Page 32 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

interesting dynamic when leadership will accept boat rocking from others on staff—but not
from HR, or not from you.
Someone once said “A boat that cannot rock, also cannot sail.” Credible activists are
only “rocking the boat” if there is some issue in the company—and this exists in many com-
panies—wherein the credible activist’s input is unwelcome because the company’s leader-
ship does not want to know they’ve got spinach in their teeth. This can be a corporate
response whether the activist is credible or not. Those who don’t want to allow others into
an in-group (that, for whatever reason, needs an out-group) wind up cutting themselves off
from valuable resources in their own midst—on their own teams. However, leaders who fail
don’t see those who think critically of their decisions as team members but only as enemies
and threats.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS A HARD SKILL

EI is far from a “soft skill” or a fun and fluffy diversion from work; it is a hard skill. 4
Development of EI is the work in every moment, in every decision, and in every interaction
or noninteraction. It is the work in performance evaluation, hiring, promoting, retaining,
and terminating, and HR/OD must help leadership understand this if they are not already
aware. Rater-bias is a significant problem in companies whose leaders are in a downward
spiral of failure and who are not bringing critical awareness to decisions, processes, systems,
and their own emotional and thought processes, which are intertwined.
Many scholars, researchers, and practitioners point out that we make decisions based
on emotions. What kinds of emotions happen at work? How many of us have been taught
that emotions don’t belong in the workplace? How many of us have been taught or told out-
right we should be unemotional or less emotional in the workplace? In fact, who among us
has not been told we’re either “too emotional” or “too aloof” for the workplace?
Rank and gender issues are very salient aspects of such conclusions, whether con-
sciously or not. Anger, for example, has often been accepted in the workplace from certain
employees, depending on who they are, what their position is, and, unfortunately, what
their gender is. That is a serious problem. Similarly, whereas anger from certain employees
is accepted, sadness may or may not be, again depending on rank, gender, or other identity
characteristics. Disgust, fear, and anger, when in existence yet unexamined and/or unal-
lowed, can easily lead to harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and/or workplace vio-
lence. Yet emotions are as much a part of human beings as are our respiratory systems.
Emotions are a part of the human condition. If humans belong in the workplace, so do emo-
tions. (See the HR Tool entitled “Sample Memo on Addressing Emotions in the Workplace,”
at the end of the chapter, on pages 19–20.
What is needed in the workplace is more emotional intelligence, skillful communication
training, and conflict resolution skills training. How is employee A thought of, and how is
employee B thought of? And why? What are the criteria? What are the standards? Are any
issues of conflict of interest and/or personal relationships, cronyism, or nepotism involved?
Are there ethical issues to be addressed? What are the emotions and thoughts that are affect-
ing these performance evaluations and why? When HR/OD notices troubling systemic pat-

CHAPTER 2 • The Impor tance of Emotional Intelligence for the Credible Activist 15