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Emotional
Intelligence is Common Among Entrepreneurs
Kansas City Star -
06.19.01
By Jim Dugan, Ph.D, Fortisan Group
Is a healthy dose of emotional intelligence a
prerequisite for being a successful
entrepreneur? A recent study of local, award
winning small business owners suggests,
emotional intelligence or EI may be crucial to
successfully starting and running your own
business.
Psychologist, Daniel Goleman Ph.D., is one of
the leading EI spokesmen and author of the best
selling book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can
Matter More Than IQ, labels EI as "extraordinary
people skills" or, " a new way of being smart."
More specifically, EI is defined as, how you
manage your emotions with self and others.
Within the last few years, more than 600 diverse
business organizations have integrated EI
principles into their operations.
In our local study, we were able to test 11 of
the 15 Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
honorees from 1999 and 2000. These award winners
took two of the major EI tests. The results of
these tests suggest that these KC "star"
entrepreneurs possess greater amounts of EI when
compared to a group of "successful" senior
business leaders. We pushed our comparisons even
further and looked at how our KC entrepreneurs
stacked up against some members of - The Young
Presidents' Organization or YPO. The YPO is
composed of successful CEO's, who by age 39 have
lead companies that have earned more $5 million
and whose businesses employ more than 60. We
found-our KC entrepreneurs had a higher overall
EI score than the YPO group. (For the statistic
buffs, this comparison yielded a significant
difference.)
Translating these findings into the every day
world of the entrepreneur suggest, successful
entrepreneurs may be blessed with certain
emotional competencies that play a specific role
in their business success. Three of the
competencies are: assertiveness, optimism and
stress tolerance.
Assertiveness - Our Kansas City entrepreneurs
scored higher on this than any other emotional
competency. These entrepreneurs speak their
minds and can broker disagreement without
offending others. This finding is so striking
that a mini-test for a burgeoning entrepreneur
might be- to privately ask yourself, "do other
people view me as assertive?" If your response
is "no" or "not sure" then you may want to power
up your assertiveness quotient before rolling
out your new business endeavor.
Optimism -This is just more than seeing the
glass as half full, but the ability not to
berate yourself for missed opportunities. These
"stars" adeptly wield off the haunting voices of
self-doubt. They seem to have a tough outer
shell. They appear to have had more than their
share of catastrophes, and alluring business
opportunities that just slip under their grasp.
However, as a group they seem to have a "covert
creed" that yesterday's disasters will not
impact today¹s initiatives.
Stress Tolerance - When problems pile up, our
"star" entrepreneurs know how to keep cool.
Occasionally, their tempers may "pop" but given
the escalating pressures of the small business
world, they are outwardly, a pretty calm group.
As a group, they are also extremely confident in
their ability to handle "most upsetting
problems." This finding suggests that if you
have a hair trigger temper or your confidence
sags in the clutch then your small business may
suffer.
With just 11 "star" entrepreneurs in our study,
we are not quite ready to declare a heady dose
of EI is the magic potion for being a "star"
entrepreneur. Certainly, you can't discount a
solid business plan or adequate financial
resources that help entrepreneurs stay afloat
during those uncertain early days.
On the other hand, these findings suggest if you
are "average" or even a tad below the norm when
it comes to overall level of EI, then your new
business might be at risk even before it gets
launched. You can always beef up your business
plan with the right advice, and investors can be
lured with innovative ideas, and the promise of
exciting technology. However, for entrepreneurs
boosting your emotional intelligence, especially
when it comes to certain competencies, may make
good business sense.
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