What does it mean to be able to identify emotions accurately—to take the first step described in our model? Managers with these skills are described by the statements in Column A in Exhibit 3.1. Managers who struggle with this skill are often described by statements such as those listed in Column B.
|
Column A: Skillful |
Column B: Not Skillful |
|---|---|
|
Knows what people feel |
Misreads people’s emotions |
|
Will talk about feelings |
Doesn’t talk about feelings |
|
Can show how they feel |
Never shows feelings |
|
Expresses feelings when upset |
Does not know how to express feelings |
|
Smiles when happy or pleased |
Maintains neutral expression |
|
Reads people accurately |
Fails to identify how others feel |
|
Good at recognizing own feelings |
Misunderstands own feelings |
Let’s take a look at two people, each of whom is better described by one of these lists of attributes than the other.