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The Word Emotion Causes an Emotion
A White Paper on EQ

By Cheri Lindle, M.S. Ed, and Jina Daigle M.S., LPC

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the high-flying RAGE in Corporate America today. Anyone can Google EQ and find a plethora of articles, websites, and programs on the web. That alone is testimony to the heightened awareness of EQ in our world. Building awareness of EQ, practicing new skills, and improving communication for stronger, more effective relationships and teams are all noteworthy goals. However, for marketers of corporate consulting, just using the word EMOTION could receive an automatic dismissal. The irony? The word EMOTION causes an EMOTION, which triggers a thought. The thought would likely take the path of whatever the listener (or organizational culture) is influenced to believe about the value of emotion in the home, in the workplace, or in the world.

However, EQ, or lack of it, is indisputably a huge influence in how people perceive, feel about, and react to situations in their life that involve the following:

· CEO’s

· Supervisors / Bosses

· Co-workers

· Teachers/Trainers

· Spouses

· Friends

· Political figures

Keith Ayers, President of Australian based consulting company Integro Learning Company LLC, understands this connection and uses this knowledge to make his programs powerful. Integro helps organizations create cultures that will achieve more effective business results through alignment processes, employee commitment and empowerment. He gets extraordinary results using EQ concepts to teach organizations how to engage their employees, thus becoming more effective as a company and achieving higher-level results.[i]

One model used by Integro illustrates the power of EQ. It is an adaptation of Freud’s Mental Iceberg model (illustration A) where he distinguished three levels of the human mind: the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious. Integro’s Whole Person model (illustration B) clearly relates to these three levels of the mind. Freud’s conscious level relates to the behavioral level of the iceberg tip. Below the behavioral iceberg tip are the non-conscious factors that drive these behaviors. These include a person’s values, thoughts, feelings, and needs.

Most of us are aware of and have seen the popular Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model. It has a similar tracking method for human behavior (illustration C). A comparison of the foundation of each of the three models is worthy of noting. Freud’s foundation is unconscious, Integro’s is related to needs, and Maslow’s is connected to physiological and safety requirements.[ii] We see in Maslow’s hierarchy, as in the other models’, a reference to emotions such as love, esteem, and loneliness.


A. Freud's Mental Iceberg	B. Ayers' Whole Person	C. Maslow's Hierarchy

Ernest Hemingway, the author of many best sellers, had a unique writing talent that has kept his books popular for years. In his aesthetic theory he states that omitting the right thing from a story can actually strengthen it. He equates this theory with the structure of an iceberg. “Whereas only 1/8 of an iceberg can be seen above water, the remaining 7/8 under the surface provides the iceberg’s dignity of motion and contributes to its momentum”. What a wonderful analogy of how behaviors are driven by those things under the surface of our consciousness. It is also a strong reminder of how we can change our behaviors through awareness and management of what is driving them, namely our values, thoughts and feelings about our needs.
In looking more closely at the idea of managing our emotional reactions, Mary Butler, Co-founder and VP of Learning Unlimited, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, defines a powerful behavioral management tool to be “hitting the pause button”. This concept is similar to the “pausing” of a DVD player or a VCR in the middle of a story to prepare for the next phase of the chronicle. The power of this tool is limitless. Unlike a movie that is pre-written, we can write and influence the ending of our interactions and construct them according to the outcomes we REALLY want. We can change our natural reactions and rewrite our behavioral story by “intentional and thought-out actions”. This leads to improved outcomes of our interactions with all of the people we communicate with daily.

With so much heightened awareness of EQ in Corporate America, the emotional intelligence of leaders in the workplace is being looked at, judged and scrutinized more and more. Expectations are being raised when it comes to communication and relationship building. Leaders’ success will lie in their ability to demonstrate what Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of a Team , would call vulnerability, a de rigueur willingness to exhibit honest feelings in an effective way. EQ is now on the fast track as a necessary communication skill to more productively manage the most important resource for any business...people. Training, coaching and feedback are critical tickets to get on board the EQ train and avoid the feelings of being left behind in a dusty cloud of dismissal.

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