Nadeem’s commitment to developing the people-side of performance began when he worked in Sales and Marketing across different sectors within the service industry.  After 6 years as a trainer and consultant, he became increasingly committed to the core skills of emotional intelligence as “the difference that makes the difference” in performance.  His Noble Goal is “To influence people positively towards healthy and fruitful living” and he is committed to living his life as a role-model manifesting the principles of emotional intelligence.

Having worked for about 9 years in the Marketing and Management fields, Souhair found out that her real calling in life lies in helping and empowering people. Her noble goal is “To passionately foster inspirational support and empowerment.” In order to live this noble goal, she did a career shift from Marketing to soft skills training and coaching. She became passionate about EQ after attending a short workshop in Jordan and reading a number of EQ books and then joining Six Seconds’ programs in the region.

The new office is in line with Six Seconds commitment to spread the transformational skills of EQ into even more places in the world, and specifically expand in the Middle East region.  The Jordan office brings group of highly prestigious and certified Arabic speaking professionals to its pool of certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) practitioners which incorporates more than 3,000 members worldwide.   The timing is perfect with the momentum and growth Human Capital Development is witnessing in Jordan and the Middle East area and the need to build stronger, healthier, and more prosperous communities, businesses, families, and nations in the region and beyond.

With the global economic slowdown, Jordan’s GDP growth has suffered and foreign assistance to the government in 2009 dropped; slowing down the government’s efforts to control the large budget deficit. Jordan is mainly a services based economy where services consist of more than 65% of total GDP. This means that Jordan’s Human Capital represents a major asset and has a direct impact on the economic growth in the country.  In introducing EQ to Jordan, Six Seconds Jordan team is committed  to carry out a positive role in developing the skills and capabilities of the employees of various development sectors, and apply up-to-date training and consulting methods to meet the needs and wants of the different organizations in the private and public sectors.

As Nadeem put it: “We feel elated and proud to have been chosen to represent the Six Seconds network in Jordan.  It gives us great pleasure to launch Six Seconds’ unique Emotional Intelligence (EQ) training and consulting services, and become a real contributor to the latest research and development in this arena.”

For press coverage of the launch, see AME Info (English) or Al Malaf (Arabic)

The EQ certification training and event schedule for the rest of 2010 has been updated, including:

• SEI Certification – Virtual Classroom (Online, Sept)
• Schedule and details for the Living EQ Conference (California – October)
• EQ Certification (Amman, October)
• Advanced Trainer, SEI, and EQ Certification courses (Singapore and KL – Nov)
• EQ Leader Certification (Dubai – Dec)
• SEI Coach Certification (California – Dec)
• Plus events in the Middle East for March, 2011

Over the years doctors have been saying, “you’re on the high end of normal, one of these days you’re going to have to deal with this”. In my fantasy, “one of these days” was not coming any time soon.
Since then, I’ve managed to exercise 30 of the last 34 days. It’s not so awful doing it, but thinking about it has been frustrating. Especially at the beginning, I felt trapped and powerless. I’m thinking of exercise as a punishment — how much time will I have to serve before I can go back to living how I want?

So while I’ve been successful at initiating some of the right actions, I haven’t fully addressed the emotional challenge. By force of will I can make myself exercise. I can say, “exercise or die. Let’s go,” and I get on Nordic Track. But internally it’s a battle, and that means I’m making myself a victim instead of a warrior, and it’s not a sustainable model.

At 3 and a half, my son can surely relate. He is somewhat indignant that he can’t do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to — and he makes it unpleasant for those of us who attempt to direct him otherwise.

It’s like the same thing in my head. On the one hand, I know all these benefits of exercising. I like the feeling afterwards, I like sleeping better, I like having more energy. I don’t like not being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want — so I throw these little tantrums.

Just like with Max’s tantrums, it was a great relief for me to realize I could just ignore mine. I could just say, “Go ahead and pout — I’m doing it anyway!” and get skiing. But also like trying to ignore Max’s tantrums, this is an energy drain.

When I am in the “exercise or die” mode, I am saying, “I don’t have a choice.” I’m coloring the experience with resentment and frustration. Not only does this make it less pleasant, it also makes it less sustainable.

Emotions are signals. At the most basic level, pleasant emotions mean “do this more,” and unpleasant feelings mean, “do this less.” If exercise is loaded with “yuck,” then even if I intellectually know I should, I won’t actually want to.

So how do I shift from yuck to yea? How do I go from “exercise or die” to “exercise and live!”?

I’m using several strategies:

• Questioning the underlying assumptions
• Accessing useful feelings
• Focusing on the larger purpose

Questioning the Underlying Assumptions

Questioning the underlying assumptions is about challenging my own thinking and feeling. I’ve “gone up the ladder of inference” to come to a conclusion that exercise is yucky. According to a cognitive therapeutic model, this belief is creating an emotional reaction. While the EQ perspective is that thoughts and feelings create each other, it’s still quite useful to me to examine these beliefs and the feelings connected with them.

So I can ask myself questions. For example, “What would I have to give up in order to feel that exercise is fun?” I’d have to give up 20 years of practice saying it’s yucky. I’d have to admit my mom might have been right all these years. I’d have to give up believing that taking care of my physical self is vain and superficial.

I’ve developed certain patterns and feelings about exercise (for example, “When I think I don’t have a choice, I feel resentful and run away.”). Understanding gives me a baseline for making a change, and it gives me important data about my reactions. When I get into one of my patterns I can recognize it and redirect it rather than being driven by it. It’s also helpful to know what I need to re-choose — for example, knowing these kinds of reactions has led me to get additional support that will, I hope, help make the change stick.

Accessing Useful Feelings

Accessing useful feelings is about using my emotions intentionally. We all have multiple feelings at any time. Even in the midst of feeling frustrated when I tell myself I have to exercise, I also feel proud that I’m sticking to this. By shifting my attention to the pride, to the satisfaction, to the celebration, I re-color this experience as something positive, creating an attractive experience.

It’s easy to do this, it just takes continuous reinforcement. So this morning when I had done one kilometer on the Nordic Track and was starting to feel grumpy, I shifted my attention to the accomplishment. I literally felt a burst of pride washing over me. This intentional use of feelings reinforces the change I’m trying to make.

Focusing on the Larger Purpose

Finally, focusing on the larger purpose makes both of the first two manageable. I want to be healthy because I love my family and want to be “alive and kicking” when (if) grandkids come along. I want to be healthy because I have important work I’m trying to do in the world — and it takes a lot of energy to do it! As my friend Liz says, this body is the vehicle for “doing the work” in my family and career, and while I’m riding here, I better take care of it! Why? Not because I “have to,” but because I care deeply about where I’m trying to go.

If I really mean it, if these larger purposes are deeply meaningful, then they will energize and drive me. Bringing meaning to the mundane, this awareness shifts my feeling and my thinking and transforms my behavior. It also changes the way I experience the daily activity. Instead of toil, exercise is about serving what’s best and most important in my life.

I’m pleased to say that since I began this article, I am feeling more positive and engaged in being healthy. It continues to be difficult to stay out of the old patterns, and it’s definitely an effort to exercise, but I’m fairly happy with the process.

It’s also good to see the Six Seconds’ model at work in my life. Our “Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, Give Yourself” model is about applying emotional intelligence to help people get better results in their lives and work.

Questioning the Underlying Assumptions is part of “Know Yourself” — increasing awareness of feelings and patterns.

Accessing Useful Feelings is key to “Choose Yourself” — re-evaluating and intentionally directing daily feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Focusing on the Larger Purpose is the cornerstone of “Give Yourself” — living intentionally and consciously to bring out the best we each have to offer.

So I encourage you to look at these three pillars as you consider a change in your own work or life — and if you’re working to get healthy, I hope you’ll tell me how you’re managing the emotional side!

Many years ago, one of my university professors mentioned that “windowsill” was voted the most beautiful word in the English language. Being an armchair linguist, this factoid naturally stayed with me. Words have enormous power. They can make us erupt into laughter or bring tears to our eyes. They can influence, inspire, manipulate and shock. They can build and destroy. Some words have different effects on different people. One such word is humility. It is one of those words that are seldom in neutral gear. Some, like me, love the word and all it stands for. Some almost fear it and interpret it synonymously with lack of self-confidence or timidity.

The dictionary defines humility as someone who is modest, who lacks pretense, someone who does not believe that he or she is superior to others. An ancillary definition includes: “Having a lowly opinion of oneself, meekness.” The word humility first struck me in the context of leadership when Jim Collins mentioned it in his seminal work Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t.[1] In this book, Collins examined companies that went from good to great by sustaining 15-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market, and after a transition point, cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next 15 years. Among the many characteristics that distinguished these companies from others is that they all had a Level 5 leader. Level 5 leaders direct their ego away from themselves to the larger goal of leading their company to greatness. These leaders are a complex, paradoxical mix of intense professional will and extreme personal humility. They will create superb results but shun public adulation, and are never boastful. They are described as modest. An example of such a leader who epitomized humility is David Packard, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, who, in Jim Collins’ words, defined himself as a HP man first and a CEO second. He was a man of the people, practicing management by walking around. Shunning all manner of publicity, Packard is quoted as saying: “You shouldn’t gloat about anything you’ve done; you ought to keep going and find something better to do.”

Another great leader is the CEO of Enbridge, Patrick Daniel, who espouses two leadership attributes: determination to create results and humility, shifting the focus away from himself and continually recognizing the contributions of others: “I have learned through the lives of great leaders,” he said, “that greatness comes from humility and being at times, self-effacing.”[2]

Clearly these leaders, and many others like them, don’t espouse the meaning of humility as “meek.” On the contrary, it is a source of their strength. But the notion of being self-effacing is one that we struggle with in our competitive culture, prescribing that we take every opportunity to toot our own horn, and that we don’t dare leave the house without our dynamic elevator speech all rehearsed. We often confuse humility with timidity. Humility is not clothing ourselves in an attitude of self-abasement or self-denigration. Humility is all about maintaining our pride about who we are, about our achievements, about our worth — but without arrogance — it is the antithesis of hubris, that excessive, arrogant pride which often leads to the derailment of some corporate heroes, as it does with the downfall of the tragic hero in Greek drama. It’s about a quiet confidence without the need for a meretricious selling of our wares. It’s about being content to let others discover the layers of our talents without having to boast about them. It’s a lack of arrogance, not a lack of aggressiveness in the pursuit of achievement.

An interesting dichotomy is that, often, the higher people rise, the more they have accomplished, the higher the humility index. Those who achieve the most, brag the least and the more secure they are in themselves, the more humble they are. “True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.”[3] We have all come across people like that and feel admiration for them.

There is also an understated humility of every day people we work with who have the ability to get the job done without drawing attention to themselves. Witness the employee who is working at his computer into the late hours, purely motivated by a keen sense of duty, the executive assistant who stays after 5:30 p.m. on a Friday night in an empty office to await a courier, or the manager who quietly cancels an important personal event to fly out of town to attend to the company’s business. This is akin to the philanthropist who gives an anonymous donation.

Humility is also a meta-virtue. It crosses into an array of principles. For example, we can safely declare that there cannot be authenticity without humility. Why? Because, there is always a time in a leader’s journey, when one will be in a situation of not having all the answers. Admitting this and seeking others’ input requires some humility.

Another mark of a leader who practices humility is his or her treatment of others. Such leaders treat everyone with respect regardless of position. Years ago, I came across this reference: the sign of a gentleman is how he treats those who can be of absolutely no use to him.

Something interesting happens, too, when we approach situations from a perspective of humility: it opens us up to possibilities, as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over protecting our point of view. We spend more time in that wonderful space of the beginner’s mind, willing to learn from what others have to offer. We move away from pushing into allowing, from insecure to secure, from seeking approval to seeking enlightenment. We forget about being perfect and we enjoy being in the moment.

Here are a few suggestions on practicing humility:

1. There are times when swallowing one’s pride is particularly difficult and any intentions of humility fly out the window as we get engaged in a contest of perfection, each side seeking to look good. If you find yourself in such no-win situations, consider developing some strategies to ensure that the circumstances don’t lead you to lose your grace. Try this sometimes: just stop talking and allow the other person to be in the limelight. There is something very liberating in this strategy.
2. Here are three magical words that will produce more peace of mind than a week at an expensive retreat: “You are right.”
3. Catch yourself if you benignly slip into over preaching or coaching without permission — is zeal to impose your point of view overtaking discretion? Is your correction of others reflective of your own needs?
4. Seek others’ input on how you are showing up in your leadership path. Ask: “how am I doing?” It takes humility to ask such a question. And even more humility to consider the answer.
5. Encourage the practice of humility in your company through your own example: every time you share credit for successes with others, you reinforce the ethos for your constituents. Consider mentoring or coaching emerging leaders on this key attribute of leadership.

There are many benefits to practicing humility, to being in a state of non-pretence: it improves relationships across all levels, it reduces anxiety, it encourages more openness and paradoxically, it enhances one’s self-confidence. It opens a window to a higher self. For me, it replaces “windowsill” as the most beautiful word in the English language.

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This article is now an excerpt from Bruna Martinuzzi’s book: The Leader as a Mensch: Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow,  which you can order from the EQ Store.

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Notes:

[1] See also Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) (Digital)

[2] Pat Daniel, An Authentic Voice. The Conference Board of Canada

[3] Edward Frederick Halifax

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About the Author:

Bruna Martinuzzi is the President and Founder of Clarion Enterprises Ltd., a company that specializes in emotional intelligence, leadership and presentation skills training.

Copyright © 2006 by Bruna Martinuzzi. All Rights Reserved, reprinted on www.6seconds.org by permission.  This article first appeared on 6seconds.org on 11/28/2006

In those times we have a choice — to be protected, isolated, and numb vs vulnerable, open, and vibrant.  While the latter sounds more obviously rich, it’s not a trivial risk.  When we “know” that the world is dangerous and people are “going to” hurt us, vulnerability isn’t an easy choice.

The paradox is that no matter how sharp the spikes nor high the walls, we’ll never be safe that way.  And, even more surprising – even miraculous – is that softening, opening, accepting… walking into the fires of vulnerability we actually find the deeper safety that we crave.

What’s the first step?

Emotions don’t always give us “accurate” information about our environment but if we learn to use this unique internal software, we can benefit from our emotional data.  Through trial and error, we can learn our personal “program.”  We can repair any “faulty wiring” and analyze the emotional reports generated moment by moment.  Then we can use our emotions as an internal GPS—a guide through the dizzying array of choices we face everyday.

This week, on two different occasions, I was uncharacteristically outraged.  As I thought about each event, I realized that my anger was recurring –and growing.

My short fuse shows me that my choices aren’t working.  In one case, I’ve found myself fuming after a prospective buyer is a ½ hour late for a showing of our home.  Why such an over-reaction?  It “shouldn’t be” such a big deal.  Then I realize that after a year of showing the house, I’ve become more frazzled and frustrated with the endless trials of selling a house.  My emotions tell me, “Enough!   It is time to give up (for now).”

My other challenge is a relationship.  I’ve tried to “make it work” but my reactions give me another message.  I’m not weathering minor conflicts well.  Each small struggle seems huge to me.  I’m quick to feel outrage, to sulk, or brood over an injustice that, in other situations, I’d barely notice.  When I think of ending our contact, my anger subsides and I immediately feel calm.   I may argue that I “shouldn’t” let this friendship end.  Maybe I “shouldn’t.”  But if I’ve worked through my psychological blind spots (an ongoing task), my current emotions may discern more about a situation than I (as yet) consciously understand.  It may be months or years before I finally comprehend what my unconscious emotional self knew all along.

I don’t like being angry. (Who does?) Rage is murder on the immune system and people don’t like a furious person.  But anger gets my attention.  It’s like a good friend who will tell me the truth, even when I don’t want to hear it.

All emotions send us daily data that we can use for better living.  Are you utilizing the messages of your emotions–your internal GPS?

To initiate the project, Gambro Dasco’s Human Resources Manager, Sara Boldrini needed to secure funding for the effort, so the HR department became the nucleus to internally direct and promote the project. With their depth of understanding of the project’s financial and development needs, the Adecco Management School became a partner. Finally Six Seconds, the premier Emotional Intelligence network and training source, was asked to participate in all phases of the project.

PLANNING

The project’s planning and design resulted from the synergistic expertise of these three organizations.  Two parallel tracks emerged from a needs analysis; first was the necessity to work with individual managers to increase management skills and second was to create a team within the manager’s section.

A six-month development plan was designed to achieve these two goals, including:

1. four days of weekly class work;
2. three individual meetings specifically geared towards coaching and EQ skills assessment;
3. one outdoor training day; and
4. one day for follow up.

Classroom content was geared towards leadership, people skills and change adaptation.

Coaching focused on individual development. To address individual development, coaches and trainees (team leaders) designed a plan to address the trainee’s skills and vulnerabilities. In order to gain some measurement of progress these coaching sessions were developed as a complement to the classroom content.

The objective for the outdoor training was to create a team from a heterogeneous work force – and while not everyone knew one-another, a key goal was the acknowledgment of some long rooted company culture, e.g. how the firm’s top leaders impacted staff dynamics. Participants were divided into three subgroups for the outdoor training.  Each participant was also assigned an individual coach to increase the effectiveness of the trainees’ EQ skills.

RESULTS

The results of the project were surprisingly positive; in a little over four months, many of the initial objectives were reached.  Improvements included:

1. Assisting staff growth from executive professionals to more intentional leaders (sequential thought improved more than 19%).
2. Increasing participants’ awareness of their skills and vulnerabilities (self awareness has increased over 6%, with 10% increase on one of Six Seconds’ eight competencies: “Enhance Emotional Literacy”).
3. Enhancing communication and relationship skills so that new team members are enveloped with trust (the competency of “Increase Empathy” from the Six Seconds Model improved 5%).

As the Gambro Dasco Human Resources Manager, Sara Boldrini knows the difficulties encountered during the project as well as future expectations.  Ms. Boldrini states, “We are living in a phase of evolution and major change in which the proper use of emotions, the appropriate channeling of creativity and the ability to go beyond the set norm by  fusing approaches are key elements for today’s managers and for those who are first time team leaders.”

The project taught participants the very real possibility of integrating skills which offered intentional connection with people in every area of their lives.  Ms. Boldrini continues, “The enthusiasm and satisfaction that new leaders have for the skills they have learned must be nourished and cultivated; this is a challenge to all of us – ours as well as theirs to keep learning, to remain flexible and to continue to change.”

CONCLUSION

The positive experience of the Gambro Dasco staff demonstrates that an intergrated development program creates value in terms of people management.  Blending vital tools, coaching, and hands on learning fosters effective leadership.

In particular, the project succeeded by initiating a noticeable impact on the participants’ effectiveness in relationships, critical thinking management, and team motivation. Team responsiveness was increased and the internal climate is promoting an ongoing exchange of knowledge among the participants.

Massimiliano Ghini, Regional Director of Six Seconds Europe, and Joshua Freedman, Six Seconds’ COO, opened the conference with a keynote on change.  Max highlighted the growing pressure of stress created by a changing economy and the need to change the game.  He introduced the Stress Audit, a consulting process to diagnose organizational stress and identify key areas for improvement.  Then he offered a vision of another way to change the game through Six Seconds’ current corporate social responsibility campaign to increase parents’ awareness and skills in EQ.  Freedman closed the session with a presentation about the power of purpose as a catalyst for transformation:  “When we confront a problem and move from ‘this is awful’ to ‘what can I do?’ we begin an emotional transition that unlocks incredible human power.”

A few pictures:

The thriving network in Italy is testament to the incredible work of the team there and the shared vision of an emotionally intelligent community.

Six Seconds Italy provides consulting, training, and tools to improve the people-side of organizational performance — and supports the development of an emotionally intelligent society through corporate social responsibility efforts bringing EQ skills to children and families in Italy and around the globe.

You know – that state when you put out the fire before it’s a raging inferno?

Or maybe even take the matches and paper away from your colleague before he starts the blaze?

Seriously though — we all are faced with piles of work, but some of us (not usually me) manage to look ahead, see emerging issues and handle them gracefully.  Others of us wait ’till the challenges are in our faces.  On the survey, there were a lot of comments about leaders missing simple opportunities to address people-challenges — like giving feedback, expressing dissatisfaction with underperformance, calling someone on it when they don’t follow through… It’s pretty self-evident that work and life would be easier if we took care of these people issues when they’re small… so why is that so difficult?

I suspect it’s because our emotional brains like to focus on threats & challenges — the more immediate and urgent the more attractive.  When a problem is not pressing it floats out there in the abstract “maybe important” land.

I also find that as I think through my priorities, I cast a haze of yucky-ness on certain items.  I tell myself this will be unpleasant, unproductive, boring, annoying… and somehow that item keeps slipping to the bottom of the pile.

The obvious downside of this inactivity in proactivity is that problems escalate and require more time and attention later.  Pay now or pay more later.  The less obvious downside is about reactivity.  As issues mount, pressure builds.  The natural emotional response is to push back.  So we miss a few chances to be proactive, and now we’ve got fires burning.  Everywhere!  Instead of stepping back and carefully managing the process, we come in blasting the fire hose.  Instead of a response, we have a reaction — and inevitably our reactivity provokes reactivity from others.  Ouch.

So what keeps you from proactively dealing with people challenges?  Then what happens?

The Creators of Sesame Street Were Right!!

Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Development at the Synapse Institute

By Barbara Fatum, M.Ed., Ed.D.

Sesame Street is the longest running Children’s Educational program on television.  Its conception occurred in 1967 and its creators insisted that the show be designed “as an experimental research project that would bring together educational advisors, researchers and television producers as equal partners” (Lesser, 1974, pg. xvi).  I began my long association with Sesame Street as a consumer of children’s educational programming when my daughter was about a year old, in 1982.  Watching my daughter’s vocabulary expand, her understanding of number concepts increase, and her enjoyment of learning blossom made me curious about the show and its ability to teach.

Watching the show for a period of time with my daughter afforded me an opportunity for analysis.  I discovered that separate sequences on the show were developed for different levels of cognitive development evidenced by children (and adults) watching the show (preoperational, sensorimotor, concrete operational, and formal operational thought).  I became quickly convinced that the reasons for the success of this show were rooted in the deliberate application of many aspects of cognitive theory by the program’s creators and producers.  In graduate school at the time, I wrote a paper entitled, “Sesame Street from a Cognitive Theoretical Perspective.”

Recently, I remembered that I had written the paper and went looking for it. Finding the typewritten copy, faintly yellowed by the passing of the years, I opened its cover to discover how my perspective might have changed in the intervening years. For the past 26 years, I have worked as a School Psychologist in a variety of educational situations ranging from public schools in New York State and New Jersey, to private schools in Connecticut, and International Schools in the UK.  I have completed an ED.S. in School Psychology, an Ed.D in Learning and Instruction, and become credentialed in 4 different states, as well as spent 6 years working in International schools in the UK.  My question upon rediscovering my old graduate school paper was, “How has my theoretical perspective changed since those days in graduate school when I was very impressed by cognitive theory and enamored of Sesame Street and its effect on my growing child?”

Educational research in the area of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Academic Achievement has been my focus most recently.  Certified as an Emotional Intelligence Trainer and Leader by the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network, I am currently serving as the Director of Research for their lab school, The Synapse Institute.  At the Synapse Institute, we believe that helping children develop competencies in Emotional Intelligence improves academic achievement for those children.  Current research in the literature supports this notion (Durlak & Weissberg, 2005; Payton et al., 2008). During my professional career, my own educational theoretical focus has evolved to connect cognitive theory and emotional intelligence theory, and to look for the educational impact at the intersection of the two – educating hearts and minds.

Cognitive theory is based on the principle of constructivism.  A developing child actively constructs his or her own ways of thinking and his or her own ideas about the nature of reality (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969).  Intellectual development is seen as a combination of maturation (the child obtaining the biological prerequisites for readiness to learn) and environmental opportunities.  As these opportunities present themselves, the child constructs a “theory” of the world on the basis of experimenting and effectively using the results of actions as feedback for corrective action.  It the child detects discrepancies between his or her current “theory” and the latest experimental results, he or she experiences discomfort.  This discomfort leads to revision of the child’s theory, the cognitive explanation for the process of constructing new and better ways of thinking.

The most basic part of this process is cognition, or the method of internal representation of those concepts or objects present in reality.  The Iconic Mode (formation of a mental picture), the Enactive Mode (use of actions to illustrate reality), and the Symbolic Mode (assignment of meaning to arbitrary symbols) together account for the process of cognition, or the transformation of sensory input into meaningful representation.  Mental representations are incorporated into cognitive structures, or sets of rules, that govern cognition.  Cognitive structures are relatively stable structures that can be applied in different situations.  Implicit in the idea of cognitive structures is the cognitive assumption that the structural whole is greater than specific mental actions or transformations.  The most famous cognitive theorist, Jean Piaget, regarded intelligence as a specific instance of adaptive behavior.  The organism organizes and reorganizes both the environment and its own thoughts in order to cope (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969).

Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory adds an important layer of understanding to this cognitive process. EI theory articulated that sensory input, translated by the cognitive brain into a representation with meaning, first passes through the mid-brain, or emotional brain, and is rapidly evaluated.  Emotional data accompany the sensory input as it travels to the prefrontal cortex to be assigned meaning.  This emotional data is designed to give the cognitive brain important additional information to use in the assignment of meaning.  Unfortunately, most emotional data is registered in the unconscious mind and is not readily available unless an individual deliberately focuses attention on it (LeDoux, 1994).  The good news is that the literature supports the idea that Emotional Intelligence abilities can be taught (Mayer & Salovey, 2004). Emotional Intelligence can be thought of like a muscle; the more the individual uses this muscle, the stronger it can become.  With practice, individuals can increase their emotional intelligence no matter which level they are currently at. The Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Network has conducted studies with students all over the world, using its model of eight Emotional Intelligence competencies (Jensen, 2001, Fatum, 2008; Freedman, 2003).  The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has also built a strong research base supporting this idea (Payton et al, 2008). Studies from both organizations have demonstrated that helping children develop Emotional Intelligence competencies improves classroom environments as EI competencies “allow an individual to recognize and regulate emotion, develop self-control, set goals, develop empathy, resolve conflicts, and develop skills needed for leadership and effective group participation (Elias, 2006).

An important point about emotional processing must be noted here.  Powerful emotions have an evolutionary precedent to help the organism by overriding the neocortex and flooding the body with hormones intended to allow survival.  Negative emotions have a particular ability to disrupt work and hijack attention from the task at hand.  Disruption of the process of rational thought by powerful emotions has been termed “emotional hijacking” (D’Amasio, 1994; Goleman, 1995; Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Pipher, 1996).  Research also suggests that people who are upset have difficulty interpreting emotions accurately in themselves and in other people, impairing their social skills (D’Amasio, 1994; Henriques & Davidson, 1994).  The good news is that management of negative emotions becomes possible with emotional awareness.

At the Synapse Institute, curriculum is created to address the intersection of emotional and cognitive processing.  The curriculum is constructivist, and emotional intelligence competencies are taught alongside academic concepts.  Developed by Gigi Carlson, the Helical Learning Curriculum Strategy engages students in a systematic and progressive series of activities, moving to increasingly complex and imaginative tasks that lead to a cognitive activity that addresses a community or world problem (Carlson, 2004).  The learning helix is the spine of the application of this Constructivist pedagogy and engages students to analyze patterns, failures and successes, concepts, and possibilities.  Students build foundations from which they learn to create their own theories of the fundamental laws of social studies, language arts, and mathematics.  Students are introduced to an academic concept or theme through play, where they connect subject matter to prior experiences and skills in a fun and engaging way.  Explore allows students to quest for more knowledge through questions and connections.  The connect phase of the curriculum allows students to solve a problem, using scientific, social research methodologies and/or creative processes.  Synapse students imagine by finding solutions, developing ideas, and asking new questions.  Finally, time to reflect is built into each lesson as students distill theories and concepts from hands-on learning projects and research activities.

The eight EI competencies, modeled by teachers in classes at the Synapse Institute and taught through direct instruction to Synapse students through connection to the Helical curriculum, derive from the Six Seconds Model of Emotional Intelligence.   EI competencies are also taught to students weekly in a separate curriculum facilitated by Synapse’s EI specialist, Marsha Rideout.

The eight EI competencies enhance the Helical Learning curriculum by allowing students to integrate the emotional and academic aspects of their learning.  Enhance Emotional Literacy (EEL) helps students sort out feelings, name them and begin to understand their causes and effects.  Research suggests that naming emotions helps calm and manage them, reducing activity in the amygdala (Lieberman, et al., 2007).  Recognize Patterns (RCP) aids students in identifying thinking, feeling, and action patterns which often operate as an established habit.  Often this system of patterns serves us well, and at other times it leads us to unconsciously create the opposite of what we really want. 

Apply Consequential Thinking (ACT) allows students and teachers to be as impulsive as we truly want to be, but it also allows us to delay gratification when the consequences are undesirable and/or painful.  Consequential thinking is key to evaluating and rechoosing our thoughts, feelings, and actions.  Navigate Emotions (NVE) is an EI competency that allows children to slow the reaction process down, carefully engaging both heart and mind, and creating productive solutions. The Synapse Institute believes that when individuals become skilled at sensing, labeling, and using their own emotions, they are able to harness them as a source of information and motivation.  This EI competency helps children to carefully choose how they will use the power of their feelings.  Engage Intrinsic Motivation helps students to tap into the part of themselves that has a longer view and find the reward within themselves.  This competency frees students from a dependency on feedback from others.  As students learn to get validation from inside, they create inner strength and the power to continuously grow.  Exercise Optimism allows students to see beyond the present and anticipate the future.  This competency is tied to resiliency and to perseverance, two skills that most affect our ability to function despite the stresses and challenges of day-to-day life.

Increase Empathy is the ability to recognize and respond to other people’s emotions.  Conscious empathy must be carefully banked and fueled through role-modeling, reinforcement, and practice.  Once people develop empathy on a conscious level, it becomes self-reinforcing because it answers a deep-seated need to build sustaining relationships with others.  Pursue Noble Goals is a competency that allows students to connect their actions to a higher purpose.  Recent research suggests that students thrive when they understand what the purpose of their learning is (Jensen, 2005; Willis, 2006).  Connecting students to noble goals provides a measure for their daily actions and invites their “best self” to step forward. The Synapse Institute teaches EI competencies in order to increase student self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

How does all of this relate to Sesame Street and Children’s Television Programming, you may well ask.  Well, to come full circle, I found in my paper, and to my delight,  examples of Sesame Street sequences demonstrating the intersection of Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement.  Gerald Lesser, the Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Children’s Television Workshop and a Bigelow Professor of Education and Developmental Psychology at Harvard,  worked closely with the creative and academic people developing this radical new educational concept, and encouraged them to set curriculum goals together.  In this way, research played a critical role, informing the creation of this highly successful educational television production (Lesser, 1974).  In much the same way, The Synapse Institute is using research-based practices from EI Theory and Cognitive Theory, gathering data on its students, and analyzing that data to inform the creation of curriculum and instruction on an ongoing basis.  Gerald Lesser believed that the intersection of the Head (curriculum firmly tied to developmental information and curriculum standards) and the Heart (age-appropriate, emotionally depicted sequences linked to qualitative changes in cognitive stages) were the key to unlocking children’s learning.  “If we can begin to understand why certain children become competent and happy while others do not, if we can try a variety of ways of reaching them and see how these ways work, perhaps some of the mysteries of early education will begin to dissolve” (1974, pg. 15).

Perhaps an example from the Sesame Street television program will serve to illuminate my point.  A favorite segment on the show involved a cartoon featuring a little typewriter that walks, types on itself, speaks, and reveals emotions.  In one specific segment, the typewriter walks to the center of the screen, smiles, and types the letter “l.”  A great roar is heard and the little typewriter cowers.  The typewriter, whimpering, types the letter “I” and another great roar is heard.  The little typewriter throws its arms over its keyboard and cries, frightened.  Shaking, it reaches its keyboard and quickly types the letters “o” and “n.” A great big lion bounds across the screen, roaring.  The letters are on the screen long enough for the child watching to associate “lion” with the bounding, roaring creature.  If that proved too difficult a concept for the child’s schema to assimilate, the typewriter segment showed the child that there are standard symbolic representations – words – for concrete objects in the environment.  The emotional component added data to the meaning of “lion” and let the child know that this animal is not a kitten to be petted.

Research has come a long way since 1974 and the tools and techniques educational researchers have available to us in 2010 yield a clearer picture of children’s learning, resulting in better educational approaches.  Gerald Lesser’s prediction was correct. The creative team of the Children’s Television Workshop understood the importance of helping children utilize the intersection of their emotions as an aid to cognitive processing.  The Synapse Institute will be leading the charge to enlighten educators about the powerful intersection of Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement in the early 21^st century.

♥

References

Carlson, G., (2004). Digital Media in the Classroom. San Francisco: CMP Books.

Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. London: Penguin Books.

Durlak, J.A., & Weissberg, R.P. (2005). A major meta-analysis of positive youth development programs. Invited presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

Elias, M.J., Wang, M.C., Weissberg, R.P., Zins, J.E. & Walberg, H.J. (2002). The other side of the report card: Student success depends on more than test scores. American School Boards Journal, 189, 28-31.

Fatum, B. (2008). The relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement in elementary-school children. Unpublished dissertation.  University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

Freedman, J. (2003). Key Lessons from 35 years of social-emotional education: How Self-science builds self-awareness, positive relationships, and healthy decision-making.  Perspectives in Education, 21, 69-80.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Schools Press.

Henriques, J.B., & Davidson, R.J. (2000). Decreased responsiveness to reward in depression. Cognition Emotion, 15, 711-724.

Jensen, A. (2001). Self-Science: Research results – 2001 pilot study. Retrieved November 12, 2006 from http://www.6Seconds.org.

Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

LeDoux, J. (1994). Emotion, memory and the brain. Scientific American, 270, 50-57.

Lesser, G.S. (1974). Children and television: Lessons from Sesame Street. New York: Vintage Books.

Lieberman, M.d., Eisenberger, N.I., Crockett, M.J., Tom, S.M., Pfeifer, J.H., & Way, B.M. (2007).  Putting feelings into words:  Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18, 421-423.

Mayer, J.D., & Salovey, P (2004). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey, M.A. Brackett, & J.D. Mayer (eds.), Emotional intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer And Salovey model (pp. 29-59).  Port Chester, New York: Dude Publishing.

Payton, J., Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., Schellinger,

K.B., & Pachan, M. (2008).  The positive impact of social and emotional learning for kindergarten to eighth-grade students: Findings from three scientific reviews. Chicago, IL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child: The definitive summary of the work of the world’s most renowned psychologist. New York:  Basic Books.

Pipher, M. (1996). The shelter of each other: Rebuilding our families to enrich our lives. London: Vermilion.

Willis, J. (2006).  Research-based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Is this the norm, and how does that affect the way we see the world?

In our daily lives, and all the ups and downs we face a dozen times a day, where do we each choose to focus?  And how does that focus affect us?

Preparing a presentation for a group of doctors, I was paralyzed by a terrible feeling of inadequacy. “Who am I to instruct physicians?” Reflecting on my reaction, I realized I’d fallen into the trap of the doctor-patient paradigm. Doctors are the experts, the keepers of knowledge, the decision makers — and in that paradigm, I am less. As my empathy returned, I realized that they are just as trapped by this paradigm, all of us are. The result: we’re losing the “care” in healthcare.

In antiquity, our field healed people through belief, influence, and care; our ancestor’s doctors used medicines, but the efficacy was in the human interaction. Gradually, through trial and error, they found herbs and treatments that increased the potency of the caring. Over time, the balance has shifted, so today healthcare is all about the medicines, caring has become the sideline. Caring has become the lost art of healing.

With the most effective medical system in the history of the world, does it really matter? I propose it does. It matters to the patient, and it matters to you, the healer. Unless medicine is firmly rooted in care, we lose the connection with our patients; we lose their respect and our self-respect. We lose the ability to influence patients toward health and are relegated to staving off disease and trauma. We lose the noble purpose of our work, and with it the motivation and commitment to the challenges we face.

Medicine has become so big, so expensive, so technical, so specialized it has escaped its origins as a human experience. Left unchecked, that depersonalization undermines the sacred mission of healing. Those closest to the patients have the best opportunity to turn this tide — it is both incredibly challenging and astoundingly easy.

So I prescribe the following treatment for ourselves, our patients and each other:

Warmly yours,

- Tom

Tom Wojick is Senior Consultant for Six Seconds; previously he was a senior executive in healthcare.

“We surrealists insist on celebrating the 50th anniversary of hysteria, the greatest poetic discovery of the latter 19th century . . . M. Babinski, the most intelligent man who has tackled this question, dared to publish in 1913 the following: ‘When an emotion is sincere and profound, and it stirs the human soul, there is no room for hysteria.’ And in that we have the best so far that we have been given to learn.”

Link to entire post:

http://nyti.ms/aDO8qe

So, this article is anything but straightforward unless you are an honest to goodness psychological historical aficionado. Even so, it’s possible to follow along in a way that keeps it interesting. I loved this quote about emotion towards the end of the piece. And really, isn’t this true? No matter whether your definition of hysteria is a true, definable medical definition or just an everyday run of the mill usage.I think this speaks to the importance of emotions and the place in our lives we can CHOOSE to give them if we deem it important enough.

I don’t know what you all will think of the article in full but I did like the sentiment and wanted to share it in a wider sense.

We live in a time of turmoil and uncertainty and, if we accept the world that we see in newspaper headlines, it is all too easy to forget that the vast majority of people in the world are good, caring human beings just like us.  When we meet as human beings — not as representatives of some clan or creed — there is vast common ground.

Behind the Veil

Preparing to go to the conference center, I am full of unease. I walk through the lobby strewn with rose petals, and feel surrounded by men in white dishtash and women in black abaya. I’ve worked with many Arabs and Muslims, but this is my first time in the Gulf, and I find myself curious at the sight of all this traditional garb — and worried.

I move quickly through the hall and go back stage. At a conscious level, I am telling myself that I am worried about the conference logistics, that I am concerned the audience might not understand our work, that technical glitches might interfere with learning. But none of the technology is my responsibility, and I realize that I’m bothering the technicians as a way of hiding from all these strangers.

I realized I am afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid that I will not be accepted, that I will be judged, that people will not listen – I often have fears like this at the beginning of a program. Here, it is stronger because, underneath, I am also afraid I will be hated or held in contempt as a Jew and an American.

Unexamined, unrecognized, the fear is influencing me on an unconscious level - influencing  me to hide away and to rationalize my behavior. Once I recognize that I am afraid, however, I can see what I am really doing and can make a choice. Especially in face of fear, it is difficult to make proactive choices.

Fortunately, in this work I have learned about a lever I can use to move myself past the fear: my sense of purpose.

I am deeply committed to co-creating an emotionally intelligent world, and I can’t do that hiding in the corner. Remembering my Noble Goal (“To inspire compassionate wisdom”) gives me the courage to act. I begin walking around the lobby speaking with some of these strangers.

They do not turn away.

I say ‘hello’ to three men wearing traditional Arab clothes. They are from Saudi Arabia. One must have noticed my effort to reach out past the fear, because he says, “Thank you for coming up to us, I guess this is part of emotional intelligence”. I hear his warmth and appreciation – he recognizes the effort, the risk, and there is something sparked between us. Maybe they too are a little afraid.

These fears are reinforced at many levels. For example, I happened to read an email from my grandmother today saying, “I wish you could stay home from all those dangerous places”. On a factual basis, the United Arab Emirates is one of the safest countries in the world. Diverse, cosmopolitan, accepting, and with hardly any crime (and, in case you’re wondering, they don’t have extreme or violent penalties for crimes). Yet, on an emotional level, many of us have such uncertainty, such fear of the unknown, about a place so different from home.

The conference kick-off is smooth. Daniel Goleman is live via satellite - and I find myself wishing he could see this room full of white-robed and black-robed delegates. He speaks about how we can influence one another on an emotional level as leaders and humans, and it seems so apropos to my experience today.

On the second day of the conference, the sense of connection gets even stronger. In my workshop on Leading with EQ, I share how we apply our Six Seconds model to business, and also to our personal and family lives. The group clearly sees the value of these tools in leadership and life, and something happens beyond the content. We all interact with each other as people and talk; we share perspectives and feelings. From dialogue comes respect and tolerance, appreciation and acceptance.

On the final day in the closing session, the discussion turns to how emotional intelligence can help bridge the gaps between people – in organizations, relationships, communities, and nations. Many of the speakers and audience members have noticed, have felt, how we are no longer a group of unknown strangers.

Danah Zohar suggests that we commit to test the power of this kind of dialogue by developing an EQ/SQ conference with Palestinians and Israelis attending together.

Following her theme, I challenge the audience and myself to consider the action we can each take to move past our fears. We can only truly access the power of our emotional and spiritual selves if we each begin with ourselves. I offer, “I would like to bring my children here”. I plan to say more, but I feel myself on the verge of tears, so I begin to call on someone else.

There is a table at the front reserved for women, all in traditional abaya and sheila (black gowns and veils). They’ve been nearly silent these three days, but now one calls out, “Why?” “Why?” she repeats assertively, “Why do you want to bring your children here?”
“Because I want them to grow up knowing Arabs as good, caring people,” I say, “People with the same hopes and dreams we all hold. Because I do not want my two Jewish and American children to grow afraid just because they do not know.”

Later I think to myself, “and because I want them to be friends with your children”.

The power of facing and voicing feelings, especially fears, is profound. Just expressing this fear I can feel the connection forming between us. At the next break, three different men come speak to me: “When you come back to the Emirates,” each says, “I want you to come to my house so your children can play with my children”.

Over and over in my travels, I’ve found that, beneath the infinite variety of human complexity, beneath the cultures and nations, beneath the religions and rivalries, beneath the differences, we are profoundly alike. I keep forgetting, and then I have these experiences to remind me. And, more and more, I am seeing that emotions are at the heart of this similarity. A universal language that both bonds us and liberates us - if we will only find the courage to learn it more deeply, and use it more carefully.