Logbook.
The assessment process is discussed in detail in the Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide. When you are ready, you will advise your mentor that you
are ready for assessment. He or she will then sign off the required sections in
the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide and you will be able to submit your
Portfolio of Evidence for assessment. The summative assessment activities
placed in the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide for your convenience. If
any of your assessment is conducted using observation, role plays or verbal
assessment, place a signed copy of the checklists, once completed by your
mentor or line manager in your Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide, as
indicated.
The Training Provider will assess your portfolio. If successful, you will receive the
credit value of this learning programme. The entire assessment process is explained
in the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide and you are urged to read this guide as
soon as possible as it explains the assessment process in detail and clarifies your
rights and responsibilities to ensure that the assessment is fair, valid and reliable.
If you are not successful, you will receive all the guidance needed to resubmit your
Portfolio of Evidence within a specific time period, as per the Training Provider
requirements.
Learning map (delivery structure)

Assessment Formative Assessment 30% Summative Assessment70%
Contact Learning Summative
Theory input Prescribed assessment in PoE:
Learning Learning and
Formative assessment reading, knowledge questions,
application at the
(workbook activities): support, practical workplace
activities workplace
group activities, coaching activity, Witness
for 40 hours of simulations Testimony, logbook
notional learning 12 hours 0 hour 20 hours 8 hours

   
Compilation of Portfolio of Evidence
Complementary workplace practices Coaching and Mentoring; Performance Management

Programme overview
Learner Support
Please remember that as the programme is outcomes based – this implies the
following:
 You are responsible for your own learning – make sure you manage your
study, practical, workplace and portfolio time responsibly.
 Learning activities are learner driven – make sure you use the Learner Guide,
Learner Workbook and Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide in the manner
intended, and are familiar with the Portfolio requirements.
 The Facilitator is there to reasonably assist you during contact, practical and
workplace time of this programme – make sure that you have his/her contact
details.

Module 1
Module 1
Principles and Concepts of Emotional
Intelligence
After completing this module, the learner will be able to demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence in respect of
life and work relations, by successfully completing the following:
 Explain the principles of emotional intelligence with reference to examples from

life and work situations
 Describe the concepts of emotional intelligence with reference to examples

Module 1
Understanding Emotional Intelligence

“Emotional Intelligence (EI is what we will refer to) is the innate potential to feel, use,
communicate, recognise, remember, describe, identify, learn from, manage,
understand and explain emotions”1.
1.1 The principles of emotional intelligence

Twentieth century psychologists investigating intelligence initially focused on
cognitive aspects, such as attention, perception, memory, reasoning, judgment,
imagining, thinking, and speech, but realised early on that the non-cognitive aspects
of intelligence are also important.
The psychometrician Robert Thorndike (1910-1990) was already writing about

“social intelligence” in the late 1930’s2, while the American psychologist,David
Wechsler, defined intelligence as “the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to
act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment”3.
As early as 1940 Wechsler referred to “non-intellective” as well as “intellective”

elements, by which he meant affective (emotion, emotionality, feeling, mood, etc.),
personal, and social factors. Furthermore, as early as 1943 Wechsler was
proposing that the non-intellective abilities are essential for predicting one’s
ability to succeed in life.
He wrote:
“The main question is whether non-intellective, that is affective and
conative abilities4, are admissible as factors of general
intelligence. (My contention) has been that such factors are not
only admissible but necessary. I have tried to show that in addition
to intellective there are also definite non-intellective factors that
determine intelligent behavior. If the foregoing observations are
correct, it follows that we cannot expect to measure total
intelligence until our tests also include some measures of the non-
intellective factors”.
Unfortunately, the work of these early pioneers was largely forgotten or overlooked
until 1983 when Howard Gardner began to write about “multiple intelligence”. He
proposed that “intrapersonal” and “interpersonal” intelligences are as important as
the type of intelligence typically measured by IQ and related tests.
By intrapersonal intelligence he meant our cognitive ability to understand and

sense our "self." Intrapersonal intelligence allows us to tap into our being - who we
are, what feelings we have, and why we are this way. A strong intrapersonal
intelligence can lead to self-esteem, self-enhancement, and a strength of character
that can be used to solve internal problems.
Though people have the physical ability to exist individually and alone, we are also
social animals who thrive and grow when involved with others. This ability to interact
with others, understand them, and interpret their behaviour is known as
interpersonal intelligence. According to Gardner, interpersonal intelligence is seen
1
S.Hein, 2007, quoted in http://eqi.org/eidefs.htm
2
Thorndike RL & Stein S (1937) An evaluation of the attempts to measure social intelligence. Psychological Bulletin
34 275-284.
3
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
4
The ability to apply one's abilities purposefully, persistently and effectively as required by the task at hand

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in how we "notice distinction among others; in particular, contrasts in their moods,

temperaments, motivations and intentions."
In the 1940s, the Ohio State Leadership Studies suggested that “consideration” is an
important aspect of effective leadership. More specifically, this research suggested
that leaders who are able to establish mutual trust, respect, and a certain
warmth and rapport with members of their group will be more effective.
By the early 1990s, there was a long tradition of research on the role of non-cognitive
factors in helping people to succeed in both life and the workplace.
The current work on emotional intelligence builds on this foundation. When Salovey
and Mayer coined the term “emotional intelligence” in 1990, they were aware of
the previous work on non-cognitive aspects of intelligence. They described emotional
intelligence as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor
one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and
to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action”.
Salovey and Mayer also initiated a research programme intended to develop valid
measures of emotional intelligence and to explore its significance. For instance, they
found in one study that when a group of people saw an upsetting film, those who
scored high on emotional clarity (which is the ability to identify and give a name to a
mood that is being experienced) recovered more quickly.
In another study by Salovey, Bedell, Detweiler and Mayer in 1999, individuals who
scored higher in the ability to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise others’
emotions were better able to respond flexibly to changes in their social environments
and build supportive social networks.
In the early 1990’s Daniel Goleman became aware of Salovey and Mayer’s work, and
this eventually led to his bestseller, Emotional Intelligence.
Goleman had been trained as a psychologist at Harvard where he worked with David
McClelland, well-known for his Theory of Needs, among others. McClelland was
among a growing group of researchers who were becoming concerned with how little
traditional tests of cognitive intelligence told us about what it takes to be successful in
life. McClelland found that IQ by itself is not a very good predictor of job performance.
An example of this research on the limits of IQ as a predictor is the Sommerville

study, a 40-year longitudinal investigation of 450 boys who grew up in Sommerville,
Massachusetts. Two thirds of the boys were from welfare families, and one-third had
IQ’s below 90. However, IQ had little relation to how well they did at work or in the
rest of their lives. What made the biggest difference was childhood abilities such as
being able to handle frustration, control emotions, and get along with other people.
Another good example is a study of 80 Ph.D.’s in science who underwent a battery of

personality tests, IQ tests, and interviews in the 1950s when they were graduate
students at Berkeley. Forty years later, when they were in their early seventies, they
were tracked down and estimates were made of their success based on resumes,
evaluations by experts in their own fields, and sources like American Men and
Women of Science. It turned out that social and emotional abilities were four times
more important than IQ in determining professional success and prestige.
None of these studies is suggesting that cognitive ability (IQ) is irrelevant for success
in science. They all agree that one needs a relatively high level of such ability merely

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to get admitted to a graduate science programme at an institution like Berkeley. Once

you are admitted, however, what matters in terms of how you do compared to your
peers has less to do with IQ differences and more to do with social and emotional
factors. In other words, if you’re a scientist, you probably needed an IQ of 120 or so
simply to get a doctorate and a job. But then it is more important to be able to persist
in the face of difficulty and to get along well with colleagues and subordinates than it
is to have an extra 10 or 15 points of IQ. The same is true in many other occupations.
Even though cognitive ability seems to play a rather limited role in accounting for why
some people are more successful than others, Goleman needed evidence that
emotional and social factors are as important as the research seemed to suggest. In
doing the research for his first book, Goleman became familiar with a wealth of
research pointing to the importance of social and emotional abilities for personal
success. Some of this research came from personality and social psychology, and
some came from the emerging field of neuro psychology.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a way to measure how a person recognizes emotions in

himself or herself and others, and manages these emotional states to work better as
a group or team.
According to Goleman, the essential premise of EQ is the following: to be

successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one's
own emotions, and those of other people.
EQ therefore embraces two aspects of intelligence:
 Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, and behaviour;

and
 Understanding others, and their feelings.
Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as:
1. Knowing one's emotions, which is fundamental to emotional intelligence:

people who know their feelings are better pilots of their lives.
2. Managing emotions: people who are effective in managing their emotions can
cope better with life's adversities and can bounce back faster than those who
are poor in managing their feelings.
3. Motivating oneself: people without emotional intelligence lack self-restraint

and would just do whatever their impulses suggest. In Goleman’s words, they
"suffer a moral deficiency". Emotional self-control, delaying gratification and
stifling impulsiveness underlies accomplishment of every sort.
4. Recognising emotions in others: emotional self-awareness is the first step to

empathic sensitivity. In other words, if we are in touch with our own feelings,
then we can empathise with others and sense their needs.
5. Handling relationships: the art of relating to others includes the skill of

managing emotions in others. For example, the ability to calm distressing
emotions in others can help resolve many conflicts.
By developing our Emotional Intelligence we can become more productive and

successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too.

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The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many
elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organisations, by decreasing
conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability,
continuity and harmony.
Example of a scenario where using emotional intelligence can help you manage
conflict in the workplace5:
Group Conflict
You've taken over a project that requires you to work in a small group of co-
workers that you're placed in charge of. Co-worker A (we'll call him Jim) is
worried that you'll ignore all his ideas in favor of Co-worker B's (we'll call him
Adam) ideas. While this may seem like a very childish fear and ultimately
could become an issue to the productivity of the group, do not write off Jim's
fears. Has Adam had preference in projects over Jim in the past? Empathizing
with Jim's fears can help you better manage any conflict that may arise
between he and Adam. So, what can you do to manage this better?
Preventative Measures: Give both Jim and Adam - as well as any other
members in the group - time to voice their ideas, comments, and concerns.
Remain attentive and ask questions, make insightful comments and offer
suggestions. By being actively involved in the discussion, you can make
everyone aware that their ideas and opinions matter, even if they may not be
the ones you end up using.
Damage Control: Jim's voiced his concerns, and now things have begun to
heat up between he and Adam. Unfortunately, you find yourself siding with
Adam's ideas rather than Jim's. What can you possibly do? For the immediate
time, it's probably best to separate both Jim and Adam. Take Jim aside and
ask him to calmly explain why he thinks his ideas are better than Adam's.
Make sure you actively pay attention to what he is saying and see if he makes
any valid points. If he does, see if there is a way you can incorporated some
of Jim's ideas into the project. If you find that Jim's ideas simply don't work for
your project, tell him. While he won't enjoy the sting of rejection, you need to
be firm about what is best for this project. Encourage him to keep
brainstorming on both this and future projects, though.
1.2 The concepts of emotional intelligence

The concepts of emotional intelligence include, but are not limited to, self-confidence, self-awareness,
self-esteem and locus of control
"It's not what you are that holds you back; it's what you
think you are not."
Denis Waitley
5
Source: http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/100213.aspx

Module 1
1.2.1 Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a positive or negative orientation toward oneself; an overall evaluation
of one's worth or value. Self-esteem refers to your belief that you’re worthy of respect
from yourself and others.
According to this definition, the concept of self-esteem is dynamic; thus, the outcome
can be manipulated; i.e. if I increase my sense of self-worth, my self-esteem will
grow. By the same token, if I lose my self-respect, my self-esteem will diminish.
Our sense of self is socially constructed in interaction, based on people's shared

understandings of social roles, rules, symbols, and categories. These people are
often our parents/guardians, teachers, and peers.
According to Rosenberg6, our self-esteem relies on two factors:

 Reflected appraisals- Human communication depends on seeing matters
from other people's perspectives. In the process of 'taking the role of the
other,' we become aware that we are objects of others' attention, perception,
and evaluation. We thus come to see ourselves through the eyes of others.
 Social comparisons self-esteem is "in part a consequence of individuals
comparing themselves with others and making positive or negative self-
evaluations".
True self-esteem is rooted in a healthy relationship with ourselves and an intimate
knowledge of our own values and beliefs.
1.2.2 Self-image
Self-image is how you perceive yourself ... positively or negatively. Self-image is
important because how you feel and think about yourself affects the way you act.
The important question in self-image is, "What is the basis of our self-image ... our
own preconceptions ... the evaluation of others?" What is the true foundation of our
self-image?
Modern society regards physical appearance very highly. There is no escape from
this reality! Take a look at the billion-dollar beauty and media industries. However,
physical appearance cannot be a strong foundation for self-image because we age.
Besides physique, the other sources of self-image for many are performance and
possessions. We live in a performance-oriented society ... you get praise and reward
based on performance. However, performance is not dependable since our
performance can deteriorate. If our self-image is based on our performance then our
self-esteem rises and falls with our performance. Moreover, others can out-perform
us ... does this mean we are less worthy?
People are also admired for their material possessions, especially branded goods -
another shaky foundation for self-image because in an economic downturn, we may
have to give up some of our possessions. Our possessions are not permanent ...
they can be stolen or destroyed. We cannot take them with us when we die.
6
Rosenberg, 1998.

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1.2.3 Self-confidence
Self-confidence refers to the way you perceive yourself. Self-confidence is the belief
in your abilities and the positive impression you have of yourself. The socio-
psychological concept of self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one's
personal judgment, ability, power, etc.
Professor Raj Persaud7 says that true self confidence comes from an attitude where
you "promise yourself, no matter how difficult the problem life throws at you, that you
will try as hard as you can to help yourself. You acknowledge that sometimes your
efforts to help yourself may not result in success, as often being properly rewarded is
not in your control."
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk

curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any
experience that reveals the human spirit.
e.e. cummings
1.2.4 Self-awareness
One of the most important factors in building your self-esteem and confidence is your
self-awareness. But what exactly is it, why is it important and how can you become
more self-aware?
Being self-aware is all about knowing yourself. These are some of the many areas it
covers:
 Your wishes and desires - what do you want in your life?
 Do you know your strengths?
 Do you know your weaknesses?
 What motivates you and makes you happy?
 What do you want to change about yourself or about your life?
 Considering your achievements so far.
 How you relate to others and is this socially acceptable or beneficial to you?
 The things stopping you from achieving your wishes.
 How do you need to improve as a person?
 Thinking about your most important beliefs and values.
 Thinking about the value you see yourself having as a person.
The latter has a direct relation to your sense of self value and self-esteem.
Self-awareness includes recognition of our personality, our strengths and
weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to
recognise when we are stressed or under pressure. It is also often a prerequisite for
effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing
empathy for others.
Self-awareness refers to having clarity about who you are and what you want (and
why you want it). This awareness empowers you to consciously and actively make
those wants a reality. Otherwise, you’ll continue to get “caught up” in your own
7
Quoted in www.amazines.com

Module 1
internal dramas and unknown beliefs, allowing unknown thought processes to

determine your feelings and actions.
Not understanding why you do what you do, and feel what you feel is like going
through your life with a stranger's mind. How do you make wise decisions and
choices if you don't understand why you want what you want? It's a difficult and
chaotic way to live- never knowing what this stranger inside is going to do next.
How do we become more self-aware? When we want reliable information, we turn to

the experts. In this case, we are the experts. No friend, therapist, pastor, spouse or
parent can know more about us than we ourselves do. We live in our skins and minds
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. No one is closer to us than we are.
The answers are in there; we just need to unlock them by asking the right questions.
Self-awareness can enrich your life because you can then move closer to living your
values and realising your dreams. Becoming self aware does not mean being selfish
though. Discovering the inner you will enable you to seek the opportunities to give
more of yourself to others and this will have mutual benefits in your relationships as
well as helping to build your self esteem and confidence as you become more true to
yourself in every aspect of your life.
1.2.5 The Johari window8

The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and
Harry Ingham, is a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-
awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group.
A four paned "window," as illustrated below, divides personal awareness into four
different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and
unknown.
Diagram 1: Johari window
1. 2.
Open/ free area Blind area

3. 4.
Hidden area Unknown area
The lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as an
interaction between individuals and groups progresses.
Johari quadrant 1 - 'open self/area' or 'free area' or 'public area', or 'arena'

Johari region 1 is also known as the 'area of free activity'. This is the information
about the person - behaviour, attitude, feelings, emotion, knowledge, experience,
skills, views, etc - known by the person ('the self') and known by the group
('others').
Johari quadrant 2 - 'blind self' or 'blind area' or 'blind spot'

Johari region 2 is what is known about a person by others in the group, but is
unknown by the person him/herself.
8
Retrieved from: www.businessballs.com

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By seeking feedback from others, the aim should be to reduce this area and thereby
to increase the open area, i.e. to increase self-awareness.
This blind area could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues in
which one is deluded. A blind area could also include issues that others are
deliberately withholding from a person.
People who are 'thick-skinned' tend to have a large 'blind area'.
Johari quadrant 3 - 'hidden self' or 'hidden area' or 'avoided self' or 'facade'

Johari region 3 is what is known to ourselves but kept hidden from, and
therefore unknown, to others. This hidden or avoided self represents information,
feelings, etc. that a person knows about him/herself, but which is not revealed to
others, or is kept hidden from others.
The hidden area could also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative
intentions, secrets, etc.; anything that a person knows, but does not reveal, for
whatever reason.
It's natural for very personal and private information and feelings to remain hidden. In
fact, certain information, feelings and experiences have no relevance to work, and so
can and should remain hidden.
However, relevant hidden information and feelings should be moved into the open
area through the process of 'disclosure'. The aim should be to disclose and expose
relevant information and feelings, thereby increasing the open area.
By telling others how we feel and other information about ourselves, we reduce the
hidden area, and increase the open area, which enables better understanding,
cooperation, trust, team-working effectiveness and productivity. Reducing hidden
areas also reduces the potential for confusion, misunderstanding, poor
communication, etc., which all distract from and undermine team effectiveness.
Johari quadrant 4 - 'unknown self' or 'area of unknown activity' or 'unknown

area'
Johari region 4 contains information, feelings, latent abilities, aptitudes, experiences,
etc., that are unknown to the person him/herself and unknown to others in the
group.
These unknown issues take a variety of forms: they can be feelings, behaviours,
attitudes, capabilities, aptitudes, which can be quite close to the surface, and which
can be positive and useful, or they can be deeper aspects of a person's personality,
influencing his/her behaviour to various degrees. Large unknown areas would
typically be expected in younger people, and people who lack experience or self-
belief.
Examples of unknown factors are as follows:
 An ability that is under-estimated or untried through lack of opportunity,
encouragement, confidence or training
 A natural ability or aptitude that a person doesn't realise s/he possesses
 A fear or aversion that a person does not know s/he has
 An unknown illness
 Repressed or subconscious feelings
 Conditioned behaviour or attitudes from childhood

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The first example is particularly relevant and common, especially in typical

organisations and teams.
The processes by which this information and knowledge can be uncovered are
numerous, and can be prompted through self-discovery or observation by others,
or in certain situations through collective or mutual discovery, of the sort of
discovery experienced during teambuilding events or other deep or intensive group
work. Counselling can also uncover unknown issues, but this would then be known to
the person and by one other, rather than by a group.
Uncovering 'hidden talents', unknown aptitudes and skills can be done by providing
people with the opportunity to try new things, with no great pressure to succeed.
Implications of the Johari window for teams and leaders:

The aim in any group should always be to develop the 'open area' for every person in
the group. The open free area, or 'the arena', can be seen as the space where good
communication and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion,
conflict and misunderstanding.
It is important for a leader to realise that established team members will normally
have larger open areas than new team members.
New team members start with relatively small open areas because relatively little
knowledge about the new team member is shared.
The size of the open area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by
seeking and actively listening to feedback from other group members. This
process is known as 'feedback solicitation'.
Other group members can also help a team member expand his/her open area by
offering feedback, in a sensitive manner, of course.
Diagram 2: Johari window with open area expanded horizontally
1.
Open/ free area 2.
Blind area
3. 4.
The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the hidden
or avoided space by the person's disclosure of information, feelings, etc. about
him/herself to the group and group members.
Also, group members can help a person expand his/her open area into the hidden
area by asking the person about him/herself.
Diagram 3: Johari window with open area expanded vertically

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1. 2.
4.
Unknown area
3.
Hidden area
Managers and team leaders can play an important role in facilitating feedback and
disclosure among group members, and in directly giving feedback to individuals
about their own blind areas.
Top performing groups, departments, companies and organisations tend to have a
culture of open positive communication, so encouraging the positive development of
the 'open area' or 'open self' for everyone.
Leaders therefore have a big responsibility to promote a culture of open, honest,
positive, helpful, constructive, sensitive communication, and the sharing of
knowledge throughout their organisation.
This can be done by creating an environment that encourages self-discovery, and
promotes the processes of self discovery, constructive observation and feedback
among team members.
Team members and managers can help an individual to reduce his/her blind area - in
turn increasing the open area - by giving sensitive feedback and encouraging
disclosure.
The extent to which an individual seeks feedback, and the issues on which feedback
is sought, must always be at the individual's own discretion as some people are more
sensitive than others; therefore care needs to be taken to avoid causing emotional
upset.
Effort should generally be made by each member of the team to increase his/her
open free area, by disclosing information about his/her feelings, experience, views,
motivation, etc., which will reduce the size of the hidden area, and increase the open
free area.
Seeking feedback about the blind area will reduce the blind area, and will increase
the open free area. Discovery through sensitive communications, active listening and
experience, will reduce the unknown area, transferring in part to the blind, hidden
areas, depending on who knows what, or better still if known by the person and
others, to the open free area.
A team which understands itself - that is, each person has a strong mutual
understanding with the team - is far more effective than a team in which members do

Module 1
not understand each other- that is, whose members have large hidden, blind, and/or
unknown areas.
Team members - and leaders - should always be striving to increase their open free
areas, and to reduce their blind, hidden and unknown areas.
Example: a new team member or a member within a new team
Diagram 4: Johari window (new team member)
2.
1. Blind area
Open/ free area
3. 4.
This Johari Window diagram is an example of a member of a new team or a person

who is new to an existing team. The open or free region is small because others
know little about the new person. Similarly the blind area is small because others
know little about the new person. The hidden or avoided issues and feelings are a
relatively large area. In this particular example the unknown area is the largest, which
might be because the person is young, or lacking in self-knowledge or belief.

Module 1
Example - established team member
Diagram 5: Johari window (established team member)
1. 2.
3. 4.
This diagram is an example of an established member of a team. The open free

region is large because others know a lot about the person that the person also
knows. Through the processes of disclosure and receiving feedback the open area
has expanded and at the same time reduced the sizes of the hidden, blind and
unknown areas. Whether unknown 'discovered' knowledge moves into the hidden,
blind or open area depends on who discovers it and what they do with the
knowledge, notably whether it is then given as feedback, or disclosed.
Organisational culture and working atmosphere have a major influence on group
members' preparedness to disclose their hidden selves. Most people fear judgement
or vulnerability and therefore hold back hidden information and feelings, etc. that if
moved into the open area, i.e. known by the group as well, would enhance mutual
understanding, and thereby improve group awareness, enabling better individual
performance and group effectiveness.
Therefore leaders should promote a climate of non-judgemental feedback, and group
response to individual disclosure, which reduces fear and therefore encourages both
processes to happen freely.
1.2.6 Locus of control9

The concept of “locus of control” was originally developed by Julian Rotter in the
1950s. “Locus of control” refers to an individual's perception about the underlying
main causes of events in his/her life, e.g. the belief that one’s destiny is controlled
by oneself or by external forces (such as fate, God, or powerful others).
Rotter's view was that behaviour was largely guided by "reinforcements" (rewards
and punishments) and that through contingencies such as rewards and
punishments, individuals come to hold beliefs about what causes their actions.
These beliefs, in turn, guide what kinds of attitudes and behaviours people adopt.
9
Wikipedia. Locus of control

Module 1
A locus of control orientation is a belief about whether the outcomes of our actions
are contingent on what we do (internal control orientation) or on events outside
our personal control (external control orientation).
Diagram: Locus of control
External Locus of Control Internal Locus of Control

Individual believes that Individual believes that
his/her behaviour is guided his/her behaviour is guided
by fate, luck, or other by his/her personal
external circumstances decisions and efforts.
Is an internal locus of control desirable?

“In general, it seems to be psychologically healthy to perceive that one has control
over those things which one is capable of influencing”.
A more internal locus of control is generally seen as desirable. Having an internal
locus of control can also be referred to as "self-agency", "personal control", "self-
determination", etc.
Empirical research findings10 have implied the following differences between internals
and externals:
 Internals are more likely to work for achievements, to tolerate delays in
rewards and to plan for long-term goals, whereas externals are more likely to
lower their goals. After failing a task, internals re-evaluate future
performances and lower their expectations of success, whereas externals
may raise their expectations. These differences relate to differences in
achievement motivation. Rotter believed that internals tend to be higher in
achievement motivation than externals. However, empirical findings have
been ambiguous here. There is some evidence that sex-based differences
may complicate these findings, with females being more responsive to
failures, males to successes.
 Considerable data suggest that internal locus of control is associated with
increased ability to delay gratification.
 Internals are better able to resist coercion. This relates to higher outer-
directedness of externals, another factor which Rotter believed distinguished
the two orientations.
 Internals are better at tolerating ambiguous situations. There is also a lot of
evidence in clinical research that internality correlates negatively with anxiety,
and that internals may be less prone to depression than externals, as well as
being less prone to learned helplessness (Learned helplessness is a
psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to
act or behave helpless in a particular situation, even when it has the power to
change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance). However, this does not
mean that the emotional life of the internal is always more positive than that of
the external, as internals are known to be more guilt-prone than externals.
 Externals are less willing to take risks, to work on self-improvement and to
better themselves through remedial work than internals.
10
Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Module 1
 Internals derive greater benefits from social supports.

 Internals make better mental health recovery in the long-term adjustment to
physical disability.
 Internals are more likely to prefer games based on skill, while externals prefer
games based on chance or luck.
However, it’s important to realise that it is rather simplistic to conclude that internal is
always good and external is always bad. There are important subtleties and
complexities to be considered. For example:
 Internals can be psychologically unhealthy and unstable. An internal
orientation usually needs to be matched by competence, self-efficacy and
opportunity so that the person is able to successfully experience the sense of
personal control and responsibility. Overly internal people who lack
competence, efficacy and opportunity can become neurotic, anxious and
depressed. In other words, internals need to have a realistic sense of their
circle of influence in order to experience 'success'.
 Externals can lead easy-going, relaxed, happy lives.
Despite these cautions, psychological research has found that people with a more
internal locus of control seem to be better off, e.g. they tend to be more achievement
oriented and to get better paid jobs.
Fortunately, if your locus of control isn't as 'internal' as you'd like it to be, there are
things you can do to change your locus of control and empower yourself. Here are a
few steps11 to developing an internal locus of control:
1. Realise that you always have choice to change your situation. Even if you
don’t like the choices available at the moment, you can choose to change your
attitude. Realising and acknowledging that you always have choice (even if
the choices aren’t ideal) can help you to change your situation, or accept it
more easily if it really is the best of all available options.
2. When you feel trapped in your situation, make a list of all possible courses of
action. Just brainstorm and write things down without evaluating them first.
You may want to also brainstorm with a partner or colleague to get more ideas
that you may not have initially considered. Don’t shoot down any ideas right
away, either, no matter how bizarre they may seem; just write them down.
3. When you have a list, evaluate each one and decide on the best course of
action for you, and keep the others in the back of your mind as alternative
options. You may end up with the same answer you had before the
brainstorming session, but this exercise can open your eyes to the amount of
choices you have in a given situation. Seeing new possibilities will become
more of a habit.
4. Repeat this practice whenever you feel trapped in frustrating situations in your
life. In more casual, everyday situations, you can still expand your mind to
new possibilities by doing this quickly and mentally.
Tips:
11
Reduce Stress and Improve Your Life with Positive Self Talk, By Elizabeth Scott, M.S., Retrieved from: About.com;
Updated: November 1, 2007

Module 1
 Pay attention to the language you use towards others and your “self talk”. If
you tend to speak in absolutes (“always”, “never”, etc.) stop. If your self talk is
generally negative, start giving yourself positive reinforcement. Phase out
phrases like, ‘I have no choice’, and, ‘I can’t…” You can replace them with, ‘I
choose not to,’ or, ‘I don’t like my choices, but I will…’
 Thought-Stopping: As you notice yourself saying something negative in your
mind, you can stop your thought mid-stream by saying to yourself “Stop”.
Saying this aloud will be more powerful, and having to say it aloud will make
you more aware of how many times you are stopping negative thoughts, and
where.
 Rubber-Band Snap: Another therapeutic trick is to walk around with a rubber
band around your wrist; as you notice negative self-talk, pull the band away
from your skin and let it snap back. It’ll hurt a little, and serve as a slightly
negative consequence that will both make you more aware of your thoughts,
and help to stop them!
 Replace Negative Statements: A good way to stop a bad habit is to replace
it with something better. Instead of using words like ‘hate’ and ‘angry’ (as in, “I
hate traffic! It makes me so angry!”), you can use words like ‘don’t like’ and
‘annoyed’ (“I don’t like traffic; it makes me annoyed,” sounds much more
manageable.)
 Change Negative to Neutral or Positive: As you find yourself mentally
complaining about something, rethink your assumptions. Are you assuming
something is a negative event when it isn’t? (For example, having your plans
cancelled at the last minute can be seen as a negative, but what you do with
your newly-freed schedule can be what you make of it.) The next time you
find yourself stressing about something or deciding you’re not up to a
challenge, stop and rethink, and see if you can come up with a neutral or
positive replacement.
 Change Self-Limiting Statements to Questions: Self-limiting statements
like “I can’t handle this!” or “This is impossible!” are particularly damaging
because they increase your stress in a given situation and they stop you from
searching for solutions. The next time you find yourself thinking something
that limits the possibilities of a given situation, turn it into a question. “How
can I handle this?” or “How is this possible?” sounds more hopeful and opens
up your imagination to new possibilities.
Class Activity 1: Principles and concepts of emotional intelligence

Please follow the instructions from the facilitator to complete the
formative activity in your Learner Workbook

Module 2
Module 2
Analyse the Role of EI in Relationships
After completing this module, the learner will be able to analyse the role of emotional
intelligence in interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships in life and work situations,
by successfully completing the following:
 Explain the importance of personal and interpersonal competencies in relation to

interactions in life and work situations
 Analyse techniques for giving and receiving feedback to identify practices
reflecting emotional intelligence

Module 2
Analysing the Role of EI in Relationships

We have all probably experienced a situation where emotions (ours or others’) have
got in the way of important personal or business relationships.
A lack of Emotional Intelligence is cited as the main reason promising careers derail.
Researchers are increasingly coming to the conclusion that a critical level of EQ is
the number one reason successful leaders, managers and sales people outperform
the average.
2.1 Personal and interpersonal competencies - interactions in life and

work situations
Emotional competence
Emotional competence refers to a person's ability to express or release their inner
feelings (emotions). It implies an ease around others and determines our ability to
effectively and successfully lead and express.
The concept of emotional competence is rooted in the understanding of emotions as
being normal, useful aspects of being human. Anger is a reaction to aggression and
gives a person the strength to repel the aggression. Grief is a reaction to
abandonment or feeling unloved and it has the effect of eliciting sympathetic
responses from others. Fear is a response to danger and has a clear physiological
effect of heightening our senses and speeding up our reactions.
From this it can be seen that the suppression of emotion is not useful and that
teaching people to suppress their emotions is part of trying to control them.
Emotionally competent people will express emotion appropriate to the situation and
their needs and they will not seek to suppress emotions in others.
It is fairly widely believed that if appropriate emotions are not expressed, some sort of
memory of them becomes stored. Stressful situations in later life may trigger off the
old emotions resulting in inappropriate emotional responses.
Emotional competence can lead to improved health through avoiding stress that
would otherwise result from suppressing emotions. It can also lead to improved
relationships since inappropriate emotions are less likely to be expressed and
appropriate behaviour is not avoided through fear of triggering some emotion.
Emotional intelligent people recognise the importance of emotions, while striving to
control them or “manipulate” them in others.
Teamwork
Emotional Intelligence is increasingly being promoted as critically necessary for
successful teamwork.
A work team is defined as “…a work group or unit with a common purpose through
which members develop mutual relationships for the achievement of goals/tasks”12.
Teamwork implies that individuals work in a cooperative environment in the interests
of a common goal by sharing knowledge and skills and being flexible enough to fulfil
12
Harris, P.R., & Harris, K.G. (1996). Managing effectively through teams. Team Performance Management: An
International Journal, 2 (3), p. 23.

Module 2
multiple roles. One of the essential elements of a team is a clear purpose and a focus
toward a common goal.
Many organisations rely upon successful teamwork to achieve goals and to meet the
needs of their clients. It is a synergistic process that relies upon all team members to
contribute and participate in order to promote and nurture a positive, effective team
environment.
Team members must be flexible enough to adapt to working in a cooperative working
environment where goals are achieved through collaboration and social
interdependence rather than individualised, competitive goals. Social
interdependence refers to how individuals interact in cooperative learning or working
situations, including team environments, and is an integral part of cooperative
learning. “Social interdependence exists when individuals share common goals; each
individual’s outcomes are affected by the actions of the others”. Teamwork that relies
upon cooperative processes enables individuals to extend their boundaries and
achieve more through social interdependence than as individuals. “The team has
synergy. By sharing a common goal or vision, the team can accomplish what
individuals cannot do alone”13.
Social interdependence can be considered to be positive, negative or non-existent.
According to Johnson and Johnson positive interdependence creates cooperative
interaction in which individuals encourage and facilitate each other’s efforts to attain
team goals, such as creating positive relationships and collaborative team
environments. Negative interdependence or competition generally results in
oppositional interaction. This occurs when individuals prevent others from achieving
because of their own competitiveness. Rather than promoting a team environment
through positive interaction, team members are focused on “…increasing their own
success and on preventing anyone else from being more successful than they are” 14.
No interaction occurs when individuals work independently without interacting with
others. Individuals focus on increasing and improving their own success and have no
regard or interest in the efforts of others.
The following essential attributes of positive interdependence are needed for
successful teamwork:
 Giving and receiving help and assistance for both task related and personal
issues.
 Exchanging resources and information.
 Giving and receiving feedback on tasks and teamwork behaviours.
 Challenging each other’s reasoning.
 Encouraging others to achieve.
 Influencing each other’s reasoning and behaviour.
 Using interpersonal and social skills to enhance team work.
 Consciously reflecting on the effectiveness of the team to continue
improvement.
 Acknowledging achievements.
Successful teams require both technical skills and interpersonal skills. Conflict
resolution and the ability of team members to deal with issues, feelings and emotions
can impact greatly on the success of the team. Team members caring for one
13
Johnson and Johnson, 1998
14
Johnson & Johnson, 1998

Module 2
another, encouraging one another, showing empathy and regulating their emotions
contribute to and have an impact on the success of the team.
Negative behaviour, on the other hand, can impact on work productivity and affect
the overall success of the team and project.
We can conclude, therefore, that there is much commonality between successful
teamwork and emotional intelligence and some researchers are of the opinion that
emotional intelligence competencies are more important than technical
competencies. They say that there is more to effective teamwork than a keen intellect
and grasp of technical knowledge. The difference between success and mediocrity in
working relationships, especially in a team environment, can be attributed to a team
member’s mastery of the softer skills – abilities and approaches grounded in
emotional intelligence.
Emotional bonding that exists between team members has a profound effect on the
work produced and the overall success of the project. Teams that care about each
other at a personal and professional level are more likely to be successful than teams
that ignore the importance of the link between positive interpersonal relationships,
professional relationships and goal achievement. Developing positive relationships
where team members are aware of the impact their emotions can play on the
effectiveness and success of the team should be the aim of each team member. A
positive emotional climate should be developed so that all energies can be focused
on the attainment of mutual goals including the success of the project.
We have already seen in Module 1 that EQ consists of five main elements, namely
self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and social skills. These
elements are difficult to test for, and are certainly not as “visible” as technical skills.
So that raises the question, “How important are each of these skills for team harmony
and success?”
2.1.1 Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to understand and interpret one’s own feelings through
internal reflection. The ability to be critical about thoughts and make changes to
behaviour can lead to an in-depth understanding about one’s self, which leads to a
better understanding of others. Self-awareness plays an important role in
interactions with colleagues and in the establishment of positive and productive
leadership and teamwork skills. Team members need to be aware of their feelings, so
that they do not allow uncontrolled emotions to impact on the dynamics and culture of
the team. Effective team members are self-confident, which is indicative of their own
emotional self-awareness, and ability to control their emotions.
2.1.2 Self-Regulation
Awareness of their emotions enables team members to practise self-regulation,
which is the ability to use emotions in a positive manner to facilitate the progress of
the task or project.
Being able to regulate emotions, especially during conflict, pressure, stress and
deadlines facilitates the smooth progress of the project and promotes positive,
effective working relationships with other team members and clients.
Goleman explains that handling emotions and putting the task first rather than
emotions aids in the attainment of the required goal.

Module 2
2.1.3 Motivation
Being able to motivate fellow team members into contributing their best is a very
powerful self-management tool for teams. Workers will only give their all if they feel
they are being supported, nurtured and inspired. Successful teamwork requires
intrinsic motivation, persistence and vision.
Team members are not only responsible for their own motivation, but are also play a
key role in motivating the team and colleagues.
Goleman says that motivation is an essential element of emotional intelligence,
which pushes us forward through the positive and negative aspects of working life by
showing initiative, perseverance and dedication, as well as being goal orientated,
focused and proactive.
2.1.4 Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognise or understand another's state of mind or
emotion. It is often characterised as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes",
or to experience the outlook or emotions of another being in some way. It can also be
described as an emotional kind of “mirroring”. Empathy is "I recognise how you feel."
The first step in becoming aware of what others are feeling and experiencing, which
is innate to emotional intelligence, is to be able to experience our own emotions. This
means we must be open to them and not distract ourselves from them or try to numb
ourselves from our feelings through drugs, alcohol, etc.
Next, we need to become aware of what we are actually feeling-- to acknowledge,
identify, and accept our feelings. Only then can we empathise with others. That is
one reason why it is so important to work on your own emotional awareness and
sensitivity; in other words, to be "in touch with" your feelings.
Empathy begins with awareness of another person's feelings. It would be easier to be
aware of other people's emotions if they would simply tell us how they felt.
Emotionally expressive people are easiest to read because their eyes and faces are
constantly letting us know how they are feeling. But unfortunately most people do
not, so we must resort to asking questions, reading between the lines, guessing, and
trying to interpret non-verbal cues.
Empathy should not be confused with sympathy or pity. Sympathy is a feeling of
compassion for another, the wish to see them better off or happier, often described
as "feeling sorry" for someone; "I'm sorry for your sadness, I wish to help." Pity is
feeling that others are in trouble and in need of help as they cannot fix their problems
themselves; "Things are bad for you, you seem as though you need help."
More fully developed empathy requires more than simply recognising another's
emotional state. Since emotions are typically directed towards objects or situations,
the empathiser may first require some idea of what that object might be (where object
can include imaginary objects, concepts, other people, or even the empathiser). The
empathiser may also need to determine how the emotional state affects the way in
which the other perceives the object.
The following sequence of examples identifies some of the major factors in
empathising with another:

Module 2
I sense that:
 Frank is feeling annoyed (via facial, vocal or postural expression).
 Frank is feeling annoyed due to not getting what he wants (general object of
emotion).
 Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train (particular object of
emotion)
 Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train, but only by a few
seconds (focus of particular object).
 Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train and he had an
important meeting to get to (background non-psychological context).
 Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train, and he had an
important meeting and because he is generally an irritable sort of person
(character traits).
Empathy is closely related to compassion. When we feel empathy for someone we
are getting emotional information about them and their situation. By collecting
information about other people's feelings, you get to know them better. As you get to
know others on an emotional level, you are likely to see similarities between your
feelings and theirs, and between your basic emotional needs and theirs. When you
realise that someone else's basic emotional needs are similar to yours, you are more
able to identify with them, relate to them and empathise with them.
It is interesting that at one year of age, infants already have some rudiments of
empathy, in the sense that they understand that, just like their own actions, other
people's actions have goals. Toddlers will comfort others or show concern for them
as early as 24 months of age. Also during the second year, toddlers will play games
of falsehood or "pretend" in an effort to fool others, and this requires that the child
know what others believe before he or she can manipulate those beliefs. According
to researchers, children between the ages of 7 and 12 appear to be naturally inclined
to feel empathy for others in pain.
Goleman says that empathy is understanding and interpreting colleagues’ feelings
and being able to identify with their feelings on issues through understanding their
perspective and cultivating rapport with people from different walks of life.
Empathic team members have an awareness of the diversity of personalities and are
accepting of the diversity of people and the impact culture can have on interactions
within a team environment. Empathy is the capacity to see the world from another
person’s perspective.
Empathetic maturity determines whether a person can feel or not feel empathy,
who one feels it for and how broad a group one feels it for. Empathetic maturity
provides the criteria for determining whether another will be experienced as "like me"
or "different."
There are three stages of empathetic maturity:
Stage 1 – This most primitive pattern and not common in adults. Persons at this
stage see others as fundamentally different from themselves.
Stage 2 – This person sees others like him or her as long as they make sense of
their world the same way. Therefore, positive regard for a person perceived to be
participating in negative behaviours is difficult for the Stage 2 person unless the

Module 2
behaviour is explicable from his or her point of view. An example of such negative
behaviour would be AIDS as the result of sex practices not condoned by the Stage 2
observer. If the Stage 2 person believes the sufferer is responsible for the behaviour,
he or she will have no empathy. If the Stage 2 person can detect an acceptable
reason why the sufferer is not actually responsible, for example, illness resulting from
a blood transfusion, beyond the sufferer's control, then empathy emerges. Most of
society operates at Stage 2.
Stage 3 – At this stage, the other is perceived as human in the same way the self is.
A hallmark of Stage 3 is a person's ability to perceive another empathetically while
simultaneously and without apparent contradiction perceiving that other as
responsible for problematic behaviour. The highest stage of empathetic maturity is
the one where all others are perceived as "like me."
2.1.5 Social Skills

Social skills are essential for the development of positive, effective relationships with
colleagues and the ability to interact with team members to avoid and manage
conflict by being aware of, easing and dissipating underlying tensions that can
accumulate and have a negative impact on working relationships and project
success. Team members need to be able to stimulate cooperation, collaboration and
teamwork through well-developed social skills.
2.2 Techniques for giving and receiving feedback

Feedback is information about performance. It might pertain to behaviour or to its
effects or to both. In any event, it has meaning only in the context of goals,
expectations, and perceptions. A person’s behaviour is his/her chief means of
achieving his/her goals. It is governed largely by the person’s expectations and
perceptions of its effects and consequences (which, over time, shape his/her
expectations). All that a person knows comes to him/her via his/her perceptions—
which might or might not be consistent with the perceptions of others. It’s important
for a leader to keep all this in mind when seeking, giving, or receiving feedback.
The golden rule when giving feedback to others is to avoid generalisations. Be
specific. Say, “You’ve been late three times this week”, rather than “You’re useless!
You’re always late!” Keep to the point and focus on one issue at a time.
Try to start your feedback session with something positive that the person has done,
without resorting to unnecessary flattery, or minimising the seriousness of whatever it
is you want him/her to correct. Remember to focus on the behaviour and do not
attack the person. Whatever you do, do not label or stereotype: “Typical
woman/man”, “You’re so childish”, etc.
Keep calm, especially if you have a tendency to get aggressive. Keep your voice
level and avoid threatening gestures.
An important part of your role as a leader is giving feedback to your team members
on their performance. Feedback is the link between the things you do and say and
understanding the impact of these on others. Feedback should be used to:
 Acknowledge what a team member has done well
 Assist a team member to improve

Module 2
It should never be used to criticise someone or to put him/her down in any manner.
Feedback is best given straight after the performance, event or activity.
Positive feedback means providing a person with praise or recognition for what was
done well. This feedback should be very specific, for example: “The skilful way in
which you encouraged the quieter members of the team to contribute to the meeting,
meant that everyone had an opportunity to contribute” and not general, e.g. “well
done.”
Constructive feedback means providing feedback in a caring and helpful manner,

aimed at helping the person to better develop his/her skills. Again, this type of
feedback should be specific, for example: “You may find that you will get a better
result if you include a benefits analysis in your research projects.”
Successful people in all walks of life actively seek feedback. They also recognise the
importance of giving feedback, but in a way that enhances performance and
relationships.
The following conditions are conducive to giving effective feedback:

 ENVIRONMENT
- Create the right opportunity.
- Create the right atmosphere.
 PROCEDURE
- Create the right process.
- Ensure that feedback is in person and face-to-face.
- Begin on a positive note – most people need encouragement and to
be told that they are doing something well.
- Focus on strengths rather than mistakes.
- Be specific.
- Refer to behaviour which can be changed.
- Reinforce feedback through evidence.
- Offer alternatives and suggestions.
- Always make sure that the feedback session ends on a positive note,
for example: “I have full confidence in you.”
 PERSONAL
- Think positive.
- Be direct: use “I” and “You”.
- Be sincere.
- Use words like “Nonetheless; Although; However;
Unfortunately.”

Module 2
Make use of the “sandwich” technique:

Diagram: The sandwich technique of giving feedback
+Positive A “good” message opens the receiver to genuine

communication, preventing him/her from switching off from what
might be seen as criticism.
- Constructive The constructive message is then delivered to effect

the improvement in behaviour
+ Positive The final “good” message sends the receiver away feeling
positive about the exchange
Ensure your feedback is constructive and let team members know:

 What the standards are;
 How they are doing;
 What they need to change in order to meet the standards;
 How long they have to improve; and
 What support they can expect from you, as their leader and/or
other role-players.
Accepting criticism
In the first moments when you realise that you are being criticised you will react the
same as everyone else. Your heart will beat faster, you skin temperature will go down
and you will even lose peripheral vision. Because you feel under attack, your first
instincts are to focus on that feeling, making it more intense. You will then feel like
withdrawing or retaliating. Just remember that both instinctual responses are the
same as saying, "I don't like your comments, therefore I will give you more power."
Attempt to do neither, as both fight and flight responses leave you with fewer options,
not more.
It is very difficult for most of us to accept criticism without feeling hurt or offended and
sometimes we will even do our utmost to avoid it, which we will do through passive or
ingratiating behaviour, being polite and trying to stay in people’s good books.
At other times we could react to criticism by retaliating with a counter-attack, which
usually escalates into a destructive mud-slinging match, which achieves nothing.
 Listen carefully to what the other person is saying about your behaviour.
 If s/he is being insulting about your person, tell him/ her that you understand
that s/he is angry, but you would prefer to hear about the behaviour.
 Take responsibility and be solutions-oriented.
 Aim for a win-win solution.
"AAA" Approach to Responding to Criticism15
15
From Handling Criticism With Honesty and Grace, by Kare Anderson

Module 2
Step One: Acknowledge

Acknowledge that you heard the person, with a pause (buys time for both to cool off),
nod, or verbal acknowledgment that demonstrates that you heard him/her. Whether
the criticism is "justified' or not, if you attempt to avoid discussing it, it will loom larger
in everyone's minds that heard it and stick to you like fly paper, as you attempt to
move on. Do not disagree or counter- attack. Prove that you have heard his/her
comment. Perhaps say "I understand you have a concern" rather than "You shouldn't
have. ..." ). Avoid blaming language such as "That's a lie" or "You don't know what
you are talking about." You will only escalate the criticism and harden the person into
their position so s/he will want to elaborate.
Step Two: Ask for More

Ask for more information so you both can cool off more and stay focused on the
issue, not the feelings or personalities. Go slow to go faster later in reaching
agreement about how to resolve the criticism. Try to "warm up" to the part of the
person you can respect - focus on it mentally and refer to it verbally: "You are so
dedicated" or "knowledgeable" or whatever their self-image is that leads them toward
making the criticism. The more fully the other person feels or hears, the more likely
that s/he will be receptive to your response, whether it is to agree or disagree.
Step Three: Add Your Own

Add your own, asking permission first. If you believe the comments are accurate,
then say so. If an apology is in order, give it sooner rather than later. Then say what
you plan to do differently to respond to the criticism. Ask for his/her response to your
comments and again thank the person for being thoughtful in offering them. The
sooner you verbally agree, if you find truth in the criticism, the more likely that you will
engender respect from the other person and any others who witness the interaction.
In fact, if you tell others who are important to that person that you were wrong and
appreciate his/her pointing it out to you, you will feel and appear more comfortable
with yourself. If, on the other hand, you disagree with the comments, say "May I tell
you my perspective?" This sets the other person up to give you permission to state
your view as you have been willing to listen to his/hers.
Class Activity 2: Analyse the Role of Emotional Intelligence in

Relationships

Module 3
Module 3
Analyse the Impact of EI on Interactions
After completing this module, the learner will be able to analyse the impact of
emotional intelligence on life and work interactions, by successfully completing the
following:
 Motivate the positive and negative impact of emotional intelligence through

examples on intrapersonal and interpersonal level
 Explain the consequences of applying emotional intelligence with reference to
examples from life and work situations

Module 3
Analysing the Impact of EI on Interactions

In a 1994 report on the state of emotional literacy in the U.S., author Daniel Goleman
stated:
“…in navigating our lives, it is our fears and envies, our rages and depressions, our
worries and anxieties that steer us day to day. Even the most academically brilliant
among us are vulnerable to being undone by unruly emotions. The price we pay for
emotional literacy is in failed marriages and troubled families, in stunted social and
work lives, in deteriorating physical health and mental anguish and, as a society, in
tragedies such as killings…”
3.1 Positive and negative impact of emotional intelligence

We have seen that emotional intelligence skills lead to positive interactions between
people. A study conducted by Joe Luca and Pina Tarricone16 showed that a lack of
emotional intelligence skills such as taking issues personally, not being aware of
others’ feelings and not controlling feelings directly contribute to a team becoming
dysfunctional.
The table below shows the positive and negative effects of applying or not applying
emotional intelligence skills:
Functional team Dysfunctional team
Team was aware of their emotions and the Team members seemed unaware of the
possible impact they could have on the team impact their behaviour had other team
members
Team members tried to sort out problems as When problems occurred teams members
soon as possible by trying to be aware of tended to take it personally
others problems Team-members didn’t predict that comments
would
upset others
Team was product focused, and regulated Team-members did not realise they had
their emotions upset peers, and didn’t seem to understand
the effect the negative impact the emotional
outburst had on the rest of the team
The team facilitated the smooth progress of Team members didn’t control their emotions
the project and promoted positive working well under pressure and reacted quickly to
relationships with team members to get the trivial situations
job done In communicating problems, team members
were overly emotional and personal
Team members respected different Team members considered others
personalities, cultures and sensitivities inadequacies as “downfalls” rather than
something they could help them with
The team felt that talking about The team did not communicate their feelings
problems to each other was a “healthy thing” or make allowances for different learning
The team felt that developing a healthy styles, which resulted in resentment and bad
working environment with good relationships feelings
was important.
They often socialised together
16
School of Communications and Multimedia, Edith Cowan University, Australia; retrieved from:
http://www.google.co.za/search?
hl=en&rlz=1T4GPCK_enZA323ZA323&q=positive+and+negative+impact+of+EQ&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq
=&gs_rfai=

Module 3
3.2 Consequences of applying emotional intelligence
Teamwork
Positive, effective interpersonal relationships are an important element of successful
teams. Emotional bonding that exists between team members has a profound effect
on the work produced and the overall success of the project. Teams that care about
each other at a personal and professional level are more likely to be successful than
teams that ignore the importance of the relationship between positive interpersonal
relationships, professional relationships and goal achievement.
Developing positive relationships where team members are aware of the impact their
emotions can play on the effectiveness and success of the team should be the aim of
each team member. A positive emotional climate should be developed so that all
energies can be focused on the attainment of mutual goals including the success of
the project.
In order to promote positive, progressive, effective working environments, team

members need to have a combination of technical knowledge and well-developed
emotional intelligence including self-awareness, empathy, social awareness and be
highly motivated and be able to inspire and motivate their colleagues.
Impact of EQ on the organisation’s bottom line

The following points, compiled by Cary Cherniss17, indicate how emotional
intelligence contributes to the bottom line in organisations. The information comes
from a variety of sources and makes the business case for the use of emotional
intelligence in your organisation:
 Optimism is an emotional competence that leads to increased productivity:
New salesmen at Met Life who scored high on a test of "learned optimism"
sold 37 percent more life insurance in their first two years than pessimists.
Martin Seligman18 developed the idea of “learned optimism”. It refers to what
people see as the causes of failure or setbacks in their lives. Optimists tend to
make specific, temporary, external causal attributions while pessimists make
global, permanent, internal attributions.
 A study of 130 executives found that how well people handled their own
emotions determined how much people around them preferred to deal with
them.
 In jobs of medium complexity (sales clerks, mechanics), a top performer is 12
times more productive than those at the bottom and 85 percent more
productive than an average performer. In the most complex jobs (insurance
salespeople, account managers), a top performer is 127 percent more
productive than an average performer. Competency research in over 200
companies and organisations worldwide suggests that about one-third of this
difference is due to technical skill and cognitive ability while two-thirds is due
17
Cherniss, 2000
18
Seligman, 2006

Module 3
to emotional competence.19 In top leadership positions, over four-fifths of the

difference is due to emotional competence.
 At L’Oreal, sales agents selected on the basis of certain emotional
competencies - including learned optimism - significantly outsold salespeople
selected using the company’s old selection procedure. On an annual basis,
salespeople selected on the basis of emotional competence sold $91,370
more than other salespeople did, for a net revenue increase of $2,558,360.
 Research by the Centre for Creative Leadership has found that the primary
causes of derailment in executives involve deficits in emotional competence.
The three primary ones are difficulty in handling change, not being able to
work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.
 After supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional
competencies, such as how to listen better and help employees resolve
problems on their own, lost-time accidents were reduced by 50 percent,
formal grievances were reduced from an average of 15 per year to 3 per
year and the plant exceeded productivity goals by $250,000. There was no
such increase in production for a group of matched supervisors who were not
trained.
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

Emotional intelligence is critical to effective leadership – especially at the top.
Research indicates that emotional competencies are more than twice as
important as intellect and technical ability when it comes to achieving
organisational excellence.
As most successful executives know, the higher up in the organisation they go,
the more apparent it becomes that the skills that propelled them to the next level
are not necessarily the skills they need when they get there.
While technical proficiency and high intellect are usually the building blocks that
launch successful careers, the data show that that's not what sustains them. In
his book, “Working with Emotional Intelligence”, Daniel Goleman cited research
indicating that 67% of all abilities essential for effective performance were
emotional competencies. When compared with IQ and technical expertise,
emotional factors mattered more than twice as much.
At the top executive levels, nearly 90% of success in leadership is attributable to
a high EQ. In an era when increases in profitability and production are tied to
leaders who can increase engagement, loyalty, collaboration and innovation, the
research shows a clear link to emotional intelligence.
We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-
personally inept, and we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success
does not automatically follow.
However, we must not be too simplistic: by itself emotional intelligence probably
is not a strong predictor of job performance. Rather, it provides the bedrock for
competencies that are important. Goleman makes a distinction between
emotional intelligence and emotional competence. Emotional competence refers
to the personal and social skills that lead to superior performance in the world of
work.
These emotional competencies are linked to and based on emotional intelligence.
A certain level of emotional intelligence is necessary to learn the emotional
19
Goleman, 1998

Module 3
competencies. For instance, the ability to recognise accurately what another

person is feeling enables one to develop a specific competency such as
influence. Similarly, people who are better able to regulate their emotions will
find it easier to develop a competency such as initiative or the drive for
achievement. Ultimately it is these social and emotional competencies that we
need to identify and measure if we want to be able to predict performance.
We must also bear in mind that it is possible to feel too much empathy, to the
point where you let someone else's moods affect you in an unhealthy way (for
example, in a co-dependent relationship.) Therefore, our innate emotional
sensitivity gives us the ability to feel empathy, but our emotional intelligence helps
us decide what to do when we feel empathy and what to do when someone else's
emotions threaten to overwhelm both us and them.
“There is such a strong correlation between leadership success and emotional
intelligence that focusing leaders’ efforts on the important aspects of EQ has
delivered truly outstanding results,” says Michael Pryke, founder of EQ Impact,
who now coaches business executives and organisational leaders.
Emotional competencies required of leaders

At the core of effective leadership is personal awareness, the essential pre-requisite
for emotional intelligence. Knowing oneself and being consciously aware of one’s
humanity is pivotal to the functioning of our knowing, thinking and feeling horizons.
A deep awareness of our identity and beliefs plus an understanding of their impact on
our perceptions is the primary driving force within every leader. It defines our very
existence and purpose in life and adds meaning to our self-image and values.
It provides the catalyst for the actualisation of our capabilities and competencies.
An enhanced degree of self-awareness is one of the most significant determinants of
leadership success.
The new-age leader needs to be people-oriented. Leaders who put strategy before
people invariably fail. The cover article in Fortune magazine’s June 1999 edition,
entitled “Why CEO’s Fail” highlights that successful CEO’s are those who are people-
oriented; they concentrate on trust-building behaviour, effective communication, and
people skills. This includes social skills such as assertiveness, conflict management
and building strong relationships.
Their emphasis on empathy, inspiration and motivation of their people, ahead of
traditional bottom-line drivers ensures their longevity as leaders as well as the
success of their organisations.
Leaders who fail to seek constant improvement soon become extinct. They must be
progressive. As champions of change, today’s leaders continuously inspire others to
challenge the obvious by promoting initiative and “out-of-the-box” thinking. Innovation
and experimentation are their credo. Being a change champion and challenging
people to move out of their comfort zones requires emotional courage. Whilst many
leaders might lack the flair of Sir Richard Branson, they share a common belief in the
promotion of change as a necessity for renewal and sustainability.
Successful leaders are persistent. They are resilient under pressure and quickly
recover from setbacks. Unlike many who would see misfortune and mistakes as
failure, they view them as powerful learning experiences. They actually welcome the
challenge of trying again and again; certain that they will ultimately be rewarded. This
persistence is visible and becomes infectious within their teams who, in turn, are
inspired to greater effort and energy.

Module 3
However, the persistent leader also knows when to back off, re-evaluate and apply
amended tactics as appropriate instead of expecting different results from persisting
with the same strategies.
The new leader is principled. Characterised by advanced levels of integrity,
emotionally intelligent leaders are truthful and trustworthy. Ever respectful of others at
every level, they acknowledge that principles are the building blocks of society. It is
common for them to expect their people to uphold similar principles and
uncompromising ethics in all their personal and business dealings. They believe
absolutely in trust: Tolerance, Respect, Unselfishness, Sincerity and Time.
The modern leader is insightful. S/he is mindful of the human aspects of plans,
knowing that their plans will have an impact on the behaviour and performance of
their people and therefore their willingness to implement the strategies.
No true leader leads from behind – a true leader knows the value of leading by
example and being participative. A leader’s willingness to share the load and
participate in activities with the team demonstrates that s/he is not above getting
his/her hands dirty. A participative leader embodies the principle of catching people
doing things right.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are present. These leaders are engaging and
attentive listeners. They display active patience when others are talking and
encourage contribution with their genuine show of interest. They are attentive and
acknowledge the input from their team members.
Today’s leaders display a passion for growth and development. They are
determined to develop both themselves and their staff. Furthermore, they become
actively involved in sharing their leadership talent by taking on the role of mentor to
emerging leaders within the organisation. The growing and mentoring of team
members has become recognised as one of the hallmarks of outstanding leadership.
Leaders with EQ are perceptive. They use all their senses to enquire at a deeper
level to ensure an intimate understanding of the real motives behind people’s actions
and behaviour, in order to be better equipped to respond to people with heightened
sensitivity and interpersonal awareness.
Being a powerful and compelling communicator helps people in organisations
understand and retain important information. The leader as presenter ensures that
team and organisational strategies are understood, bought into and implemented by
all participants.
Emotionally competent leaders are positive and recognise the importance of
optimism. Dr Martin Seligman provides conclusive evidence that optimistic
expectations lead to significantly enhanced performance and outcomes. As we saw
previously, having a positive outlook has provided a statistically measurable
improvement in the results for both individuals and teams.
Finally, emotionally intelligent leaders have purpose. Their visionary outlook ensures
that they and their team find meaning in their individual and combined efforts. Viktor
Frankl, the Austrian psychologist incarcerated at Auschwitz with his fellow Jews
recounts in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, that those who survived had
something significant yet to achieve – they had purpose. Today’s leaders touch the
lives of every single person on whom their leadership impacts.
Ongoing research into EQ continues to reinforce its enormous importance in all
aspects of human success. The correlation between EQ and leadership is now
focusing increasing attention on those factors which produce emotionally intelligent
leaders. The requisites for emotionally intelligent leadership discussed above provide
leaders with a road map to guide them along this journey.

Module 3
Class Activity 3: Analyse the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on

Interactions

Module 4
Module 4
Evaluate Own Level of EI for Development
After completing this module, the learner will be able to evaluate own level of
emotional intelligence in order to determine development areas, by successfully
completing the following:
 Analyse own responses to life and work situations in terms of the principles and
concepts of emotional intelligence
 Analyse strengths and weaknesses with reference to the concepts and principles
of emotional intelligence in order to identify development areas
 Describe techniques for improving own emotional intelligence in relation to
development areas identified

Module 4
Evaluating Own Level of EI for Development

Brains are highly variable, changing systems that shift in response to our experience.
We have the power to guide our brain’s ongoing development – to cultivate
happiness and compassion, or alternatively stay stuck in our patterns of thinking and
behaviour. We have choice, but in order to be able to make those choices, we have
to be aware of where we are and where we want to be.
4.1 Analyse own responses to life and work situations

“Most of us are not what we could be. We are less. We have great capacity. But most
of it is dormant; most is undeveloped. Improvement in thinking is like improvement in
basketball, in ballet, or in playing the saxophone. It is unlikely to take place in the
absence of a conscious commitment to learn. As long as we take our thinking for
granted, we don’t do the work required for improvement.”20
Changing one’s habits of thought and behaviour is a long-range project, happening
over years, not weeks or months, but we can make a start once we are aware of
deficiencies in our thinking and behaviour, and in this case we are referring
specifically to emotionally intelligent thinking and behaviour.
Observe your behaviour and responses over the next couple of weeks and measure
them according to Goleman’s five competencies:
 How well do you know your own emotions? What angers, upsets or makes
you happy?
 Manage your own emotions: do you let thing or people “get to you”?
 Motivating oneself: do you have self-restraint and emotional self-control,
delaying gratification and stifling impulsiveness?
 Recognising emotions in others: are you able to empathise with others and
sense their needs?
 Handling relationships: are you able to manage emotions in others?
4.2 Analyse strengths and weaknesses

An important personal development principle is that your weakest area will limit your
ability to take advantage of your strongest area. The various parts of our lives
(physical, mental, social, spiritual) are deeply interwoven, and we cannot simply
consider each part in isolation.
People often identify themselves with their strongest area: I’m an athlete (physical),
I’m a thinker (mental), I’m a party animal (social), I’m a Christian (spiritual), but then
they may fall into the trap of allowing their other areas to fall behind.
Some say that we should focus on building our strengths and just ignore our
weaknesses. The idea is that a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none.
While capitalising on your strengths is good advice, your ability to do that will largely
be determined by how you handle your weaknesses. An unintelligent,
unfocused athlete is unlikely to do as well as a clever, focused one. An anti-social
20
Retrieved from: http://www.criticalthinking.org/print-page.cfm?pageID=512

Module 4
athlete will miss out on the chance to be part of a team, and an athlete who
experiences spiritual chaos may lapse into drugs, steroid use, or immoral behaviour
that ultimately hurts his/her body.
Furthermore a strength-based outlook assumes that you love doing what you’re good
at. For the most part, this is true. People tend to like the things they succeed at.
People tend to dislike things they struggle with. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the
case. We all know people who were extremely good at jobs they hated. We also
know people who love activities they are challenged by. Should one stick with
something strictly because one is good at it? Raw talent isn’t enough to ensure a love
for what you do.
It’s tempting to continue working on our strengths while ignoring our weaknesses.
Our most important results will often come from our strengths. However, the best
way to improve those results is often to work on our weakest areas. This helps us in
two ways: first, by strengthening our weak areas, we prevent them from getting in
the way of our strengths. Secondly, if we take it far enough, we can turn those weak
areas into secondary strengths that augment our primary strength.
The biggest flaw of a strength-based philosophy is that it labels a person. Instead of
leaving him/her the possibility of being good at many things, s/he sticks with what
s/he knows. A better approach could be to bear strengths in mind, but put far more
weight on your passions. Before you ask yourself, “Am I good at this?” ask yourself
whether you actually care about it.
SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for identifying your Strengths and
Weaknesses, and for examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. Used in a
personal context, it helps you develop your personal and career goals in a way that
takes best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities.
A SWOT matrix is a framework for analysing your strengths and weaknesses, and
the opportunities and threats you face. This helps you to focus on your strengths,
minimise weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities
available.
What makes SWOT particularly powerful is that with a little thought, it can help you
uncover opportunities that you are well placed to take advantage of and by
understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that would
otherwise catch you unawares.
In terms of your role as a leader, knowing your strengths and how to utilise them for
the good of all and being honest and aware of your weaknesses will give you the
emotional competence to lead your team in an authentic and emotionally intelligent
manner.

Module 4
To carry out a SWOT Analysis, draw a diagram like the one below and then answer
the questions in each of the quadrants:
Diagram: SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Weaknesses:
 What advantages (for example,  What could you improve?
skills, education or connections)  What should you avoid?
do you have that others don't
have?  What things are the people
around you likely to see as
 What do you do better than weaknesses?
anyone else?
 What personal resources do you
have access to?
 What do other people (and your
manager in particular) see as
your strengths?
Opportunities: Threats:
 Where are the good opportunities  What obstacles do you face?
facing you?
 What are the people around you
 What are the interesting trends doing?
you are aware of?
 Is your job (or the demand for the
things you do) changing?
 Is changing technology
threatening your position?
 Could any of your weaknesses
seriously threaten you?
Strengths:
Consider your strengths from your own perspective, and from the point of view of the
people around you. Don't be modest; be as objective as you can. If you are having
any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your characteristics. Some of these
will hopefully be strengths!
In looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to the people around you -
for example, if you're a great mathematician and the people around you are great at
maths, then this is not likely to be a strength in your current role, it is likely to be a
necessity.
Weaknesses:
Again, consider this from a personal and external point of view: Do other people
perceive weaknesses that you do not see? Do co-workers consistently out-perform
you in key areas? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as
soon as possible.
Opportunities and threats:
Both opportunities and threats can come from such things as:
 Changes in technology, markets and your company on both a broad and
narrow scale

Module 4
 Changes in government policy related to your field

 Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
 Local Events
 Changes in your personal circumstances
A useful approach to looking at opportunities is also to look at your strengths and ask
yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your
weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating
them.
Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out what
needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective
4.3 Techniques for improving own emotional intelligence
Self-talk
Our thoughts are so powerful we can become who we think we are. In other words,
we become what we believe we will become…
If there is one thing we can control, it is our thoughts.
The first person we communicate with is ourselves. What we say to ourselves
eventually gets communicated to others through our words, gestures and behaviour.
Our thinking determines what we say about ourselves. Words determine our attitude.
The choice is yours: whether you use your thoughts to be constructive or destructive
and what the ultimate result of your life will be.
The words you speak about yourself and your circumstances can literally change
things. If you get up in the morning and say, “today is going to be a great day”,
negative things do not seem so bad. But if you get up and say, “today is a terrible
day”, then negative things seem really bad, and good things seem bad too. Your
words become labels that you apply to your thoughts.
In order to make these positive or negative choices, you need to be in touch with
your own feelings: find time to be alone, know yourself and write down your thoughts.
Do not deny your feelings ... recognise that feelings are not sins. Where needed,
share your feelings with others. However, sharing with others does not mean total
honesty in sharing all your thoughts and feelings on any subject or person. Know the
maturity level of your potential confidant: can he or she handle what you will be
sharing? Exercise caution in revealing feelings or facts that may hurt others
Do not allow your feelings to dictate your behaviour. Set your own criteria on what
you should and should not do (based on your core principles and values). It is
important to establish principles beforehand as to what to do when caught in difficult
situations because emotions may dominate your being and rational thoughts go out
the window.
Over the next 7 days make a note when you think negative thoughts and try to make
them positive thoughts and see what happens.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can decide how to react to things:

Module 4
 The words you speak about yourself and your circumstances can change
things: they can make the difference between success and defeat.
 Words determine your attitude. Words “programme” your heart for either
success or defeat. Little by little you can change things in your life, which will
change your future. Positive words can turn you in another direction.
 We cannot change the past, but we can do much about the future. People
are always waiting and hoping that someone else will come along and do
something to improve their lives. These people will be waiting in vain. But
people who decide to act and tackle their problems will achieve success.
 There are two types of people: The dreamers and the doers. Most of us feel
frustrated about the situation we find ourselves in, but do not do anything to
improve our lives.
 We may not be able to control the things that happen to us, but we have a
choice in how we deal with them.
 It is always quite easy to tell other people what they should do to solve their
problems, but when it comes to our problems, it is not that easy.
 When you blame someone else for your failures, you are not taking
responsibility for your own choices. It is very easy to blame someone else for
your mistakes. Unfortunately this won’t help you solve your own problems.
Reframing: re-viewing and re-labelling
 We all seem to deal with suffering in our own unique way. Some people
become very upset and then move on as if it never happened. Others
withdraw, become more cautious or even paralysed by the events. And others
seem to thrive on what we would call suffering, seeing each pain as a
challenge or someone to fight.
 Think about it for a moment: Just how do you deal with suffering? Do you like
your friends to console you? Furiously throw yourself into some activity? ‘Not
think of it’ by shutting out any thoughts about it?
 And how did you evolve your way of handling emotional pain? Most of us
have a preferred way of coping with pain; one that evolved in an ad-hoc
manner.
 One technique we can use to deal with pain is to change the labels on the
suffering. Generally, we tend to put our memories into the broad categories of
pain or pleasure. We can diffuse a lot of our past pain by honestly looking at
our categories and seeing can they be re-labelled.
 For example, let’s say you are working with a computer and it crashes,
destroying your day’s work. How do you label the pain? Do you give it a
destructive label like “I’m no good with computers?” Or a constructive one
like, “I never realised that; I will save my work more often”?
 The pain your have experienced in the past can be re-labelled or re-viewed or
‘reframed’ as a valuable lesson or opportunity to grow and extend yourself. It
can endow us with the nicest qualities of caring and compassion for our fellow
sufferers, which, of course, refers to all of humanity.
Different Perspectives
In this technique you mentally review (or preview) a situation from a number of
different standpoints in order to enrich your appreciation of what is involved.
This technique:
 Enables you to think more flexibly and creatively.

Module 4
 Improves your understanding of other people.

 Provides an opportunity to stand back and consider issues dispassionately
 Helps you appreciate the influence of your verbal and non-verbal behaviour
on others, and the influence of their behaviour on you.
Use it to review an interaction with another person - or to prepare for a forthcoming
one.
Do two rounds. The first round provides insights into the current situation. The
second round enables you to benefit from the insights gained in the first round - while
mentally 'wiring in' the learning.
Round 1:
1st Perspective
See the situation through your own eyes. You are primarily aware of your own
thoughts and feelings. This enables you to consider your own needs.
2nd Perspective
Imagine what it is like to be the other person. Put yourself in his/her shoes - as if you
are looking back at yourself, seeing, hearing, and feeling as the other person.
3rd Perspective
Take a detached viewpoint. Imagine you are looking at yourself and the other person
'over there' - seeing the two of them speaking, gesturing, etc. Pay particular attention
to non-verbal behaviour such as the body language and the sound of their voices.
Then consider, as a result of taking this view, what advice you wish to give 'yourself'
about how you are handling the situation.
Round 2:
Now repeat the process using the advice/learning from the first round. Run through it
with the new behaviours - first as yourself, then as the other person, and finally the
detached view.
Finally, think of up-coming events in which these insights may be useful. Mentally run
through these while imagining that you are incorporating your new learning.
Class Activity 4: Evaluate Own Level of Emotional Intelligence for

Development
Reflection
Individually, complete the formative activity in your Learner Workbook

Module 4
Facilitator Observation Checklist

The facilitator will provide you with feedback about your participation
during the class activities in your Learner Workbook

Module 4
Summative Assessment
You are required to complete a number of summative assessment activities in your
Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide. The Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide will
guide you as to what you are required to do:
 Complete all the required administration documents and submit all the
required documentation, such as a certified copy of your ID, a copy of your
CV and relevant certificates of achievement:
 Learner personal information form
 Pre-assessment preparation sheet
 Assessment plan document
 Declaration of authenticity form
 Appeals procedure declaration form
 Place your complete Learner Workbook (with the completed Class Activities)
in the specified place in the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide.
 Complete the summative assessment activities in your workplace:
Knowledge Questions
Individually, complete this summative activity in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide
Practical Activities
Evidence Guide
Witness Testimony
Evidence Guide
Logbook
Evidence Guide
Once you have completed all the summative activities in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide, complete the Assessment Activities Checklist to ensure that you
have submitted all the required evidence for your portfolio, before submitting your
portfolio for assessment.

References
References and Further Reading

 Bacal, R. 2000.The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handling Difficult Employees.
 Charney, Cyril.2000. The Instant Manager. Durban: Zebra Press
 Cherniss, Gary. 2000. Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters.
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, New Orleans, LA
 Drucker, Peter F. 1963. The Practice of Management. Mercury Books
 Erasmus-Kritzinger, L.E., Albin Bowler & Donovan Goliath. 2003. Effective
Communication. Afritech.
 Herzberg, F. 1968, "One more time: how do you motivate employees?"
Harvard Business Review, vol. 46, iss. 1, pp. 53-62.
 Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T. 1987. Learning Together and Alone,
Cooperative, Competitive, & Individualistic Learning. 2nd ed., Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 Jude, Brian, Dr. 1998. The Psychology of Customer Service. Durban: Zebra
Press.
 Korf, Elmarie. 2003. Office Practice NSC. Lexicon Publishers
 Manning, Anthony D. 1989. World Class! Strategies for winning with your
customer. Juta & Co. Ltd.
 McClelland, D. 1985. Human Motivation. CUP Archive
 McGregor, D. 1960. The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill
 Navarro, J. 2008. What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to
Speed-Reading People. HarperCollins
 Rosenberg, Morris. 1989. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Revised
edition. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press
 Scher, Marion. 1996. Business Manners in South Africa. Francolin Publishers
Pty. Ltd.
 Seligman, M. 2006. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your
Life. NY: Pocket Books
 Sewell, Carl & Paul B. Brown. 1998. Customers for life. Pocket Books.
 Time-Life Books. Communicate with confidence.
 University of Wisconsin website
 www.eqi.org
 http://www.criticalthinking.org/print-page.cfm?pageID=512

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Learner Guide

Apply the principles

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Programme entry level requirements

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Both formative and summative assessment is used as part of this outcomes-based

Learning map (delivery structure)

notional learning 12 hours 0 hour 20 hours 8 hours

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 Explain the principles of emotional intelligence with reference to examples from

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Understanding Emotional Intelligence

1.1 The principles of emotional intelligence

The psychometrician Robert Thorndike (1910-1990) was already writing about

As early as 1940 Wechsler referred to “non-intellective” as well as “intellective”

By intrapersonal intelligence he meant our cognitive ability to understand and

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in how we "notice distinction among others; in particular, contrasts in their moods,

An example of this research on the limits of IQ as a predictor is the Sommerville

Another good example is a study of 80 Ph.D.’s in science who underwent a battery of

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to get admitted to a graduate science programme at an institution like Berkeley. Once

Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a way to measure how a person recognizes emotions in

According to Goleman, the essential premise of EQ is the following: to be

EQ therefore embraces two aspects of intelligence:

 Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, and behaviour;

Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as:

1. Knowing one's emotions, which is fundamental to emotional intelligence:

3. Motivating oneself: people without emotional intelligence lack self-restraint

4. Recognising emotions in others: emotional self-awareness is the first step to

5. Handling relationships: the art of relating to others includes the skill of

By developing our Emotional Intelligence we can become more productive and

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1.2 The concepts of emotional intelligence

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Our sense of self is socially constructed in interaction, based on people's shared

According to Rosenberg6, our self-esteem relies on two factors:

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Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk

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internal dramas and unknown beliefs, allowing unknown thought processes to

How do we become more self-aware? When we want reliable information, we turn to

1.2.5 The Johari window8

Open/ free area Blind area

Hidden area Unknown area

Johari quadrant 1 - 'open self/area' or 'free area' or 'public area', or 'arena'

Johari quadrant 2 - 'blind self' or 'blind area' or 'blind spot'

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Johari quadrant 3 - 'hidden self' or 'hidden area' or 'avoided self' or 'facade'

Johari quadrant 4 - 'unknown self' or 'area of unknown activity' or 'unknown

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The first example is particularly relevant and common, especially in typical

Implications of the Johari window for teams and leaders:

Open/ free area 2.

Hidden area Unknown area

Diagram 3: Johari window with open area expanded vertically

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Open/ free area Blind area

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Example: a new team member or a member within a new team