Research spanning twenty-five years has consistently indicated that soft skill competencies such as self-esteem, initiative, good communication, makes a significant difference in the self efficacy of individuals. Such competencies represent what is now commonly referred to emotional intelligence and are predictive of superior performance in work roles. Can emotional intelligence as a competency go beyond an individual’s performance to become something a group or entire organisation can build on and utilize collectively? Social learning is key to migrating the modelling of soft skills across an organisation to become adopted as the cultural norm.

Daniel Goleman authored the internationally best-selling book,  Emotional Intelligence, (1995, Bantam Books),  that spent more than one-and-a-half years on the New York Times Best Seller list. Goleman developed the argument that non-cognitive skills can matter as much as I.Q. for workplace success in “Working with Emotional Intelligence” (1998, Bantam Books), and for leadership effectiveness in “Primal Leadership” (2001, Harvard Business School Press). Goleman’s most recent best-seller is Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships , (2006, Bantam Books).

Daniel Goleman’s interview was recorded on December 10, 2007, at the CASEL Forum, an event in New York City that brought together seventy-five global leaders in education and related fields to raise awareness about social and emotional learning (SEL) and introduce important scientific findings related to SEL.
CASEL is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that works to advance the science and evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning (SEL).

Workplace anger is like anger within a family given the time spent there, but a work family’s dynamic relationships positions above and below make the circumstances particularly sensitive.

Nora Femenia, Ph.D. in Conflict Resolution, is President & CEO of Creative Conflict Resolutions, an international firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which provides conflict resolution interventions and conflict resolutions skills training at all levels, from inter-personal to international disputes. She recently wrote about the sensitivity of workplace relationships during these times of radical transition and layoffs. ‘The present recession in the world is reflecting a very difficult social situation that affects everybody. The job insecurity raises a high level of anxiety in all of us…trying personal resources to the limit. How each person answers the challenge depends on several variables, and mostly it has to do with our own ability to keep calm and in control of negative emotions like anger and despair. If there is old anger, then workplace disputes can become more often and escalate faster to interpersonal violence.

There is a good resource to learn anger management techniques in the work place here.'. This video also addresses workplace anger:

How to Develop a Diffusive Workplace Environment for Anger Management — powered by eHow.com

Marcia Hall, The Reputation Pro, is the founder of Reputation Counts. She advises that to be successful in your career, you must demonstrate your competence and character. In other words, people must know they can trust you. How do you build that trust? By consistently showing others that they can count on you. You become known as the person who gets things done, or is accurate with small details, or one who is always prepared. This is your reputation. Building your reputation which, effectively, becomes your personal brand needs special care. Branding is an organic process in business as you keep on making the marks and excel on what you do. It is the belief people have to you and your product, services. Hajj E. Flemings is the author of ‘The Brand YU Life ‘. Fleming specializes in personal and corporate brand management consulting, training, and seminars. He is a dynamic, energetic speaker, author, and transformational trainer who connects with his audience to challenge them to reach their hidden potential. He has been featured on radio, TV, print, and even the internet impacting people globally with his message of brand management, brand value, success, and leadership. His presentation demonstrates the alignment of branding you:

Trustworthy people have to be consistent – their actions and lifestyles set out an example of integrity and commitment. Peter Drucker(2) describes the “mirror test”, where leaders make sure that the person they see in the mirror in the morning is the kind of person they want to be, respect and believe in. If there is a lack of consistency between our public and private lives, then sooner or later we will be unable to manage the divide.

Organizational values define the acceptable standards which govern the behaviour of individuals within the organization. Without such values, individuals will pursue behaviours that are in line with their own individual value systems, which may lead to behaviours that the organization doesn’t wish to encourage. Frequently, most organizations derive their culture from a top down model, but what happens in more flat cycle, chaordically driven environments?

In a smaller, co-located organization, the behaviour of individuals is much more visible than in larger, disparate ones. In these smaller groups, the need for articulated values is reduced, since unacceptable behaviours can be challenged openly. However, for the larger organization, where desired behaviour is being encouraged by different individuals in different places with different sub-groups, an articulated statement of values can draw an organization together.

Clearly, the organization’s values must be in line with its purpose or mission, and the vision that it is trying to achieve. So to summarize, articulated values of an organization can provide a framework for the collective leadership of an organization to encourage common norms of behaviour which will support the achievement of the organization’s goals and mission.

Five ways to live out values

However, just as with a mission or vision statement, it is one thing to have a written guide to an organization’s values that remains on the wall, or in a folder, but it is quite another thing to have living values which shape the culture – the way that things get done. So here are five suggestions to ensure you have living values:

1. Communicate the Values Constantly. Values should fit with the organizations’ communication, both internally and externally. If we say that we’re fun, team-oriented where everyone counts, then having a traditional style with a photo of the CEO may challenge this. Refer frequently to the values in talks and sermons, in articles in internal/parish magazines. Acknowledge and thank those people who have achieved something which particularly emphasises the values.

2. Enroll New Folk. The values should be explicitly available as new members join an organization. If your organization is a business, this can be a part of the selection process.

3. Revisit and Refresh the Values. Revisit your values periodically – allowing members to update them. This has the power of enrolling those who have joined the organization recently, and avoids the stated values no longer reflecting the business culture.

4. Confront Contradictory Behaviour. Ensuring that we give feedback to those who don’t live out the values of the organization. If people are allowed to live out contradictory values, then over time there is a clear danger that these will usurp the desired values, particularly if it is the more dynamic, dominant individuals who are espousing the contradictory values.

5. Periodically Check out with Feedback. Ask people what they think are the values of the organization – not only members, who may be influenced by the stated values, but outsiders – observers, customers, former members.

Pause for Thought : Do you have a statement of values. If not, let your organisation come up with them, rather than driving them yourself.  If you do have a statement, is it a living expression of current, real values in the organisation or an expression of past desires?   Review the five pointers above to see how well the organisation is living the values.

This article is courtesy of The Teal Trust.