EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence and Emotional intelligence : According to Douglas Hofstadter, Pulitzer-prize winning author of the brilliant book Godel, Escher, Bach, intelligence can be defined in terms of the following eight abilities: 1. To respond to situations very flexibly. 2. To take advantage of the right time and right place. 3. To make sense of ambiguous or contradictory messages. 4. To recognize the importance of different elements of a situation. 5. To find similarities between situations despite differences that may separate them. 6. To draw distinctions between situations despite similarities that may link them. 7. To synthesize new concepts by taking old concepts and combining them in new ways. 8. To develop ideas that are novel. Without the intelligent guidance of emotions, human beings cannot respond to situationsvery flexibly, take advantage of the right time and right place, make sense of ambiguous or contradictory messages, recognize the importance of different elements of a situation, find similarities between situations despite differences that may separate them, draw distinctions between situations despite similarities that may link them, synthesize new concepts by taking old concepts and combining in new ways, or develop ideas that are novel. Without the guidance of emotions we cannot be intelligent. Without the guidance of emotions we cannot be rational. • Emotional intelligence is registered through deep listening — listening to oneself and listening to others (Kramer 1995, 1999). • People who are high in emotional intelligence know how to listen to their emotions and regulate their intensity so they are not hijacked by them. • Emotionally intelligent people know how to keep disruptive emotions in check. • Emotionally intelligent people sense the effect their emotions have on others. • Emotionally intelligence people know how to deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. • Emotionally intelligence people listen to other people’s emotions and can empathize with them. • Emotionally intelligent people act ethically and build trust through integrity andreliability. • Emotionally intelligent people admit their own mistakes and learn from them. • Emotionally intelligent people are comfortable with new ideas and new information. • Emotionally intelligent people are skilled at listening to a group’s emotional currents and discerning the power relationships. • Emotionally intelligent people can negotiate and resolve disagreements. • Emotionally intelligent people listen to other people and know how to communicate effectively. Emotionally intelligent behavior is a prerequisite for building bridges of mutual understanding and trust in the space between people — in “administrative space.” Niccollo Machiavelli (1469-1527) said that there are two types of governments – monarchy and free state(republic). He said that free states require virtuous citizens who care more for the state than themselves, and realistically people generally care more about their private interests or group concerns. Overtime, eventually there is failure of republic since they corrupt the state to achieve their private interests at the expense of the state. Paul Appleby, one of first presidents of the American society of Public Administration, counter argued above argument and felt that for a free state to remain a free state, virtuous public servants, who shared common social ethics of concern for public interest, were essential. A free state, where private interests think about maximizing their own good and refusing to consider common good is likely to self-destruct over time unless the nation’s leaders and bureaucracy act to focus public policy on public interests. He agreed that when citizens viewed their welfare as individuals and groups separate from the republic and, more important, from the welfare of the republic, then the society would become morally corrupt. To avoid that end, he argued that public servants must maintain democratic morality social ethics. He emphasized following fundamental values in civil servants • Importance of public trust in leading nation • The role of nation in curbing excesses and inadequacies of market system • The need of civic virtue • The commitment of the nation to continued social and economic progress. And these values are now more important considering globalization of economics, political influence of corporate , crime and corruption, environmental pollution and terrorism. He felt that public administrators should always perform their actions withing the large context of democracy. Rule of law and Elections must overrule public administrators. Of the three contemporary theories of ethics that is rule based, consequential and virtue, Appleby advocated virtue ethics for public officials. He said, “Moral performance begins in individual self-discipline on the partof officials, involving all that is meant by the word ‘character’” (1965, 344).But character is not enough for his democratic morality. The administrative process must also support individual group judgment that reflects a whole public or oneness responsibility. Individual public administrator’s honesty is not sufficient as there must also be “a devoted guardianship of the continuing reality of democracy”. Ideally, democracy should force private and special interests into a pluralistic mill that creates a majoritarian calculus that reflects the larger public interest. Eventually, the mill grinds and blends the myriad of private and special interests into one public interest. Hierarchy forces top officials to homogenize and moralize the private and special interests through the mill of organizational echelons. The role of the public servant is to sort though those various private and special interests and help transform them into a “public will.” Thus, politics and hierarchy are causal agents to the public servant, who must creatively search for a “public will to be.” He argued that this milling of private and special interests could occur only if legislative and administrative devices, such as due process and proper administrative notice, exist together. They must ensure that the public policy decisions emerged out of the complexity rather than out of the simplicity of particular private and special interests. Appleby said, “Our poorest governmental performances, both technically and morally, are generally associated with conditions in which a few citizens have very disproportionate influence” Essential Wisdoms Another challenge for the moral public administrator is to recognize that four essential wisdoms help us understand the context of public service. • First, there
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