Research Briefs – November 2018

In This Issue…

1. Emotional Intelligence: How Leaders Can Use it to Their Advantage
2. FREE E-BOOK: The Easy, Hard & Tough Work of Managing Change
3. Flashback Feature:
   Med-Arb: A Viable Dispute Resolution Alternative

Emotional Intelligence: How Leaders Can Use it to Their Advantage
Linda Allen-Hardisty, M.Ed., B.Ed., PCC, Queen’s IRC Facilitator, 2018

Ever catch yourself thinking, “Why did I just say that?” or “I didn’t handle that discussion as well as I could have.”

We are all human and can make poor decisions in the heat of the moment. Afterwards, we are often left wondering how managing our emotions could have made a difference in the situation. But for leaders, reacting emotionally can have a negative impact that ripples through the organization. We can all become more effective by understanding emotional intelligence and learning how to strengthen our own emotional intelligence. This skill is particularly important for those in managerial and leadership roles.

What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is also referred to as EI or emotional quotient (EQ). EI is a set of emotional and social skills that collectively establish how well we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way. (2012, Multi-Health Systems Inc.) EI is not the same as IQ, cognitive ability, aptitude, or personality.

More and more we are witnessing how emotional intelligence truly defines successful leaders, rather than their technical skills or IQ. Think about how often leaders need to use their EI at the organizational, team, and individual levels. Consider these examples:

• Leaders of international brands who make public apologies for mistakes and how they got right out in front of the issue to admit their shortcomings;
• Boards of Directors and teams who have had to lead their groups through challenging situations where the ambiguity and tension runs high;
• Managers and leaders who have what it really takes to listen to someone, while managing their impulse control so that trust can be built.

In such situations, it is the emotional strength of leaders that can make – or break – the difference. The good news is that EI can be developed. Leaders can change their emotional intelligence to become more effective personally, professionally and socially.

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FREE E-BOOK: The Easy, Hard & Tough Work of Managing Change
Dr. Carol A Beatty, Queen’s University IRC, 2016

Change success rates have remained stubbornly low. I believe that part of the reason for this is an over-emphasis on high-level change planning and an under-emphasis on implementation. In this book I deal with the easy, the hard but especially the tough work of change management. I take the complex concepts and make them as simple as possible for the reader without robbing them of their inherent value. I boil down a wealth of research to its essence, and illustrate the important concepts and points with case studies and examples to enable the reader to comprehend these concepts and apply them to their own change initiatives.

The book is based on more than twenty years of my research, teaching and consulting practice in both public and private sectors. In that time I have trained over 1,500 organizational leaders and managers, given countless seminars, researched the topic in approximately 350 organizations and facilitated change initiatives in more than 25 organizations. This book is the distillation of what I have learned and experienced. Highlights include:

• Choosing the right people with the right skills to plan and implement a successful change project
• Creating a sense of urgency for the change throughout the organization
• Crafting an inspiring change vision that will truly motivate people
• Creating a complete roadmap for implementing your change successfully
• Dealing with resistance to change
• Communicating during the change
• Finding a change champion

>> Download E-Book

Flashback Feature:
Med-Arb: A Viable Dispute Resolution Alternative
Megan Telford, 2000

Mediation arbitration, or med-arb, is an increasingly popular alternative dispute resolution mechanism in which the disputing parties and a third-party neutral attempt to reach a voluntary agreement through mediation, and then move to arbitration by the same third party if they are unsuccessful. Some critics question the compatibility of mediation and arbitration, while others point to the possible abuse of the process if a med-arbiter threatens to move quickly to arbitration, and they worry about the detrimental impact on the final arbitration award of confidential information that emerges through mediation. The author of this study uses the results of her detailed interviews with experienced med-arbiters at the Grievance Settlement Board (GSB), a separate arbitration mechanism for public employees of Ontario, to throw new light on the continuing debate about med-arb.

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