What does it mean to use emotions to help thinking? Those with that ability may be better described by the statements in Column A of Exhibit 4.1. People who struggle with this skill are often described by statements such as those listed in Column B.
|
Column A: Skillful |
Column B: Not Skillful |
|---|---|
|
Creative thinker |
Practical and concrete |
|
Inspires people |
Doesn’t motivate others |
|
Focuses on what’s important when emotions are strong |
Forgets what’s important when upset |
|
Emotions improve thinking |
Feelings are flat or distracting |
|
Can feel what others are feeling |
Emotions are self-absorbed and not influenced by others’ feelings |
|
Feelings help to inform and change beliefs and opinions |
Beliefs and opinions are unchanged by emotions |
Let’s take a look at two people, each of whom is better described by one column than the other.