'KWorx Roving Reporter' live from Thessaloniki, Greece - Day 1

From a very busy conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, David Simmonds, our regular KWorx 'roving reporter' sends his most up to date reflections from Day 1 of this conference:

Over 100 people today witnessed renowned Emotional Intelligence (EQ) experts locked in debate. Richard Boyatzis, of the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University, argued that we must be engaged in catching our dreams and engaging our passions. Using research from the field of neurpsychology, he asserted that power-stress causes a simultaneous arousal of both the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and also the para-sympthatetic nervous system (PSNS).

SNS gives rise to positive reactions, whereas PSNS produces negative responses. In our brains, the first section to be affected is that part relating to our emotions; only after that can rational thought become involved! Boyatzis drew heavily on his collaborative ventures with Daniel Goleman and other researchers at Hay-McBer to develop his model of Intentional Change. Battling in the opposite corner, Moshe Zeidner, of the University of Haifa, referred to his own work with Matthews in asserting that EQ is "Personality in action". He also preferred the early work of Salovey & Mayer who held strongly to the opinion that 'despite the flourishing research programs and broad popular interest, scientific evidence for a clearly identified construct of EQ is sparse. The science of EQ', he went on, 'is in its infancy, and many questions remain unanswered.' He concluded that 'it is unclear how EQ may best be measured'.

As you can imagine, audience participation is high! And other speakers added further to the debate by highlighting the apparent paradox between those who hold to the view that EQ is essentially intrapersonal in nature - to do with self-awareness - and those who insist EQ has an interpersonal perspective - all about managing relationships!

Watch this space! The gloves are off!

I am sending this back to the UK for inclusion in our Blog, so why not add your comments and let's continue the debate?

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