While it can be argued that Emotional Intelligence (EI) has always been important in business, it has certainly grown in prevalence in recent years.
As a result, KnowledgeBrief invited Martin Kilduff, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at UCL, to share his thoughts on self-monitoring, a fundamental ability underpinning EI, at our August meeting.
These are four key insights from Professor Kilduff’s presentation and the cross-industry discussions that followed:
• A high self-monitor (or corporate chameleon) is perceptive to other people and the environment, and alters his or her responses to others’ cues. For example, high self-monitors typically demonstrate greater flexibility in adapting their leadership style to changing situations, using a variety of conflict-resolution techniques. High self-monitors tend to care about status and getting ahead.
• The actions of low self-monitors usually reflect their inner feelings and attitudes, and they respond consistently even across different situations. They are generally unconcerned with how others perceive them, and tend to care more about trust and reliability.
• Several occupations and positions benefit from high self-monitoring traits: HR manager, CEO, organisational development specialist, and marketing and sales directors . Through their ability to monitor their own and others’ feelings and emotions, and to act accordingly, high-self monitors possess a certain social usefulness. They move into the go-between position of networks and facilitate access to groups of people who would otherwise be disconnected. They act as network brokers, connecting disparate individuals and information.
• There are several advantages and drawbacks to being either high or low in self-monitoring. For example, low self-monitors often achieve greater buy-in from groups by demonstrating true integrity; however, they tend only to obtain knowledge from a select group. High self-monitors tend to promote better engagement – as highly perceptive individuals, they help others cope with negative emotions and are often the first to notice the warning signs.
Participants included directors and heads of functions from HBSC, Morgan Sindall, Pentland Brands and Virgin Atlantic.
In September we will be discussing ‘Winning Companies; Winning People’ with Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas as key speaker. For more information and to join, please contact us.