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Motivation, Personnel psychology, Interpersonal skills training
Abstract
All your employees need to be people-smart. No matter what someone's function is, everyone in today's workforce is in the people business! It used to be said that some people were in the business of working with people and some of us were in the business of working with facts, figures, and machinery. But the people business is no longer the domain of the few. It now includes everyone.
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What does it mean to be people-smart?
Ask the person on the street what it means to be people-smart, and you are bound to hear many who have this picture: "Oh, that's a person who is really a smooth operator ... a person who knows how to get others to join his side." A different picture you might get is someone who is "personable ... friendly ... fun to be with."
While few people would complain about having those two attributes, they represent a very limited view of what it means to be gifted with people. Being people-smart is a multifaceted competence. It is not limited to our political skills or our social graces but includes a wide range of abilities.
Howard Gardner, in his highly respected book, Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983), contends that the ability to manage our inner feelings and our ability to work well with people make up what he calls the personal intelligences. These abilities are as impressive as our ability to solve math and logic problems (logical-mathematical intelligence), to write effectively (linguistic intelligence), to create music and art (musical and spatial intelligence), and to excel at dance or sports (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence).
Daniel Goleman takes Gardner's concept of personal intelligence one step further in his best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence (Coleman, 1996). Using findings of new brain research, he presents a powerful argument that our intelligence at managing ourselves emotionally and managing our relationships may be among the best predictors of success in life. While our intellectual intelligence might get us hired, our emotional intelligence might get us promoted! That...