A Systems Approach to Developing Emotional Intelligence Using the Self-awareness Engine of Growth Model

Abstract

Employers highly regard employees who demonstrate emotional intelligence (EI) in dealing with the everyday political, social and often emotionally-charged inter-personal exchanges and relationships that impact performance in the workplace. Apart from recruiting employees with EI skills, managers face the challenge of providing employees with EI training. In this article, we explore the perspectives of successful EI trainers. Using interviews we draw on 21 New Zealand EI trainers’ experience of designing effective EI training programs. We examine a process that emerged as essential to successful EI training which is the growth of a learner’s self-awareness. From these findings we developed the self-awareness causal loop diagram (CLD) that employs systems thinking in understanding the inter-relationships between emergent themes. That diagram was simplified to create the self-awareness engine of growth model, intended to communicate a systemic view of EI training in a way that is readily understandable to training practitioners. The model provides a guide to managers and EI trainers for establishing a process of development while retaining freedom for the trainer to bring their own talents and methods to the learning experience. The cyclical nature of the model highlights the importance of an ongoing systemized process to describe how components of the model fit together, and to bring order to the oftentimes chaotic process of self-awareness development.