Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
In this lesson, I took a lot from the Self Awareness thought to Emotional Intelligence. When we know what we are doing and how our speech and body language are seen by others and the effect it has on them, it makes us become better leaders and role models for others to copy. To me, it’s Leading by example. When I work hard, arrive on time, keep my uniform looking good, etc., it’s easier to hold others to that same standard.
I believe emotional intelligence is extremely important with the ever so changing world of policing. The way we policed 15 years ago has changed drastically compared to today’s policing. We see police officers everyday being indicted on criminal charges due to their lack of emotional intelligence. It is imperative that officers today serve their communities with self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. It is also imperative that officer today understand the important factors for success such as, influencing, productivity, efficiency, and team collaboration.
I agree that emotional intelligence is important in law enforcement. It’s sad to see officers being indicated when their actions could have been avoided or decisions made with more thought.
As I commented on another's post above, I am passionate about the area of Peer Support. In our profession not only is it crucial to exercise Emotional Intelligence when dealing with the public to defuse and turn hostile situations into workable ones, but we also have to do a better job of reading ourselves and each other rather than trying to hide our emotions. Human beings are emotional creatures, putting on a badge does not negate this fact but for so long law enforcement has tried to deny the fact that we are going to respond emotionally to situations that are out of the norm. In the response, an officer must be able to maintain his emotions to stop the chaos that can ensue, but afterward, we must be able to express our emotions in a managed way, this entails self-awareness and identifying problems before they become problems. If this can not be done on a personal level, others around must have the skills necessary to read the emotions being portrayed and work to remedy the situation before it gets out of hand and an officer is lost.
Amy, I could not agree more that we have to do a better job of reading ourselves and each other rather than trying to hide our emotions. Early in my career, I thought that hiding emotions from other officer and the public was a must. I use to believe that it showed weakness to others within the department and to the public if they were able to see any emotions. Of course, later in my career I understood that expressing our emotions in a managed way is in fact self-awareness.
Emotional Intelligence is something that I have had to work on my whole career. Now that I have learned this course it has opened my eyes even more. It has shown me that I still have more to learn and need to reevaluate myself. I believe that this is a course that needs to be learned early in an officer’s career.
In this module, I learned how important emotional intelligence is to the law enforcement profession. It also highlighted the deficient areas of supervisors I've worked with and observed from different agencies, which further explains how this profession is losing the trust in our communities. Everyone operates differently, and some situations may seem the same, but the individual experiencing the hardship may need more emotional balance from a superior to keep their performance from suffering. Performance matters in the overall relationship between the community and law enforcement.
I fully support the notion that emotional intelligence is a vital skill for leaders, particularly those in the field of public safety. Developing emotional intelligence requires continuous effort and attention, but it is worth the investment. Leaders who possess emotional intelligence can effectively manage their own emotions and those of the people they lead, which can lead to better relationships, increased productivity, and overall better outcomes. Taking ownership of one's flaws and attributes is essential in improving emotional intelligence and becoming a more effective leader.
Emotional Intelligence id both relational and tactical.
Emotional intelligence can be a complicated. It is a constant work in progress that requires a LOT of attention. Being a leader requires much reflection, education, and work. Emotional intelligence is a huge part of leadership and an even bigger part of public safety. Being able to internalize our own performance, behavior, and feelings while being in tune with those we manage and lead is key. Ownership of each individual flaw or attribute is a good step toward improvement.
Emotional intelligence is much needed for law enforcement, especially when it comes to empathy. A class on empathy would be a great addition to any basic academy class for new deputies. This is a topic that comes up regularly when I receive a complaint on a patrol deputy. Often times I would not have even received a complaint if the deputy would have been more empathetic on the call when dealing with that person. All it usually takes is for the deputy to act as if they care or actively listen to the person on that call. Another good point brought up in this module is being able to manage your emotions. Often times we see law enforcement in hot water because that officer/ deputy was not able to control their emotions and lost their temper. Being more self-aware of which way a situation is going by watching for physical and mental cues, could give that officer/ deputy more time to de-escalate the situation.
EI, or emotional intelligence, is a crucial tool for both personal and professional situations. It can be observed in the tone of voice of a deputy at the start or end of a shift and can aid in every interaction. During a recent conversation with a co-supervisor, we both agreed that a 40-hour academy course focused on EI would be beneficial for career development. I appreciated the session's diagnostic approach, which helps students understand where they fall on the spectrum and identify areas for improvement to become more effective in EI.
Jeff, I have had to learn over the years to control my emotions in a work capacity and on a personal level from coworkers and supervisors. I agree that having a course integrated within the academy or even shortly after graduation would help these younger officers tremendously.
Travis, I agree. Classes of this magnitude need to be emphasized early and often. If this training is given consistently, it will create a mindset that would reshape our profession. Leaders will be properly trained and more aware of the damage caused when the lack of emotional intelligence does more harm than good!
This module helped me recognize how important controlling my emotional triggers can be. I wish I would have known about Emotional Intelligence earlier in my career. This could have helped me avoid several problems. I do agree though that some of this comes with maturity. My emotions could affect some of my decisions or actions as a young officer. This has changed throughout my career. I do agree that empathy can be tough. I remember being taught that be mindful of how I act and speak to people. We may be dealing with that individual on the worst day of their life and we can leave a good or bad impression that will last the rest of their lives.
Emotional triggers can be tough to tackle sometimes. Maturity definitely plays a part in EI, probably because we have had a few stumbles to learn from throughout time. I find human attributes or certain culture gets in the way, too. I try to be a constant reminder to my team not to judge people and always try to be considerate of what might be that person’s worst day.
This (Emotional Intelligence) should be taught to law enforcement a lot earlier. Looking back, the majority of my altercations and complaints could have possibly been avoided. As a supervisor watching videos of complaints, it's obvious that many deputies aren't aware of their emotional intelligence or that they can improve it.
Bill, I concur with your viewpoint that utilizing EI could have prevented me and many other young officers from being confined to our desks and allowed us to spend more time on the road. It's worth considering that EI has had a significant impact on the careers of several officers.
All too often, many people, including the administrations of law enforcement agencies, fail to see that law enforcement officers are emotional creatures just like every other human being. All too often we see the worst that one human to can do to another human. This takes a toll on our emotions and well being, and being able to recognize those triggers by the officer himself and being able to control it, or admitting he needs a "time out" on a scene is one of the best examples of Emotional Intelligence. Supervisors recognizing the emotional responses of their officers on scenes of emotionally charged investigations and being able to help that officer recognize it and helping them to regain control and make sound reasoned decisions are other examples of emotional intelligence on display.
I am passionate about Peer Support and Emotional Intelligence is crucial for identifying when we, as peers, need to reach a helping hand even before the person struggling asks for assistance. Recognizing that someone is becoming overwhelmed dictates that we read not only our triggers (as we may be the ones struggling) but those of our peers just as you said, seeing that a "time out" is needed. This is an area that has been overlooked for far too long.
Good leaders are born, but often times we see agencies that have no choice but to promote someone because of how well they scored on a promotional test. Often times this leads to supervisors leading a group of individuals that do not possess the emotional intelligence to do so. After watching this lecture, I see there are many ways we can improve a variety of abilities within supervisors that contain poor emotional intelligence. I also see that it is our duty to provide training in these areas to help these types of supervisors succeed, if they do not succeed, then we are not only failing that supervisor but every employee in that supervisor’s command.
I agree in your assertion that we need more training for supervisors to recognize and improve their emotional intelligence. I also think it should be taught in the basic academy to incoming officers to help them recognize their level of emotional intelligence and help them to grow and cope with the stresses of this profession. The long term results would be immeasurable.
Lewis Blanchard
National Command & Staff College
Session # 17, Myrtle Beach, SC
Learning Area 1, Module
Discussion Board: Practical Emotional Intelligence
Practical emotional intelligence is necessary now more than ever. Although it has always been important to be successful and a good leader, without it this day in time, you will quickly be judged due to body cameras, cell phones, and/or surveillance video. What may have been expected or acceptable 15 years ago is no longer expected or accepted.
The first step to becoming better is to have a better understanding such as what was provided within this segment. As we learn to better understand the four branches of emotional intelligence, we will have a better understanding of ourselves and others. Perceived Emotions: To understand emotions, you must accurately perceive them. You must understand body language and facial expressions. Reasoning with Emotions: Emotions determine what we pay attention to as they garner our attention. Understanding Emotions: The emotions we perceive carry a wide range of meanings we must understand. Managing Emotions: Managing, regulating, and responding accordingly are all key factors of emotional intelligence.
Having pro-active discussions with others will also help us to better prepare for hot button issues. We should practice how best to respond, understand your hot button issues, and rehearse for emotionally charged encounters to respond in rational adaptive ways. One that is seen repeatedly online that is clearly a hot button issue for many officers is having their authority challenged. In today’s society, this should be expected and every officer should be prepared to handle it accordingly but it must be acknowledged and discussed.
This training should begin in the academy, continue yearly within the agency, augmented during role calls and discussed in group and individual meetings as needed for proper reinforcement.
I agree with you that it is more important now than it has ever been for law enforcement officers to be emotionally intelligent. With all of the technology today such as body cameras, in-car cameras, cell phones, and even street cameras we have to be more cognitive or manage our emotional intelligence more than ever. I also suggested that this training be a part of the basic academy.
I think my biggest takeaway is the Emotional intelligence can be learned. More importantly in reflecting on my own emotional intelligence its very apparent that over time I have greatly improved in this area. As a young officer I was definitely more robotic and matter of fact, or a just the facts kind of person. This probably cause me more issues of people I interacted with early in my career than I realize. Over the years I have changed a lot obviously, I have learned to listen be more caring and empathetic. I also have learned to tune into facial and body language ques to read people and situations. Again this is something we should teach and reinforce with our new officers and it can certainty lead to doing the job more effectively, hopefully in a shorter amount of time than it took for me.
Agree 100% Daniel. Although much of this comes with wisdom, life experiences, etc. it can certainly be fast tracked into learning and a better understanding. We along with the entire profession will be better off understanding and practicing EI on a daily basis.
There were two quotes in this lesson that stood out with me. First, Daniel Goleman stated, “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses”. This resonated with me as it shows just how important developing strong emotional intelligence is for a leader and their organization. With agencies nationwide struggling to retain and recruit officers, we see just how critical a strong understanding of emotional intelligence can be in a leader’s actions with personnel. The second quote was when Chief Deputy Mike Robinson stated, “80-85% of officer complaints are based on delivery”. This is a perfect example of the need for training and development in the area of emotional intelligence for all officers.
Utilizing emotional intelligence can allow us to become more effective communicators and listeners. We can learn to identify the triggers that lead to certain emotions in ourselves and others, enabling us to manage team dynamics more effectively. By understanding our own emotions, we can better understand the perspectives of those we lead and ensure everyone is working towards the same goal. By understanding the emotions of those around us, we can create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration that potentially leads to an increase in productivity. It also has a positive effect on officer retention.
Emotional intelligence, as mentioned in this module, was a term I had never before heard of but in reality, we
have practiced in this profession, daily. After going through the module, I recognized areas where I needed to improve.
As leaders, we must strive to be more "self aware" because our attitudes affect those around us.
This was the first time I'd ever heard of Emotional Awareness. While I unknowingly relied on physical and mental cues and empathy, I have been oblivious to the other aspects of Emotional Intelligence.
Great job on sharing your reflection on the concept of emotional intelligence introduced in the module. I appreciate how you acknowledged that it was previously unknown to you, but you recognized its relevance to your professional experience. Your admission of the need for self-improvement and awareness of the impact of a leader's attitude is commendable.
I have been a student and (not always successful) practioner of emotionally intelligent (EI) leadership for many years. One lesson that I've learned the hard way is that EI doesn't impart a magical sense of Zen-like well-being and understanding. In fact, understanding what motivates people to do the things they do - being sensitive and empathetic - can be a double-edged sword. Understanding other people's emotions is definitely a "super power" you can develop in order to become a well-respected leader. But the realization that some other people are not emotionally intelligent and are motivated by false assumptions and faulty thinking can definitely take a toll on your psyche.
My point is that emotional intelligence can be both a blessing and a curse. You're not going to magically like everyone you deal with or be universally liked back in return. Yes, being sensitive to other people is a big part of it, and this may naturally lead to being valued, respected, and appreciated. But as a leader, you're still going to have to influence your subordinates to do things they don't want to do. In this context, being emotionally intelligent isn't akin to a popularity contest. It's being a strong, results-oriented leader who can reserve judgment and keep their own emotions and reactions under control while managing conflicts and pursuing the greater good, while still achieving goals.
Your thoughts?
I know of two officers that are no longer employed with my department because of losing control within the last six months. Both officers struck handcuffed subjects who had spit in their faces. One officer created the situation and inserted themself when it was not necessary. The other officer snapped after the subject spit in his face twice, unprovoked. One time a subject spit blood in my face, and I tried to retaliate. I was fortunate to be surrounded by several officers that prevented me from responding violently. I cannot stress how necessary this training would be for all law enforcement, from rookies to department heads. I become irritable when subjects fight officers, which I am responsible for. I try to recognize my emotions and strictly control them when forced into those situations.
This is a very interesting topic, especially for today’s officers. This type of training should be readily available for all officers. Some officers are ok at controlling their emotions and some are not. Being able to recognize this will save you tremendous headaches as a supervisor or leader. The public very much expects us to be able to handle their problems with professionalism once we arrive on the scene. They don’t realize they may be calling us to respond to the exact same thing we are going through in our own lives and some of us can’t even handle it in those situations.
Perception is a topic that struck me in this module. It is a two way street that can make or break you. Perception can make a situation go from 0-10 in a heartbeat. I've had so many interactions during which people blame their reaction on the way they were looked at, on body language, or someone's tone. People allow such things to make them feel disrespected, sometimes when there was no intent to do so. We have to consider how our actions will be perceived by others. We also have to consider the situation with which a person is dealing, usually some form of crisis for them, when we encounter them which may make us misread how we should perceive them at that moment.
I could not agree with you more. On several scenes, I have noticed someone’s perception go from bad to worse because in most cases they misunderstood what point the office was trying to get across to them. In our area of the world, the education level is not so high traditionally. We have to really break things down to be understood by the public. Respect as well as being listened to go a long way with our population. I have learned to listen and listen well with our citizens most often times they will give you the answer to the problem while they are giving you the problem. Putting yourself in their shoes also helps out when dealing with issues. This has helped with the public as well with co-workers. I haven’t seen a case yet where being a smartass helped out either side.
Randy, I agree with your outlook here. We all know that officer who, while they may be very good at the job, they just cant manage to master interactions with people. We really need people to learn to be genuine with those we interact with. Sure there's a time and place for 100% hypervigilance..... but most of the situations we go to do not require that. Most calls simply require listening ,understanding and empathy. When that is not what people get, and that is what they want, they typically complain about police service. This only hurts the profession in the end.
Sgt. Jarrett Holcombe
Foley Police Department
Session #018
As a student of sociology, emotional intelligence (EI) has been a fascination of mine since before I entered law enforcement. This module is a great breakdown of EI and its relevant application to law enforcement. As stated by Goleman, our understanding of the direct correlation between our limbic system (emotion) and the cerebrum (intellectual) is paramount to leadership. Understanding how our emotional responses that are developed through our experiences and our perceptions of those experiences affect every decision we make and can be vastly in contradiction to that of others within the group. Our ability to recognize this in ourselves and develop simple internal protocols, such as the ten second rule, will only increase our receptiveness and acceptance within our group.
As leaders, it is important to create an environment within our group that fosters growth of the group as we all seek to achieve the goals of not only the group but also those of the individuals. A failure to control our emotions as we experience emotional triggers has the opposite effect, or worse yet our failure to be empathetic may cause emotional triggers in others. Emotional intelligence, in my opinion, is one of if not the single most important quality in great leadership.
Hi Jarrett - I couldn't agree more with your overall synopsis. Building on your assessment of what happens when we don't control our emotions, I'd take it one step further and say we risk causing irreperable damage to our repuation and image when we lose control of our emotions in front of our fellow officers. We are undoubtedly judged by our ability to "keep it together" while under stress, or even simply when our beliefs are challenged. Being able to not just "read" other people, but to actually have the empathy to understand how their life experience affects their thoughts and actions are the hallmarks of an emotionally intelligent leader.
EI training is one of those topics that have to be difficult to make engaging and not "death by power point." You lose half of the class at sign in. It is something that is obviously important and as police officers we probably feel we already do a good job with it.
I felt this module handled this topic perfectly. It was interesting and brought some really good points. The sorta "self assessment" was interesting and if you answered honestly, could be eye opening.
I agree. Great presentation which gave the basics for EI. Provided enough intrigue to keep me engaged and had me seeking out additional resources on the presenters and references used. EI is really fascinating to me. Understanding how emotion, intellect, and perception are so intertwined in the decision process and then developing ways to challenge your internal dialogue to further develop your EI to be more efficient and effective. Very interesting to me.
I enjoyed this module as well. I also agree that the nature of law enforcement trains officers to become better at reading people. My weakness is controlling my response to certain provocations and also hoping my officers control themselves.
This is an excellent topic for the current climate that law enforcement is dealing with at the moment. We are under a microscope, and our actions, good or bad, dictate our encounters with the community we serve. Therefore, organizations must get training like this out sooner than later.
Hudson, I completely agree with you. There is a definite need for this training for all members of a department ranging from brand new officers to the command officers. The communities we serve as well as individual departments can greatly benefit from additional training in this area.
I'm glad to see that EI is as important as IQ. Being smart is great, but having the Emotional Intelligence to handle the issue at hand may be your best bet. Some of the items discussed I never really understood until it was explained and now I have a better understanding on what I need to do to assist others.
Times are changing and we are changing with them. Our time now requires a more rounded way of interacting with people and situations. Our EI has to become more important and taught to law enforcement, I do believe this does come with maturity and training. Life is a great teacher of how we think and how others think and react to different situations or scenarios.
Great point, Patrick. In order to minimize confrontation and hostility, law enforcement must evolve, adapt, and approach matters differently. Taking a little extra time to think a situation through can make a world of difference. Emotional intelligence concepts are excellent tools, both for interacting with the public and setting examples for LEO who are new to our profession.
These types of emotional intelligence skills are absolutely key to being able to preform our duties as law enforcement officers. Listening to the video by Daniel Goleman talk about the old style of people being promoted for the wrong reasons and everyone else having to deal with it is something we have all seen. The "Peter Principal" nails it on the head. By attending this course, I am better at understanding so may key principles to make my leadership better. The more we are able to understand the difference and teach other officers, we will be able to change the overall relationship with citizens and officers within our department. I believe we will be able at retaining better officers if we can effectively understand how to take control of your emotional intelligence. Another issue I have seen in regards to this module is the fact that older officers want to be rough and tough, not to show any emotions and conduct operations without having to give feedback on how and why things are done the way they should be. In managing emotions, we are able to have empathy for your officers and promote a department with better moral.
I agree with you Cory. We must make good use of our emotional intelligence to better understand our coworkers and the public. I see this being a big part of community policing, being able to show a more human and understanding persona to the community will make us more approachable. The closer we become with the community the better the moral for the officers will be as well. The old school mentality of being hard and unapproachable does not help grow our department or relationships with others.
I have worked with officers in the past and others in the private sector that lacked in Emotional Intelligence. Up to reviewing the lecture, I had always identified that type of person as lacking in people skills. Working with the public or managing a group of subordinates, requires a high degree of emotional intelligence. The way the world has demonized police in recent years, an officer can’t afford to be lacking in emotional intelligence. The newer generation of officers starting out now are more sensitive than ever and it takes a clear understanding of what their drives are to keep them motivated. Unfortunately, the skill is something that comes in different levels and not everyone has been blessed with the strongest level of emotional intelligence. It was nice to see that were some remedies to help those who lacked in emotional intelligence harness their deficiency. The biggest take away from the lecture for me was learning ways to improve the emotional intelligence in my agency.
I agree with Elliot Grace. The newer officers today have a difference sense of their feelings than the "old school" officers. Being able to identify and teach everyone how to understand Emotional Intelligence will bring everyone to a higher level of leadership. We also have to understand how to treat the newer generation of officers and what motivates them. Just telling someone to do something doesn't always get the job done today. We have to explain it and give reasons why they have to do it.
I found it interesting in this module how the paradigm of IQ leads the way is changing. I concur you can have the most brilliant of minds but, the lack of connection or the ability lead under stress can overshadow that intelligence. In the age of computers and smart devices, I have seen where social skills have been diminished to the extent that it can hinder interactions. Gone are the days of canvassing for information and striking up conversations with neighborhood residents or business owners to prevent crime. Training such as this can help reshape that, and level the playing field by teaching department members how to read through emotion, better understand different social settings, and empathize when appropriate.
I agree with what Trevor said here. Communication has definitely changed. And the same bad practices we may have developed over the years are the new norm for the younger generation. This makes our task even more tricky as we try to connect and better understand them.
In this module of Emotional Intelligence, I think it is one of the most importance especially in the law enforcement profession. I think every person should be aware how the emotions of a event makes them think, feel and react to that particular situation. It is important for us, as officer, to recognize how to detect the how emotions can lead you to be bias, prejudice to certain situation, judgmental which can cause you to be unfair in your duties. If you are self aware, manage your emotions, be motivated, have empathy it will allow you be become even closer to the MAGNUS officer [person that you striving to become.
Effective control of your Emotional Intelligence can aid you in becoming a more well rounded officer. Emotional intelligence is what triggers our response system and if we are aware and cognizant of those emotional statuses we can become a better person. This was a really good in depth look at how emotional intelligence plays a big part in law enforcement and thus if we are able to have self control we can be better at our profession. Doctor Goldman, was also spot on in his assessment of Emotional Intelligence and tactical skills. Tactical skills are easy to come by but having emotional intelligence is something that has to be nurtured and crafted overtime.
Jimmie, I totally agree with you. We all are human and emotions cause each one of us to act or think a certain way. It could be because of a event that we experience or the culture or environment (our background) that we tend to emotional hold on to during a event that triggers our being. If we be self aware and manage these emotions we can only be a positive change in our personal and professional life.
Session #015
I think this is a good topic to learn. Too often in law enforcement, we have "knee-jerk" reactions to events. This happens during calls for service when deputies react to an event without taking time to stop and think things through. It also happens in response to mistakes from others when supervisors put rules in place to fix isolated problems without thinking of the long-term effects of those rules.
Self-awareness is critical when interacting with individuals that may have different life experiences than you have. We often develop our perceptions from our upbringing and personal experiences, but everyone may not be as fortunate to have positive life experiences. Therefore we must consider this when dealing with others. Sometimes, I lose track of this fact when dealing with my offender population and my staff.
Kecia,
I agree with your advice. Empathy is something we should put into play during our encounters at work or out on the street. We never know what the justifications are for someone’s actions or lack of performance.
I am curious if the thought of Emotional intelligence is something taken into consideration when someone is promoted within an agency. It seems that the supervisor, potential leaders, are getting younger and younger. Is it more important for the agency to fill the vacant spot, or would it be more beneficial for the agency to fill the void with a leader who is emotionally intelligent enough to manage their emotions as well as be able to manage the emotions of their subordinates?
Influential leaders are far more valuable than just promoting based on tenure or longevity. Just because you have been with an agency a long time or because you are older should not be grounds for promotion. Doing so could be setting the person up to fail. Everyone is not cut out to be a supervisor.
Jack, I do not think people look at Emotional Intelligence when someone is promoted as Doctor Goldman referred to it "Chainsaw Al" I can pinpoint to several cases in business sectors and law enforcement where people are promoted strictly on the basis that they have put in the time but are truly qualified to do the job emotionally or intelligently.
Jack,
You raise a valid point. I once had a supervisor that preached on how doing your job and doing "time" are two different things. I have tried to keep that in mind over the years and put my best foot forward.
In my career in law enforcement, I have worked with officers who showed low emotional intelligence. Most of them were proficient, and in some cases, they performed the technical aspects of the job at an exceptional level. Those individuals were rarely promoted, and if they were, they were not good leaders.
Talking with younger officers and people, I have observed that many of them grow up glued to technology, spend most of their youth isolated, and don’t know how to interact with others. In our profession, we are called to resolve issues with people who are already angry when we arrive, and if you are not comfortable around people socially, how will you be able to handle this stressful situation?
Supervisors are then given the task of training emotional intelligence in highly stressful situations.
Emotional intelligence is something that I don’t think most leadership take for granted in law enforcement. In my short time as a lieutenant, I have had to choose three sergeants for my watch. As I was making my decision, I thought who would be best for the job and who would fit in with the watch. This module showed me that I was using the emotional intelligence skill going through making the right decision.
The term Emotional Intelligence was new to me. While watching the lecture I thought of a few very intelligent supervises that failed as leaders in my career. They lacked self-awareness and social awareness. Although they were super-intelligent they were unable to connect with people. They passed all levels of promotion at the top of the list. Another thing I take from this is the 10 seconds before replying. I have in the past been quick to reply or snap at someone. I recognized this wasn't good as a leader prior to this section just didn't know the technical term. I feel this important subject needs more attention and time in our career. to develop leaders in our organization.
A few years ago, our agency held training which included in part a less-in-depth presentation covering emotional intelligence in law enforcement. I had never heard the term. Most of us have been on both sides of the need for pause—drawing a conclusion based on insufficient information (consciously or not) and reacting when we did not want to hear what someone else was trying to convey, and alternately when we were trying to convey what someone else did not want to hear.
Discussion Board, Module 3
I will touch on a couple of things I took from this module:
First, Chief Deputy Mike Robinson’s comment that citizens expect us to be emotionally intelligent, and the percentage of complaints that come from the lack thereof. Most rookies I know that first begin in law enforcement (at least in my generation) felt that we had to be hard and cold, indifferent, and basically emotionless. Then, later in our careers we become somewhat jaded, callous to the emotions others feel as a result of the horrible things we see, hear and encounter on a daily basis. It wasn’t until much later in my career that I began to realize the importance of empathizing with my victims (and even offenders, at times) as a vital part of building rapport, gaining compliance, or reaching resolutions. It’s a shame it took me so long.
The other thing I took was the different ways emotional intelligence can be used to enhance every aspect of my life, not only my career. I have been married 26 years, and I must have done something right. Still, going over the 8 ways to use emotional intelligence, the 5 circles of emotional intelligence and the 5 reasons why leaders should cultivate emotional intelligence will not only benefit me as a leader in my department, but also as a husband and father to my family.
Joseph Spadoni, Jr.
St. James Parish Sheriff's Office
Session #15
This module taught me that my level of Emotional Intelligence is more than I realized. Emotional Management stood out to me. It is essential to be aware of your feelings and learn how to manage those emotions. It was said in the lecture that leaders with high emotional intelligence are able to regulate themselves and stay in control. I firmly believe this. By being in control, you can make conscious decisions and not irrational spur-of-the-moment decisions that could negatively impact you.
Daniel Goleman’s comments on his interaction with the waiters at the restaurant showed the importance and difference between being emotionally intelligent and not. Had it not been for the one waiter who exhibited emotional intelligence towards Mr. Goleman, his opinion of the entire restaurant would have been negative. We represent more than ourselves, and if we can’t stay in control, we can have the public having a more negative view of us than we already do.
test today
I found the term Emotional Intelligence to be a brand new meaning at the beginning of the module and not sure where it would take me. I definitely agree that persons with higher emotional intelligence are geared to be more successful as described by Mr. Goleman and having the ability to adapt in all aspects.
Jason,
The term Emotional Intelligence was new to me as well. This is the first time I hear it. After listening to the lecture I learned that I have been exhibiting Emotional Intelligence throughout my career and not knowing I was doing so. After learning about it I believe it is very important for us especially as leaders to have Emotional Intelligence not just for our subordinates but for the public as well.
I agree that after learning what Emotional Intelligence is it's important as leaders to practice it and continue to train ourselves to increase our own Emotional Intelligence. I also feel we need to do more early on with officers in their careers to increase their Emotional Intelligence. I feel we are doing this some in the de-escalation training.
I also feel that the training that my department teach, is teaching the emotional intelligence mindset. The younger generation also needs to learn emotional intelligence so that the quick, on the spot decisions can be made properly. I also feel that the younger generation have a hard time taking out the emotion and act on the anger.
Emotional intelligence: While listening to this lecture, one of the things I took away was self-awareness. Identifying your triggers and how u react to them goes a long way when dealing with employees. Slow down and take a few seconds to think before reacting shows your taking control of your emotions. Once you are more self-aware about your emotions, It become easier to deal with difficult situations. Emotional evaluations should always be done one employees the way stress in law enforcement work have risen.
I agree with you, Devon. I try to make it a point to think about whether I am reacting emotionally to a situation, or if I am reacting appropriately to that situation. I am not saying that I do this 100% of the time, but I have definitely become more consistent than I was when I was younger.
Gerald Whealton Session 15
Practical Emotional Intelligence: One of the interesting topics covered when I watched the video with Daniel Goldman is where he discusses that emotional intelligence can be learned or bettered with life experiences (maturity). I never really gave that much thought until he put it in that context. In retrospect, during my career I’ve gravitated towards emotionally intelligent leaders and put their good traits into my leadership toolbox. I have in fact improved my emotional intelligence over my lifetime.
So, I’ve learned that like IQ and technical skills, emotional intelligence can be learned, like a formal education to improve your leadership skills. What I found interesting was that some of the studies he referenced where companies consistently identify that a leader with emotional intelligence could improve (influence) the companies team members attitudes and the companies bottom line. With that knowledge, the companies still looked for employees based on an IQ or technical skills approach. There would seem to be a lack of appetite or known resources available to these companies to better their company and pocketbook.
He also spoke of the “Captain Ahab” approach. During my career in the Navy and now in law enforcement, I’ve had more than I care for of that approach which has guided my leadership approach – that’s not the way to develop a career or productive employees. I’ve striven for the characteristics of the magnus officer my entire life before I knew that was a thing. Like was said in module 1; the magnus reward is a difficult road and life to better my community. Not only is being magnus difficult but compound that with leaders along the way who didn’t have much emotional intelligence.
So, learning that EQ can be grown or enhanced to a degree, I plan on doubling down on some of my juniors to try and enhance their emotional intelligence. I can see that one of the toughest attributes that I must try, and influence is empathy. A jaded deputy has their own work and life experiences to work through to recapture their empathy, but this is the difficult road of the magnus officer. As a leader, I must try and continue to influence empathy.
One last thing I must comment on is where Goldman spoke of the waiters he interacted with at a restaurant. The first waiter had very little emotional intelligence and the second waiter was full of emotional intelligence and the outcomes. In that vein, in most business and agencies (mine included) the positions where office employees (not necessarily commission law enforcement) where there is a point of contact with our customers (the public), these employees are usually full of emotional intelligence and are usually lowest on the pay scale. Does that not show the value we place on emotional intelligence to Mr. Goldman’s point?
I agree with what you wrote. You bring up some great points that I see in myself and that I also try and do.
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While listening to this module, I kept thinking of the impact of the non-verbal in communication. As little as 10% of the message conveyed by someone is what is actually said verbally. The other 90% of the message is conveyed in the non-verbal behavior. It seems that a great deal of this 90% is governed by our emotions, by that ancient part of our brain. As a result, by being aware of my emotional state, and being able to control my emotions, I can ensure that both my verbal and non-verbal communications are in sync, and the message I want to convey will have a better chance at being properly perceived.
I agree with your statement. Body language speaks volumes. In this module, they speak of the 5 Circles of Emotional Intelligence, more specifically Self-awareness and Self-regulation. I believe if we focus on these two, you will have more success with disruptive body langue. By focusing on these, I believe you will be more successful in building rapport with the public, coworkers, and supervisors. In order to achieve this, it will take a lot of self-reflection but I believe it is important to take the time to better yourself.
After listening to this lecture, have we been doing it all wrong? Is emotional intelligence (EI) the key to being a leader? I have heard about emotional intelligence in past classes and knew it was important, but after listening to this lecture, I wonder if this is the key to leadership? When I look back at the leaders I have known and followed. They all seemed to be the people I like to hang out with. They seem to be the ones who "know theyself" and are confident in their decisions, yet always willing to have an open mind and consider other options. The cool thing is that if this is the "key", then yes, everyone has the potential to being a leader.
Andrew, in my opinion yes, the key to being an effective leader is emotional intelligence. In my experiences on both sides of this question, we can achieve the same goals with both the "my way or the highway" and the ethical leadership approach.
With the highway approach, we leave our subordinates wanting answers and to be involved in the process. We take away their "buy-in". But of course, there will times when situations necessitate immediate decisions.
I’ve found that setting the goal is my job and then to engage my juniors in the process to get there. This engagement involves collaborating (the buy-in) with ideas to reach that goal. During that process, I influence where and when I can. That way I’ve found my subordinates developed trust in me when I trust them to achieve our goal. We don’t have to be Captain Ahab to achieve our goals.
Before this lecture, I had never heard of the term Emotional Intelligence. I have always been heard about emotional stability And keeping a cool head but that's about as far as it went. I have always known controlling and understanding one's emotions is beneficial in law enforcement, and the science and theory behind it are clearer now. I liked Daniel Goleman's 5 skill sets and think it should be a checklist for many situations
Before this lecture, I was aware of how emotions played out in our career but not how important it could determine the outcome. I was aware that I had certain triggers about my Emotional Intelligence, but this lecture opened my eyes to how to improve on them. I feel for most this could be a sensitive topic due most who enter this career tend to be more of an “A” type personality, which they could find challenging. What I came to realize was how often, I apply emotional intelligence during an interview with either a suspect or witness.
I agree with you Michael. I always tended to shift my personality with regard to the situation I was in and felt it was advantageous to me. After watching the video, I began to realize how throughout my career I began adjusting through experience. Many others struggle with this concept due to their personality
We must all look at our inner selves to see what our emotional intelligence is. We must also know what triggers an emotional response and how to control that response. We use EI in many different ways; such as self-management, managing of others, and managing difficult situations. We can also use it to identify a problem and to make sure it does not escalate.
I have seen how I can use this to keep myself in control when I have become angry or in a situation that could become very volatile. We must remember that one wrong move, could result in someone’s death, injury, loss of job, or going to prison. We must learn to slow down; time is on our side, allowing us to keep our emotions in check and not take over a situation.
Individuals who do not have control of their emotions should not be in leadership roles. This could cause any issues to get out of hand leading to worsening situations. I will use my EI to govern myself and not let allow others to influence my control.
Before this lecture, I had not put much thought into my emotional intelligence. While honestly assessing myself and answering the questions of ‘How Emotional Intelligent Are You?’ I was able to answer positively on some of the questions but determined several deficiencies on my part that I need to address. As a patrol officer, I feel, in my interactions with the public, I was able to exhibit a tremendous amount of emotional intelligence, especially from the standpoints of self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, and empathy. This always came easy to me. However, when it comes to my interactions with co-workers, it is not as easy. I am appreciative of the seven steps to improving one’s emotional intelligence and look forward to utilizing them to improve not only myself but also my effectiveness as a leader.
In addition, I enjoyed the video featuring Mr. Goleman and his discussion on emotional intelligence and its importance in the workplace. In one statement he made while discussing bad leaders, he mentioned the ‘Peter Principal’, a concept by which people are promoted to a level of incompetence. We are currently contending with this issue at my agency and it was refreshing to hear him discuss, what many agencies I am sure deal with, but may not know it has a title.
My grandfather used to tell us that whatever controls your emotions controls you. I am sure this is a quote he heard somewhere, but how true it is. As Peace Officers, we must first control ourselves before controlling a scene or another person. In the Practical Emotional Intelligence Concepts and Principles section, Emotion is at the center and surrounded by Behavior, Performance, and Decisions. Our emotions control us and affect these areas as they radiate outward. I found it interesting that the skill set and the key concepts and behaviors were similar, and both started with self-awareness as we must first be aware before we can manage or correct our response to our own emotions. I have seen good officers make bad decisions because emotions hijacked good judgment. I also believe that knowing and understanding our triggers is very important. As we have all experienced, when someone tries to affect your emotions, they will push every button they can until they find the one. If we have trained ourselves and have high emotional intelligence, we will see it for what it is and remain in control of ourselves. One of the fastest ways to lose respect as a leader is to lose control of oneself.
Very good points on knowing and understanding our triggers. I have always felt it to be easier to control these 'triggers' from a professional standpoint and dealing with strangers than it is on the level of a personal or work relationship. Hopefully, the understanding of my triggers and not allowing others to seemingly control me, I feel will benefit me in the future.
I completely agree with that. I have always struggled with my temper and triggers. being able to identify and control them will be very useful every day.
Good point. We must have our self under control before we try to control others who may not be emotionally stable. We must understand and control the things that may trigger us.
I found this module to be very informative and provided some extremely important information. I thought of myself as have pretty good EI but after viewing the module i realize there are areas I can improve on. I also now realize this is a continuing effort that must be practiced over and over. I also agree with the statement that 80-85% of all complaints on officers are based on how the officer made the person feel. I second the many comments in this discussion board that this is something we need to instil in all of our officers. While going through the module I thought of several of my officers who need to learn to control their emotions and work on knowing what their "Hot Buttons" are and how to recognize them.
One of the areas in the Goleman video that really resonated with me was his restaurant example of how individual employees and their abundance or lack of EI makes an impact on the customer’s impression or satisfaction with a given business or agency. Every interaction a citizen has with an agency representative (commissioned or non-commissioned) makes the person feel a little better or a little worse. All the effort and hard work that the officers and support staff do every day to gain the public's’ trust can so easily be undone by an employee who has a low level of EI, is having an emotional response to a situation, or is having a bad day.
Every supervisor can probably name a few officers, who have low levels of EI, or who project their moods and emotions outward toward co-workers and the public. These are probably the same officers who get repeated complaints for being rude or unprofessional. In years past these behaviors may have been tolerated if the officers didn’t cross the lines of policy violations; however, with the challenges of today we need to work to help reduce or eliminate behaviors that reflect poorly individual officers and ultimately the agency. We need every little win we can get.
We need to adopt tools that will help us to test for and identify persons with a minimum level of emotional intelligence during the hiring process. Like most others, my agency uses a standardized written test that primarily measures cognitive ability. With this test there is a cut off score, where those testing below the threshold are eliminated from the process. Interview questions can be written to give an indication of a candidates’ level of EI. Although EI can and likely will improve over time, agencies need to begin with cadets, who have a certain level of EI as a foundation for development.
Learning Area #1 / Module #3 Discussion Post and Response
Captain Jeremy Harrison
Oklahoma City Police Department
National Command & Staff College, Session 16, 2021
The Daniel Goleman interview provided several insights regarding leadership and senior-level employees within an organization (2021). Goleman references a study separating good naval leaders from poor naval leaders (2021). The best leaders were identified as people who were “open,” “warm,” enjoyable, “open to bad news as well as good,” “listened to” people, and built a “consensus” (Goleman, 2021, 17:15). Although there are numerous additional qualities outlined in this week’s lecture, I will focus on being open to bad news and building a consensus.
As with the previous discussions, I hope our organization can implement the principles outlined by Goleman. A supervisor who is open to bad news and responds with a high level of emotional intelligence creates trust and confidence in their team (Goleman, 2021). There is no organization in existence that has not had to deal with bad news from time to time. Many leaders view bad news as a personal failure or worry the news will cast them into a negative light with their superiors. When leaders recognize that bad news is inevitable, they can respond with kindness, respect, and a vision for moving forward. Trust is generally eroded, and employees might avoid delivering bad but necessary news when a supervisor routinely responds with anger or exasperation. Bad news merely provides an opportunity for leaders to build trust and relationships instead of being concerned with how the bad news affects them personally.
Goleman points out building a consensus is a trait good leaders hold (2021). Consensus building is most likely derived from good listening and understanding the emotions of others. There have been many times where I know the direction or the decision I will to make. However, I do not always start with notifying my teams of the decision. Instead, I ask the teams to provide their perspective and ideas. If possible, I gently guide them toward my preferred action, not to manipulate them but to help them understand my perspective. In most cases, the team recommends the action I wanted to be carried out. There are times where the team makes a solid recommendation which does not change the outcome, and I alter my desires to fit that of the team’s. Rarely do I have to give orders in a situation where there is little to no consensus. When building a consensus, the team has buy-in, even if their plan is not implemented in all cases. When people believe they have a voice in an organization, they are more willing to provide total effort for an effective outcome.
It seems apparent that people are more willing to be honest with a superior who does not lose their temper or patience when bad news is delivered. A patient boss, along with a boss who constantly seeks the ideas and opinions of the team, appears to be a winning hand. When leaders worry too much about how they will appear personally or are too prideful to empower others in decision-making, they may be doomed to fail.
References
Goleman, D. (2021, December 13). Emotional intelligence [Online Lecture]. Retrieved from
https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses/NAGVXPB5E6/PracticalEmotionalIntelligence 6c3c50de-463c-4d97-bcce-
19abdeee59fc/2/index_lms.html
This module was extremely comprehensive on the topic of emotional intelligence. Several aspects of emotional intelligence can be applied to any profession but most of all to law enforcement. In my opinion, once you break down what law enforcement does for the community you can truly see that it is a service that is being provided. As with any company that provides a service the customers expect a certain level of customer service. In his interview, Daniel Goldman made the correlation between how customers and employees interact to how those customers feel about the company as a whole. This concept also holds for how employees and employers interact with one another. If it is a positive interaction then the employees or customers will have a positive view of that particular company.
I also see the value of emotional intelligence in leadership. It becomes very self-evident watching a leader who possesses emotional intelligence deal with conflict or a difficult decision. I have learned from my own experiences, the wrong way to handle a situation. I was fortunate in my journey to meet different people with emotional intelligence and learn from them as well as other leadership courses on emotional intelligence. It is great to have an academic understanding of emotional intelligence; however, the journey should not end there. It is far more valuable to practice emotional intelligence in every aspect of one’s life.
This is the module I've been most surprised by and excited about so far. I feel like I'm a relatively emotionally intelligent person (or I've become one. I haven't always been). But I've never thought about it as something that we can develop in our officers. I was especially impressed by the seven steps in the Police Chief magazine article. I found them to be be actionable and really useful, and now I'm pretty excited to find ways to implement them. I am wondering if it would be useful to adjust the language when we train officers so we aren't using the E-word as much. Seems silly, but I do wonder of we have to kind of slowly introduce the idea of emotional anything to our officers. We've privileged logic and unemotional, objective responses for so long that our people might be tempted to pretend emotion doesn't factor into their decision making at all, and so they may feel that a focus on emotion might be asking them to "admit" something.
Learning Area #1 / Module #3 Discussion Post and Response
Captain Jeremy Harrison
Oklahoma City Police Department
National Command & Staff College, Session 16, 2021
Jeff,
When you think about it, if a person has low emotional intelligence, it may be difficult for them to admit they need to improve their emotional intelligence. Low EI individuals may even be offended when they are told they have emotions. I am not sure what you would call it, but we would need to get over the pride factor of many individuals who believe they are at the top of their game at all times.
I am curious what it would look like to put together either a regular training on EI or even a comprehensive class on EI. The course could focus on how low EI has led to officers getting sued, fired, or even imprisoned. The course could also focus on incidents where high EI led to successful outcomes. If we are intentional, we could help officers, including myself, in intentionally focusing on improving our EI. This type of information and training should be carried to the highest levels of our department and all of us can improve in this area.
I agree with you completely about developing this into new officers but this could benefit the seasoned ones as well.
Emotional intelligence is extremely important in law enforcement. Police officers regularly face stressful and unknown situations. The ability to better understand one's own emotions and where they come from can help them manage these emotions and how they may cause them to react. It was encouraging to hear that emotional intelligence can be increased over time. Educating officers about emotional intelligence and motivating them to increase their emotional intelligence must be a priority. They rarely meet people on their best day and a high level of emotional intelligence will positively impact these interactions.
I agree Matt! The ability to better understand ones emotions, and where they come from can help them manage there own. As a police officer I can honestly say that Emotional Intelligence has never been in any of my training. This is something that overtime should be changed. Having Emotional intelligence can deter many things when it comes to law enforcement. Great post!
I agree that we need to develop a good curriculum for educating cadets and officers on EI. Like mentioned by Dr. Goleman in the video, there are a host of programs that are designed to increase EI that we send employees to attend. They are sprayed with information and we pray some of it sticks. I believe the real challenge is getting the target audience to buy into the importance of developing their EI skills. I think a significant amount of time should be spent up front attempting to get the target audience to understand how and why increased EI will benefit them both personally and professionally. If we can turn the hostages into interested participants we will have more success in getting them understand that this is something that will actually befit them (lower number of citizen complaints, better relationships with family and coworkers).
Exactly. Well put. This information needs to be imparted to all our officers. I believe we can all benefit from practicing these concepts. I believe by our department encouraging EI would not only reduce complaints on officers but would also increase our approval ratings with the community.
I agree, learning how to deal with your own emotions is a willing to accept criticism and responsibility to your own actions.
Your mind is such a powerful thing! To have emotional intelligence means you can understand and manage your own emotions and the people around you. People with a high level of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their feelings mean, and how emotions can affect other people.
Emotional intelligence requires a few skills such as emotional awareness and the ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks such as thinking and problem-solving. The mind is the first tool before all other devices you have to use. You must have control over the one thing that can determine the outcome for yourself and others.
I agree with you. I will admit that I have not always been the best at the moment applying emotional intelligence in certain circumstances. I have found myself more equipped to use emotional intelligence when advising others. As you said, it is a skill and as with any skill you need to keep practicing and honing that skill. Emotional intelligence is not only a very valuable skill, it is a skill that has multiple applicants from professionally to personally.
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I found this module very interesting. One thing I always make sure I do is being self-aware. If I am having a bad day, problems at home, etc., I do not like that to be a known factor when someone comes to be for something. I try to always react in a friendly manner and adjust my facial expressions and body language. I especially liked the 4 techniques mentions to increase emotional IQ. This is something that should be brought up to everyone.
In Module 3, an overall theme for improving Emotional Intelligence that I noticed was self-awareness and empathy for others. If officers sometimes put themselves in the victim's shoes, they could better understand emotions that we sometimes think are odd. I also believe that if the public better understood the job we do, they too would understand the reasons for an officer's mood or curtness.
Steven,
I appreciate your thoughts. I think what's even more important than helping the public understand us (though this is desirable too) is that we help us understand ourselves. This is because, ultimately, we have little control over whether or not the public is willing or able to understand us. On the other hand, if officers have better tools to understand why our own moods are what they are, we can better manage them, and avoid coming across as curt in the first place. This is more difficult than it sounds, and we do wish that the public better understood out humanity and gave us more grace, but as I try to tell my people, we are in the positions we're in because we're better than most people. So we can't really expect them to be better; instead we have to be better.
I enjoyed the module on emotional intelligence. I have observed leaders use EI and failed to recognize it for what it was. I just knew they were good leaders that connected with their people. In law enforcement, EI and the ability to control your own emotions is paramount. This ability keeps officers from overreacting, overstepping, or misusing their authority. Without the ability to control your own emotions there is little hope of gaining control of others. I can believe the stat that 80 to 85 percent of complaints have to do with how an officer made a person feel. EI is important to my agency because our city values customer service and personal relationships
The topic of EQ has been talked about in law enforcement for many years. Unfortunately, it never seems to grab any real traction because many view it as "touchy feely" and they feel it goes against the tough guy persona of traditional law enforcement. Over the year I have seen good officers get into serious trouble because they've overrated or treated coworkers and the public poorly. Taking the time to get an understanding of how others perceive an issue goes a long way. The community you serve will know you care, and your coworkers will want to be on your team.
Your comment is spot on. We have under-valued this important aspect of our interactions. In today's environment, though, we no longer have that luxury. Colorado has recently passed laws mandating our "duty to intervene" in officers' negative conduct. We have always had that duty, but, by incorporating a heightened emphasis on Emotional Intelligence, we have some great tools to not only manage ourselves, but also to recognize when our fellow officers may be headed in a bad direction. Paying more attention to EI, we can also recognize when the subjects we are contacting are reacting poorly, and take steps to deescalate potentially volatile situations.
This was an interesting lecture for me. Until now, I did not give a lot of thought to emotional intelligence. At least not in the context it has been presented. I have tried to make a conscious effort to be self-aware of how I react to others and situations. As suggested in the lecture, I believe that emotional intelligence can be taught. The eight different uses of emotional intelligence covered in this lecture provide insight into the effectiveness of emotional intelligence, as well as guidance that can be used to develop these skills in officers. Officers can be trained using everyday scenarios directed at personal development to target self-awareness, emotional management, effective communication, social awareness, and conflict resolution.
This module brought some reality to me and training needs to my department. This is an area I believe agencies should emphasize when training. We go through so much training, and we experience a lot over the years, but we never really train our emotions. It is easy to let your emotions get the better of you when you are angry and make “knee jerk reactions”. We have young officers coming into this profession and life experiences now are different than when I was growing up and when I first started my law enforcement career. The generation gap provides differences. Incorporating emotional intelligence into departmental training will develop and strengthen these skills.
Your mind is such a powerful thing! To have emotional intelligence means you can understand and manage your own emotions and the people around you. People with a high level of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their feelings mean, and how emotions can affect other people.
Emotional intelligence requires a few skills such as emotional awareness and the ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks such as thinking and problem-solving. The mind is the first tool before all other devices you have to use. You must have control over the one thing that can determine the outcome for yourself and others.
When speaking of Emotional Intelligence there are so many things that can be examples of this. I was just in a conversation with someone about how some of our new officers, younger officers, are getting complaints when they did everything right on the call until the separation, the last second little comment that makes the subject they were dealing with feel like the officer was being a jerk. When I was being trained it was taught but not called Emotional Intelligence. We were told "don't tell someone to have a nice day after writing them a handful of tickets". Being able to control your emotions and or using them to your advantage is something that grows with us and with experience. Building our emotional intelligence will take us farther in life than almost any book training that we will do, as Law Enforcement it is one of the most important things that we can improve on, possibly more than tactical training.
Rodney, I too see a vast disconnect between younger officers and emotional intelligence. That is never more apparent than when a field training officer has a trainee that is 20 years younger than they are. The younger officers are more focused on completion than quality and ensuring the complainant or victim feels cared for. It must have been learned, like described, through institutional education focused solely on the outcome.
Many of us have heard, "Oh, it is just Jim, you just have to ignore his behavior as he always looses it." However, through this module it is apparent we do not just have to tolerate people's behavior anymore, especially our supervisors. As pointed out by Daniel Goleman, by avoiding emotional hijackings and cultivating self-awareness, self-regulation, working on social skills, practicing empathy and being motivated to be better we can create a culture within work groups that is healthy and motivated by success. The more a tone is set that emotional intelligence is the expected, the more it becomes the norm. However, it has to be supported and continuously developed by the organization. An organization as a whole has to be committed to the awareness of emotional intelligence and apply it. I have lived both worlds in my career and I am happy to say I see a positive trend towards emotional intelligence not only in our dealings with each other, but with the public. This change in direction is fostering a community rather than an "us vs. them".
This module was very interesting and explains the many reasons why people often let their emotions get the best of them. Dr. Goleman illustrated many great points as to why people act the way that they do. When he compared a person’s I.Q. to Emotional Intelligence, it seems that Emotional Intelligence is more preferred and can be learned over a period. When he was speaking of the wrong person being promoted to a specific level in which they were incompetent in the specific job functions they oversaw, I can think of many times where the wrong person was put into a position of power and ultimately was not suited for the position.
As Dr. Goleman illustrated the 5 circles of Emotional Intelligence, I recognized that self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation all play an important part in us becoming better leaders. Our self-awareness is a vital skill for us as it illustrates how we can have a clear understanding of our strengths and weaknesses. I strive to always remain self-aware, but it does seem hectic at times. A person’s self-regulation must be controlled so that we don’t lose our temper at the wrong moment in time. There have been many occasions that I have seen people lose their control and escalate a situation that could have certainly been handled differently if they would have taken advantage of that 10 second pause and re-evaluated their situation.
Before this Module I had heard of emotional Intelligence but did not know a lot about the subject. When Dr Goleman stated that emotional intelligence was just as important as IQ and technical skills, I realized I may have found answers to some tough questions I had been asking myself. Sara Fletcher’s 5 important reasons why leaders should cultivate Emotional Intelligence stood out.
Self- awareness is a continuous exercise to understand strengths and weaknesses. Being able to recognize emotions as they appear and manage your response is vital so that proper decisions can be made. Effective communication and social awareness prove vital when I deal with complaints against officers. I agree that 80 to 85% of complaints are over officers hurting feelings. I have learned that most of the time, if I practice emotional management the complaint can be handled by simply listening and giving the individual a chance to vent frustration.
Curtis,
Just as you, I had not heard the term Emotional Intelligence used very often. Effective Communication is key to making sure everyone stays on the same page. Throughout listening to complaints that come to my attention through our agency, they are all related in nature because they all were over the way they were initially treated when the officer initially handled the call. I have learned that showing empathy can pay dividends and help resolve most issues.
Emotional Intelligence is an essential aspect of Law Enforcement in this new era. Use of Force is under such high scrutiny that the old ways of Policing have become obsolete. Personally I have been with co workers where I needed to deescalate them to gain control of the situation. Being able to control and regulate our own emotions and not get pulled in to the melee can only lead to the rebuilding of trust in our communities today. Our hiring practices need to include some EQ testing and proficiencies as they are as important if not more than technical skills at times. Supervisors need to reiterate to their people that self talk and emotional awareness are as important as shooting skills and also just as perishable.
Andrew,
I agree that now more than ever developing officer's emotional intelligence is crucial. Increasing their emotional intelligence will have major impacts on their ability to handle the stresses of the job, be more perceptive to others emotions, and hopefully identify triggers before they react.
This is a test
One of the biggest benefits I see that Emotional Inteillgence in being with law enforcement in today's concerns is the efforts of hiring and recruiting. It seems that many of the problems that officers are seen having are based upon their actions or more their reactions to subjects that are contacted.
In the past actions were seen as being done by aggressive officers or poorly trained officers, and that was the excuses. I think now that we look at the EQ of persons, we can see that there might be a problem with the actions of officers based upon thier emotional relationship to their job, and to society as a whole.
To help departments better prepare for the future and resolve these concerns, departments should look to hiring and screening for EQ. If we could hire officers that are better prepared for the aggression of suspects and be able to think and respond with a high level of EQ rather than just respond with their technical skills, we might be able to be in a better place today.
I agree with your insights. Controlling reactions through emotional intelligence is paramount in repairing relationships with the individuals we serve. Common ground is found when officers cease reacting with emotion, and start exploring the why of the situation and why people are reacting the way they are. I think it is much easier to managing volatile situations with a cool head that is open rather then reactionary.
Emotional Intelligence is something that officer's must develop over time. While they can learn a lot about how to do the job from their FTO, it is equally important to learn EI throughout their career, especially while promoting. Not being able to control our triggers is causing the breakdown with the community. Getting anger or frustrated with citizens for no reason causes great harm to the organization. Personally, I like to use the 10 minute rule. If the situation isn't going to be life or death in 10 minutes, you have time to take a "time-out" and think before acting.
Tyler,
I agree completely with the 10 minute rule or at least stepping away to talk to someone like a fellow officer or supervisor before things escalate into a problem, we would be able to resolve more with less force or injury. Sometimes this may not be an option as we all know things do just happen and we are force to respond, but if time allows or there is the ability to have enough staff to shoulder the burden than as a profession we would be in a better place than we are in today.
With all the issues and scrutiny with are facing as law enforcement officers, we definitely need to focus more attention on emotional intelligence. When I was in the police academy 22 years ago, there was very little training in this area. Stress and emotions affect all of us in this profession. Learning how to manage these triggers would go along way to improve our job performance and image with the public.
Glen is right as we live in a new day and age and those practices from 20 years ago are now obsolete. The stress of the job was always there but now we also are saddled with the stress of how the community views us in light of all the recent events in our profession. Agencies affording their personnel with updated training on emotional survival and stress management is essential.
Glenn,
With each day that passes, practices become obsolete almost immediately. Emotional survival and stress management should be at the top of the list for required training.
I agree, Glenn, and that is exactly the way I felt when I took the course. I, too, felt the way you did back in the day when emotions were seen as something to hide or something you just didn't talk about. I don't believe law enforcement would be in the shape it's in today or the views from the general public wouldn't be as bad if we trained ourselves and our recruits better in the subject matter.
This lecture got me thinking about how we develop new officers and the importance of Emotional intelligence. I feel this should be taught not only at the academy but through out their career. Just like training on a new piece of equipment or a new investigative technique, this should be taught. So officers will have the understanding what will trigger unwanted response from themselves and with others. Also, how they can handle their own emotions better. As said in the lecture, 80-85% of officer complaints are based on how the officer made someone "feel."
I agree the EI is one of the most important abilities to learn. Especially in Law Enforcement, EI is probably the best tool a young officer can develop. I also believe it is one of the hardest tolls to develop in a young officer. I believe the different stages in life help an individual begin to want to learn more about themselves, and as a young officer they have to chose to want to know more about themselves in order to be effective. The quicker a young officer begins to work on his EI the better he will become as an officer and as MAGNUS officer the better he will become as a person.
John,
The correlation between a MAGNUS officer and EI is so critical as I do not think your could become proficent as a MAGNUS officer or have a high EI in this profession without the other. The mindset behind being MAGNUS I beleve has to have a strong basis of EI and the understanding of how we see ourselves and the empathy of others.
The lecture covered several significant points on how practical emotional intelligence in law enforcement today is significant for officers who get overwhelmed with stresses that come with the profession. From experience, I have found there is nothing good that will come out of a situation where the strength of emotion can override rational decision making. Instances where officers have made decisions based on emotion often come with negative impacts. The utilization of emotional intelligence allows the projected emotions to be identified before it leads to a poor choice by the officer. I have learned, throughout my career, allowing your emotions to get involved in decision making can obstruct goals and be a downfall for the officer. During the lecture it was mentioned that taking a deep breath is an effective method that gives officers time before they have to react. I agree with that point that it allows the officer a brief moment to calm his emotions before making a critical decision. The best practice is keeping our emotional challenges in check so our thought process is not hijacked.
Doing a critical self-assessment concerning ones triggers and knowing what they are is imperative to being a successful leader. Controlling one's hot buttons and not allowing your hot buttons to be telegraphed to others is also necessary for successful leadership. Early on in my career as a supervisor I was taught that no good decision is made when you are angry. I have seen the results of knee-jerk reactions when a leader responded to a situation in anger instead of recognizing their lack of emotional intelligence at that moment and waiting until the anger subsided before making decisions that have a negative impact on others, as well as ensuring that others will have a negative view of your leadership abilities for a very long time. The lecture and the video by Dr. Goleman put in to words what I have know for a long time, that a high EI is more desirable than a high IQ. Sometimes it is more important to know what not to do than it is to know what to do.
I have known how important it was to control your own hot buttons and as much as possible in this profession controlling your environment helps, but I had never thought about the fact that I may telegraph my hot buttons to others and the effect it could have on their perception of me and my abilities to perform not only the task at hand, but my overall leadership abilities. Excellent point.
Tent, I totally agree. Being able to self-regulate impulses is the key to success. The ones who can control their emotions, in general, don’t get angry, and they don’t let feelings overpower their decision.
It was a turning point in my career when I learned to not respond out of emotion and learned to control my own feelings before dealing with others.
Yes! I had to learn the hard way that thumping my chest and being the loudest one in the room was not the appropriate response. President Lincoln used a method of "Never Signed - Never Delivered". He would write a letter to whoever he was angered with, then put it away for a day or so. Once he calmed down, he would re-read the letter. If he still felt the same way, he would send it, but most of the time he would choose not to send it.
When talking about making decisions when angry, I think we both agree that making a decision based on most any emotional state can cause problems. We have seen the outcome from responding emotionally and then having to walk those decisions back because they were faulty, for one reason or another. When we do not control our emotions then we allow them to control us and this can be the down fall of a leader, and has been in many scenarios. Emotional leaders do not usually work well in the field of Law Enforcement.
Emotional intelligence is not a new concept to me, as I was very fortunate that my first sergeant I had straight out of the police academy took the time to ingrain in to me the importance of this concept. Shortly after, a lot of things begin to go south in my life, but having had him take the time to not only teach the technical skills of the job, but to also spend as much, if not more time focusing on emotional intelligence, not only allowed me to continue in my career, but also over time, put me in a much better place in life. Since that time, I have tried to impart the knowledge and awareness that he instilled in me into others. Now as time has passed, I have the opportunity to observe where they are in their careers and lives, and there is a stark contrast in those who listened and cultivated their own emotional intelligence as opposed to those who did not. I can give real world testament to the fact that as Dr. Goleman mentioned in the opening video to this module, emotional intelligence is a far better predictor of success than IQ.
Trent,
Sounds like you had a great mentor out of the academy that instilled in you the importance of Emotional Intelligence. I feel as leaders in this profession we all need to develop emotionally smart officers. I feel we need to train them emotionally to be prepared for the the daily challenges they will meet. We need to continue that training just like we continue to teach technical skills.
I love the way Daniel Golemanon explained the way emotional intelligence is so important, but companies spend more time on IQ and technical training when emotional training is the most important and help with being successful. It made me look not only into my company, but as speak with other about their job we all are suffering from the same problems. I need to train more on my emotional intelligence.
Unfortunately the world is slow to catch on that pure intellect is not a good predictor of leadership abilities.
In the past several leadership trainings I have attended, Emotional Intelligence is always a major topic of discussion and learning, and for good reason. I found this module very interesting and a few of the points really hit home personally. Emotional Management is probably the top one that hit home. Sometimes this can be a challenge for me. I have been told more than once that I "wear my emotions on my sleeve." It's true and is very much a double edged sword and something I work on every day. Being passionate about our job is very much needed, but that passion can also get you in trouble with issues that arise. I have become more and more self-aware of my emotions over time and am a work in progress to properly balance my passion for the job and my people while also properly managing my emotions.
I agree Donald. I've observed the same at our agency. We have some of the brightest young officers who were making decisions and handling situations in a way that would make a simple call for service turn into a complaint. I for one was assuming they officers were too immature, however after this module I have come to see that it is bigger than that.
The module on Practical Emotional Intelligence was very informative and explained things in a very common sensical way. Daniel Golemanon explained scientifically what many of my peers and I have observed regarding our younger officers and their lower levels of emotional intelligence. Although very bright and scholarly in the academic aspect of law enforcement, the practical appliance aspect was lacking in these junior members of the department. I was happy to learn that we can train these officers to recognize that these deficiencies or just as costly as poor tactics, especially in today's social climate, and teach them to correct this behavior.
I found this training module to be very enlightening. Especially in today's current climate surrounding law enforcement. EI is something that we learned and honed throughout our career but never really had a name for it. I believe that it's just as important, if not more, than cognitive intelligence. Most complaints that I field from citizens have to do more with the way the officer acted rather than their ability to do the job. It took some time to realize but we have learned that we mainly hire on competency but let officers go due to character issues. Emotional Intelligence can definitely be a career saver for many officers.
I agree Donald. I've observed the same at our agency. We have some of the brightest young officers who were making decisions and handling situations in a way that would make a simple call for service turn into a complaint. I for one was assuming they officers were too immature, however after this module I have come to see that it is bigger than that.
I agree totally because we hire or promote mainly if they are smart and very technical then they are let go because of character flaws.
This was an interesting module. So many of us probably never thought about how our emotional intelligence affects our leadership abilities or its importance compared to IQ. This module has a lot of self-reflection on what we as leaders need to control before leading others. Knowing the five skill sets of emotional intelligence is extremely important. Early in the module, during the interview with Daniel Goleman stated, “People don’t leave companies; they leave bad bosses.” I find this extremely powerful and genuine. It is also essential to know that emotional intelligence can be learned. It is often so much easier to discard someone lacking these skills as an un-coachable person who will never gain these skills when they can if they want it.
After viewing the module, one of the biggest takebacks I get is EI begins at an early age in childhood development. It can be nurtured and developed through the personal relationships we have with our parents and other influences as we develop. This lack of personal relationships can make it hard for people to have a high EI level.
I agree with your statement. I'm sure that getting those skills instilled at a young age most definitely has a positive effect. Interestingly enough, we often get people lacking those skills. I appreciate that many of these skills can be learned by those cognisant that they lack those skills and are willing to learn.
I never knew how much of a factor emotional intelligence could pay in law enforcement until I viewed this module. Having emotional intelligence is very helpful in law enforcement. In critical situations, it will be helpful to be able to understand perceived emotion and be able to accurately recognize a person’s nonverbal signals. Also being able to manage my emotions and have the appropriate response to the person. It is also very important for me to continue learning and building my emotional intelligence.
In addition to the nonverbal signs, one of the biggest aspects that stood out to me is empathy. Having the ability to understand and share the feelings of others plays a major part in how we deal with a particular situation. If we can empathize with the subject at hand, this may lead us to make more rational decisions in handling the situation we are faced with. Having this empathy may lead us away from certain triggers that may make the situation more hostile or volatile.
Goleman says that emotional intelligence is twice as important as technical knowledge. This is especially true when it comes to leading people. Being able to connect and read people on an emotional level allows a leader to be better connected with their subordinates. Being better connected allows for more loyalty to a leader and higher morale in the unit. Higher morale leads to better productivity on a team. So promoting someone with higher emotional intelligence will improve the entire department. This is a skill that emergent leaders tend to have. If departments would find a way to quantify EQ and include it in their process for promotion they would be promoting better leaders.
We have a leadership program with a block on emotional intelligence. It was very informative but not a lot about promoting the increase of EQ or encouraging officers to pursue it. I think if we can get front-line officers to understand the value of EQ and provide training or opportunities to increase it that the department as a whole would improve.
Great module, and highly pertinent information contained in this unit. Self-awareness being the bedrock of any successful activity on this job, we face rampant emotional trauma on a scale perhaps not exceeded by any other career. Without warning, our senses can become bombarded with information; and a sudden crisis can shatter the veil of our otherwise "routine" state of mind. We function in a corrosive, hostile environment. We see things that we wish we could forget. We forge order from a furnace of chaos... but it is absolutely our own ability to manage both our own emotional responses, internally and externally, that grants us survival, longevity, professionalism, and health over the long run. One of the Deputy Chief's last statements was one I found poignant as well, breathe! He referred to the "10 second rule", but four square breathing, tactical breathing, zen breathing, whatever you prefer to call it will absolutely help manage not only emotional response, but physical response as well. It is the primary means for the voluntary nervous system to take over the involuntary functions of the body, and is critical in managing emotional response.
I have had EQ training in 2019 and read Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry. This lesson on EQ was refreshing but also gave me emotions of frustration as I see other leaders who also had the training and never use it. I have found that being emotional connected and concerned about subordinate’s wellbeing can have a positive impact on the moral, work ethic and working environment of the unit. The last major snow incident a few years ago had us under a winter storm warning and the public was encouraged to not travel. Schools and Business was shut down as we woke to an impressive amount of snow flurries falling. On my way in, all the employees with children were called and told to stay close to a phone, spend an hour or so with the family and then report for work. The remaining employees were told to take their time coming in as my subordinate supervisors and I reported for duty. The benefits received from this small act in terms of commitment, performance and loyalty are still being felt. Throughout the year wives of Detectives would express their gratitude for that special one-hour unexpected gift. Perhaps now the employees receive less adversity at home when they dedicate more time to the job. My struggle with EQ lies in the recognition of my emotional triggers being manipulated by employees that are pessimistic and create emotional problems to the practical ones. Thanks to this refreshing lesson, I will commit more effort in EQ by awareness, appraisal, Hot buttons, and the ten second rule.
This module discussed emotional intelligence and the effect it has on performance. The module began with a brief history of the development of the study of emotional intelligence and then discussed the definition. The more impactful portion was during the video interview where they discussed how emotional intelligence directly correlated with success as opposed to cognitive intelligence and technical skill (Robinson, 2017). When the speaker broke it down in the and discussed how knowledge and skill are entry level needs in order to perform the job but emotional intelligence is needed in order to do it well and exceed. This resonated with me and I can relate as I had the technical skill and intelligence to complete tasks but lacked the maturity to be a supervisor when I was younger. I later developed the skills and maturity through experience to be able to be a supervisor and leader. I now realize that through discipline and mentorship from other supervisors and leaders I developed my own emotional intelligence. This development is what allowed me to achieve and perform at this level.
EQ has been a popular discussion w/in the leo community for several years now; and needs to be continued. As a young officer, the mistakes/complaints (founded) against me were a result of my lack of emotional intelligence. Allowing my emotions to affect me negatively resulted in poor outcomes of the practical problem. Dr. Goleman's story about his restaurant experience resonated with me; his comment "how I felt about the restaurant, is how I feel about him". That can be correlated to a citizen's experience with a police officer. How we treat our communities in both the mundane and/or critical incidents can have a profound affect on future relationships with our communities.
Jay Callaghan
Session #013
I agree. I believe that if we can get the young officer to grasp this concept it would eliminate many mistakes that we make early in our careers. Having a better understanding of EQ and doing what we can to improve our EQ would improve the young officers most of all.
Burt I'm with you. I can see that if I was introduced to EQ training as a younger officer I would have possibly made better decisions in the beginning and had a broader perspective. I think a young officer with this training would have opportunity to apply the principals and see the benefits early. The only negative to this could possibly be having an abundance of great applicants and making it harder to choose who gets promoted.
Well said, Jay. To this day I have to be very aware of my emotional management so that it doesn't take me down a road that results in a negative outcome to a practical problem. It's a challenge every day to try and get our brand new officers/deputies to really grasp EI and its importance in our every day professional and personal lives.
I really enjoyed this lesson! I have always known as a supervisor that my attitude towards something many times has a large effect on the outcome. It could be anything from a policy change, to a conversation with a subordinate or someone in the community, or really any change. My attitude directly affects the outcome whether that is my intention or not. I think of the very young group of officers that I supervise (most are between 20 and 25 years old). I think about how most are quite unprepared for emotional intelligence (I would venture to guess many may have not even ever heard of the term). As a law enforcement trainer for many years, I now recognize the important need to add this type of training for all officers. We are people, just like everyone else, and have reactions, feelings, and attitudes just like everyone else. The difference is the public demands that we have the ability to display emotional intelligence at all times in all situations.
Agreed Brent. Like Napoleon once said "its all about how you conduct yourself and treat people. Its all about daring to be a person, not a position. Your title doesn't inspire or influence people; but your actions certainly do."
While watching Doctor Goleman's interview about emotional intelligence it became immediately apparent to myself that law enforcement is not taking steps to re-enforce this in our training. We are trained from day one that we should be able to rapidly assess a situation, react properly, make a decision based on law, enforce that law and document our actions. At least for me, there was nothing in the early stages of my career or in any police manuals that covered emotional intelligence. Being in control of our emotional intelligence, but more importantly understanding what those components are and how it effects our professional and personal lives is surely a key for a successful outcome. Understanding how to have good social skills, managing our emotions and having empathy are keys to that any officer should be armed with as they advance through their careers.
Absolutely true. Our basic training has a lag in acceptance and integration of new training. This area, especially, needs to be implemented!
Kevin,
I agree. I don’t remember anything like this being taught at the beginning of my career. Being in control yourself, your emotions, and understanding what all that entails is key. I sure wish I would have known this earlier.
I can see that Practical emotional intelligence needs to be taught in the basic academy for law enforcement officers because as the video says the newer generation really doesn't get the same emotional teachings from parents as us older officers did growing up. Luckily i had parents that instilled that in me. As law enforcement it is important to have Emotional Intelligence because we need the ability to Identify and assess and control our emotions when dealing with the public and other officers.
Buck, I completely agree with you. It will be beneficial to start teaching emotional intelligence in the academy. Being able to identify and control your emotions while on a scene is necessary. Yes, even other officers can even get your emotions out of control.
This was another term, so to speak that I only heard really less than two years ago. I was asked if I would be willing to be certified in something called R.I.T.E (Racial Intelligence Training and Engagement). During this certification I first heard the term or description, emotional intelligence. When it was broken down I realized it was something that I knew however just didn't know it had a name. To make a sincere decision to take an inventory of ones self and to truly see who you are is the first step in connecting with people better.
Emotional intelligence has always been needed in law enforcement, but not more than today. We are living in a time when you can do everything right, but be judged by civilians/society, based on preconceived notions they have from the last officer(s) they had an interaction with, or the last video they have seen on t.v./social media. It helps to have social awareness and understand, whether the people you are dealing with are right or wrong, their perception is just as emotionally real to them as reality (this is also something seen in the mentally ill). Our emotional management and conflict resolution then becomes of paramount importance if we are to come to a peaceful resolution.
Stan, I agree with you that EI has always been needed in law enforcement, especially in today's environment. We are more susceptible to outside stressors that will impact how we will react to a situation. Your right that "our emotional management" is extremely important at that point and can weigh heavily on that outcome.
The most important thing I learned from this topic, is the importance of having emotional intelligence as well as being able to understand others level of emotional intelligence. With the climate of law enforcement being where it is today, I believe emotional intelligence should be at the to of the list of things department's train on. Having officers be able to recognize and control their emotions while on duty and off duty will help them better succeed in their careers. I have seen many times where officers lose it on a call because they do not know how to control their emotions. Officers end up loosing their jobs, careers, homes and other personal things because they lost control of their emotions. I have also seen officers get hurt because they are unable to read the emotions of others and understand how others are feeling. This lecture really brings to point the importance of emotional intelligence, both possessing it and being able to understand it.
I have seen the same thing where officers overreact to a situation and lose their jobs. I don't believe that it is taught to control your emotions but should be. I know I have tried to teach others as often as I can to keep your emotions in check and just listen and don't overreact.
This is the first time I have learned of the term emotional intelligence. As I look back over my notes taken from the lecture, I focus more on the circles of emotional intelligence. I find that when I am dealing with the public, mostly during investigations, I find myself finding common ground with them and I am able to build rapport. Most of the people we deal with I have had previous on-the-job encounters and they remember the way they were treated and this opens up the communication between us to reach the end goal. I often tell people when they say I’m doing too much that they can take whatever it is they want to form me, but they will never be able to take my motivation.
In regards to “hot buttons”, I can name a few officers that work or have work for my Agency that could show up on the simplest call for service and turn it into a resisting officer call over the radio. One officer in particular that always escalated calls, recently responded to an assist officer call where a vehicle had crashed into a wooded area. When the original officer arrived on the scene, a 4 ft female was able to disarm the police officer during a struggle. The officer was able to gain control of his weapon at the same time additional units were arriving to assist. The “hot button” officer, who had responded, helped escort the suspect out of the woods. During the course of the escort, the female subject kicked the officer several times and at this point, he could not control his emotions. The officer, without hesitation, grabbed the female by the hair and literally threw her over a fence. The female then kicked the officer yet again and this is when he pulled her by her hair to the ground. This particular officer had a history of escalating people and suspects, but yet still continued to do so after being talked to several times. I do not believe this officer was ever given formal training on this topic and this incident ended up being his last. A few days later he was charged with a criminal offense and fired from our Agency.
Yes sir, and as we see in the media almost everyday, its extremely important for Officers to recognize know their "Hot Buttons" as well as their implicit and explicit biases.
This lecture was the first time I had heard of the term Emotional Intelligence, but some of the concepts sounded familiar. Some of the points discussed began to sound like lessons that were taught to us as children. Learn to manage your emotions, empathy- put yourself in their shoes etc. Develop social skills that invite people to want to be around you. I believe that in today`s world of Law Enforcement, there is a greater need for this training. Departments should recognize people who have these kills and place them in positions to help others learn and grow as law enforcement officers
Scott,
I agree and understand where you are coming from. I remember the first module during the Leadership Program where they discussed Emotional Intelligence. I did not fully understand it or grasp it the first time around. However when you said it seemed like the lessons learned growing up I can admit that is a better way of looking at it than my initial perspective. Emotional intelligence will continue to be a great benefit to Law Enforcement and highly necessary for officers as public sentiment toward us decreases. In order to continue to reach out and serve communities officers will need better understanding and development of emotional intelligence.
Mr. Collins I totally agree with you. If this course can be implemented into academies; it will definitely help push out a better quality officer. So many of these millennials have the entitled mindset. They feel that the world owe them something and they have no respect for authority. This would expose them to positive reinforcement. They need to be taught how to evaluate their feelings and control their emotions.
This is the first I've heard of Emotional Intelligence. This module was very interesting and made me realize some of my short comings. I realized that I wore my emotions on my sleeve and tend to be reactive rather then proactive. Instead of listening and thinking before I speak or react; I would act out of haste / eagerness. After listening to these lectures and reading the literature; I realize I have a lot of work to do.
I need to work on my emotional literacy, physical / mental cues, and hot buttons. In hind sight 20/20, I need to slow down and take everything in. I need to be more rational rather than irrational. I need to think more clearly about the other point of view; versus always attempting to challenge it. My previous actions was given individuals the wrong perception of me. They were mistaken my passion for anger or aggravation. If I want to be a good leader I have to use these tools to better manage and keep my emotions in order.
I can really appreciate the ability to understand how you have personally fell short of controlling and understanding your own emotional intelligence. I can respect how you mention you have previously wore your emotions on your sleeve and be more reactive than active. I myself can say I was the same way before developing a better understanding of emotional intelligence at a leadership training years ago. Being able to recognize what you need to work on will really help you develop yourself but also those around you that you lead.
Kevin, I appreciate your honesty. I have also dealt with many of the same struggles. One thing that I credit for helping me was becoming a verbal de-escalation instructor. Though I am not perfect, I find that referring to that training helps keep me in check and allows me to be a better role model.
I believe this module should be taught annually at police inservices for departments. It really makes you look and reflect on who you are as a person, co worker and leader. So many times in our careers our mouths and emotions have placed us in situations that are not good. We have also had to talk to or discipline officers that lashed out either verbally or physically because they didn't have the emotional intelligence to be able to handle the situation. We spend countless hours training tactics, firearms, and evoc to make sure an officer is well trained. It is surprising how little we training the officer mentally. This does not mean CCIT training but to actually train and assist officers with how to handle their emotions and stress in the proper way. I will be encouraging my department to include this training into our yearly inservices as this training is what could save the department time and money from officer involved complaints
I can clearly see where the importance of EI comes into play in law enforcement. One of the sheriff's I have worked for in the past and many of the other deputies and officers who have had a hand in training me to do this job have all told me that most of, if not all of the people I will contact in my day or night at work have just encountered me at the lowest part of their day or night and that I should be empathetic towards them. How would I want to be treated in that moment. The fact that one single employee can have a positive or negative effect on a company or agency because of a simple interaction is not a new concept but after this lesson it is defiantly something for me to pay more attention to.
In my opinion, EI can be more difficult to teach than things such as firearms, defensive tactics, etc.. The department I work for has had the best results by essentially using the role model method. We attempt to identify individuals with high EI, then utilize them as Field Training Officers. While there are certainly other methods and resources available, we have had a great deal of success by focusing on EI as one of the most important qualities of our FTO's.
I am happy to hear that your department does that. So many times departments just take the most senior person to be FTO's instead of the most qualified person. I think by having FTO's with a high EI it sets the officer in training up to succeed. I know in my department I believe we washed out some good candidates that were being trained by FTO's with low EI so that was trained into the new hire and they didn't make it. I am happy to say we have turned that around now and don't just make senior officers FTO's
I had never heard of the "Peter Principle" before today, and unfortunately I have worked for a few agencies that applied it in the making of their supervisors. Officers were rude with the public, and with one another . There seemed to be almost a poison you could taste with these agencies, and many employees were satisfied in partaking. Incompetence was plentiful, and it never failed, the ones with the worst attitudes always moved up through the ranks. As I think back on these particular agencies, I can see now, that the tone was set at the top, and trickle down theory was allowed. It has no place in the corporate world, so why should it ever have any place in law enforcement?
I couldn't agree more. I left the law enforcement community for several years and had the experience of working in the trades in that time frame. Most of the shops I worked in did exactly this. It was as if a cancer was in the building killing the morale slowly every day. It made getting up to go to work the worst thing. I can say from self experience that it is a fact that people do not leave bad jobs they leave bad bosses.
I’ve attended Strata Leadership training on Emotional Intelligence, am a De-Escalation Instructor, and a former Crisis Negotiator. I’ve learned all three are very similar. One cannot build rapport with co-workers or those in crisis or being dealt with on the street without a process of some sort. It does take the ability to be self-aware, aware of others via a display of empathy, showing motivation for a common goal, and managing one’s own emotions. A breakdown in any one area can lead to a breakdown in building trust and rapport.
In law enforcement, a key component to solving issues is by managing self via awareness and being rational. When unaware of one’s self, it often leads to reactive communication. Reacting is unplanned, unprepared, and usually the most explosive. That can lead to others equally displaying an emotional response leading to unproductive communication. It is vital to understand emotional intelligence to bring about positive resolutions and discussions.
I have also noticed similarities in those three topics. I too teach a course on De-Escalation and I have found that students with higher EI tend to receive the training more easily. Often people react to how we act. In Law Enforcement the ability to relate to individuals, especially during a crisis, in critical. Continuing to find ways to increase EI will aid our communities and our departments as well.
The emergence of emotional intelligence (EI) in the law enforcement arena has transformed, and continues to transform, leadership theorem in a remarkable way (Robinson, 2021). In the environment that is so prevalent in the profession of late, it is important to master the skill sets associated with EI. Principally, the inclusion of the concept’s associated skillsets identified by Goleman, Boyatzis and Mckee (2013) set forth an acknowledged regimen of service in building the Magnus leader. The tenets of the EI concept include self-cognizance, self-restraint, emotionally insightful, inspired and possessing social skills.
The self-cognizance tenet lauds the importance of one’s intuition and recognition of emotions in real time. This skill enables the leaders to recognize when feedback is being absorbed and when is the appropriate time to apply such. This is a central theme in EI and serves as the lynchpin for the process.
The second principle to be considered is self-restraint. The ability to control one’s self in response to challenging situations is imperative. To do so is to engage in self-reflection that tempers a leader’s response to ensure just and equitable actions rooted in a calm demeanor. This essential allows the leader and feedback recipient to engage in communication with a level of trust and understanding.
Thirdly, being emotionally insightful resonates with folks when they are receiving feedback that might improve their performance (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Empathy has long been noted in leadership circles, albeit not always in line with the other EI tenets. Empathetic personalities tend act as a barometer and allows leaders to resonate with how a recipient is reacting. This is often noted via body language and voice intonation and facial expressions
Inspiration shares an important role in the EI fundamentals as well. To be motivated is to be driven towards learning, honing and implementing skills that grow the other tenets of EI. Motivation provides the encouragement to forge ahead and to receive feedback congruently.
Lastly, the ability to effectively interact has a great deal of dependence on the other skills of EI. Communication, coupled with empathy and self-cognition, forms the foundation of relationship building (Robinson, 2021). This as another key element of the EI concept. In essence they complement each other.
References
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E., Mckee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Robinson, M. (2021). Practical emotional intelligence. Module 3, week 3. National Command and Staff College.
Honestly, I wish I would have had time to finish this module yesterday morning instead of today. During the module they mentioned several steps to improve EI in law enforcement. One that stood out the most for me today was "Hot Buttons." The lesson encouraged us to be able to recognize our triggers ahead of time, which I do know my triggers but at times it's really hard when your caught off guard. On yesterday one of my co-workers made a huge mistake with an inmate insulin. I became so upset because she was just retrained on giving insulin, and yet she made the same mistake days later. I had to calm myself down before I even spoke to her about the error. She told me that she didn't know why she gave the incorrect amount of insulin. I informed her that i would speak with her about it later. So once she left, I walked outside and calmed myself by taking a walk around the building a few times. Exercise always help me relieve my stress and anxiety. About 20 mins later I was calm enough to speak with her more in depth concerning her error. I agree with the lesson that it helps to visualize a situation or a person before an event takes place. I think by doing that we would respond much better to bad situations that will take place. I've learned from this section most is that I need to practice my emotional responses, so I can adapt better to any environment I'm given.
Kaiana,
You may have taken the course a day after your real-life scenario, but it sounds like you did a great job of cooling off before confronting your co-worker. What a difference it makes when you can approach others with a level head rather than a hot head. I'm sure that walk allowed you to approach the topic with a bit more compassion and rationality than an emotional blow up.
Wonderful job of recognizing your "hot Buttons" , and what to do when things begin to go south. Glad to know you took the time to clear your head and calm down before speaking to her about such a serious subject. I tell my deputies in the jail, that there is only a couple of mistakes that can`t be fixed, and given someone the wrong medicine is one of them. I myself have to really take the time and process my thoughts before I speak. I, like many others have said things I`ve instantly regretted. Once we say the words, there is no getting them back.
Emotional intelligence, what a huge topic. I found it very interesting and there were a lot of great techniques covered on how to improve emotional intelligence. Something that stuck with me through the material was in the section on EI for law enforcement. Specifically, the reality is that citizens expect officers to have a high emotional intelligence. I have always believed that it important for an officer to be able to sympathize and empathize with individuals they contact through calls for service. The way the officer conducts themselves as well as the way they communicate can drastically impact the individual they are in contact with. Being able to show sympathy and empathy can go a long way especially when handling victims of crimes.
Additionally, I agree that emotional intelligence is crucial in this line of work. For the example given in the module; an individual in custody spits on an officer. It is easy for the officer to became extremely angry and act out on those emotions. However, being able to control those emotions and know more appropriate ways to react can not only help in the situation it can save their career. I was very appreciative to learn techniques on how to train officers to be more emotionally intelligent. As mentioned by Daniel Goleman, training for emotional intelligence needs to be more focused on emotional training. Building a training that focuses on our officers’ emotions and how the react to situations, and to be repetitive in those trainings. This is what will enhance our officers ‘emotional intelligence.
Most people who do not interact with law enforcement would be mordified by some of the things that suspects and people do and say to police on a daily basis. You have to be able to control those emotions because at times they are only trying to get you to react to their comments and actions because they are recording you. They want to show everyone the bad side of the officer, not the fight, spit or the abuse of words he just endured before the recording started.
This is very true. This is also precisely why we must provide better training for officers in Emotional Intelligence. We, as officers, must control our emotions and professionally resolve whatever the situation. These recordings will then show the officers in a new light. Those citizens who do not have contact with the police will see the video as an attempt to be baited, or eventually, people will stop recording because there will be no point.
I agree with your statement that an officers conduct impacts their ability to communicate. I have officers who can diffuse or de-escalate a situation through connecting with the complainant on some level of emotional intelligence. Whether empathy, sympathy or just being approachable and genuine. I have seen other officers make similar statements and use similar verbiage as their peers but fail to connect with the complainant because of the lack of emotional intelligence applied. Thus their conduct appears uncaring and dismissive
I find it fascinating that evidence appears to show that a decline in emotional intelligence has potentially led to a wide variety of social problems in society, such as increased violence, increased mental health disorders, and increased substance abuse. Within the field of law enforcement, it appears that problems are further complicated by hiring practices that ignore emotional intelligence and instead focus primarily on technical skills. It seems clear that a comprehensive society-wide shift needs to take place to give EQ equal regard to IQ; this will improve societal issues and law enforcement’s ability and resilience to respond to those issues.
Eric,
You make a very good point that hiring with law enforcement needs to be shifted. As you stated I have seen a lot of agencies focus on the technical skills of their candidates. I believe that there are a lot of ways a department could evaluate a candidate's EQ through questions and scenarios. I agree that this type of shift in recruitment could bring a higher quality of officers to our departments.
Eric- I concur. I think we are witnessing this every day in our communities. However. It does not bode well for our profession if we are unable, as a profession, to get a handle on it in our own house. A surge in conceptualized learning in colleges and secondary schools has pushed EI to the forefront...and this is where the public expects us to be. Essentially, they are asking why we are not already there!
I am in hopes that we can meet that expectation. The ship is turning, but it still takes a bit!
Best to you and stay safe-
Ken
Excellent and informative module. Being able to control our emotions is crucial in communication. Being able to control our emotions is also crucial in de-escalating potentially volatile situations. Controlling emotions also, as mentioned in the video, builds respect amongst co-workers, subordinates and peers. Now more than ever law enforcement is being watched. Control of emotions will help law enforcement make sound decisions as opposed to irrational decisions.
I completely agree that officers' control of their own emotions will directly lead to better decision-making. I feel it's just as important that officers can effectively and accurately identify others' emotions to better respond to the situation.
Marshall- Sage words, indeed. self-control has such wide ranging effects on not only we, as leaders, but also our newer team-members. Yes- we are watched by so many today and in so many ways...that is society's new microcosm and it has landed at our feet.
Best and stay safe-
Ken
After completing this section, it really reinforces what I believe is needed in Law Enforcement. I believe Emotional Intelligence training is definitely needed in our chosen field of employment to show and help our officers understand their emotions and the emotions of others. I believe we are public servants and should be held to higher standards for being in control of ourselves and managing any situations that we encounter. It is our responsibility to educate our officers to make them aware of their influence on the public and the perception of our different agencies.
I agree, this module was detailed and it gave us several lessons and even examples about EI. It also stressed that we should show more empathy.
The continuing attack on law enforcement is an opportunity to learn and test the level of emotional intelligence, not only the chaos in the streets with protests and riots but primarily the everyday interaction with the citizenry. It is in evitable someone is going to challenge an officers authority or legitimacy by defying instructions or finding the emotional 'hot button' that leads an officer into an emotional mistake. Learning oneself and what triggers those mistakes is a good step to increasing emotional intelligence, learning to deflect the words and deciphering the true issue or problem by reading body language, facial clues, and an empathetic ear an officer can gain the trust and respect of a person having an issue the police were called to help with. The more an officer practices emotional intelligence the easier enforcing the law and helping citizens seems to be.
While reviewing the material, I really enjoyed the video with Daniel Goleman. He made some very good points about how in our current education system, we focus on improving the technical skills of individuals, such as reading or math, while there is little emphasis on improving the emotional intelligence of individuals. In law enforcement, we spend alot of time training on how to go hands on with subjects, how to drive our vehicles safety, and how to use our firearm proficiently. Little time is spent talking about improving emotional intelligence or mentally preparing for handling stressful situations. I found the 7 steps to improving emotional intelligence to be very applicable and something that should be focused on more in training. The steps on knowing yourself and your "hot buttons" are very important in mentally preparing for situations.
My first thought upon completing this module on Emotional Intelligence of that I wish that I had completed this years ago. The emotional intelligence aspect of law enforcement work is one of those force multipliers if the officer as a high level of emotional intelligence. However, in dealing with some of the confrontational and extremely emotional situations often seen today it becomes clear when an officer doesn't possess a certain level of emotional intelligence to effectively negotiate some of the scenarios that we face. This module included 7 steps to improve emotional intelligence that I feel should certainly be offered to every officer frequently and reinforced throughout the year.
Mr. Sandlin when I read your comment I thought of all those hard charging 21 to 25 year old new officers and the thrill of the job. It is awesome to be a police officer and at that age you still feel invincible. Our firearms instructors drive home when and how to use your weapons, our defensive tactics are taught for days with emotion and stories or scenarios where we are going to win the fight, oh sorry control the situation with only the reasonable amount of force necessary to affect the desirable outcome. Our recruits, trainees, or cadets are as excited as anyone can be to go forth and protect the world. Those young officers, sounds like you were one, hear and see the trainings, sign the forms they understand, but just do not have the life experience for the lessons of life. All that to say I agree the 7 steps to improve emotional intelligence should be frequently taught and reminded to help all of us continue to improve our emotional intelligence. 10 minutes of training each day times 16 days worked each month times 12 months in a year equals 32 hours a year of training. The seven steps could be covered well.
I enjoyed listening to this lecture. It reminded me of how vital it is to always evaluate your emotional status. Like any job, in law enforcement, we have better days than others. Having the ability to regulate/monitor your status can better help where your reaction is coming from and help identify triggers earlier avoiding an unprofessional response.
I find it interesting as a whole, law enforcement doesn't make much of an investment in emotional intelligence training when it is one of the most influential aspects that dictate the success of an officer/leader. Like many other LE skills, it only holds the value the receiver puts on it and their willingness to utilize it beyond the training. The only way we can improve together is, as leadership, we must practice what we preach and be the standard. We need to encourage others to do the same and hold those accountable that aren't willing to put forth the effort.
I think this is critical to remember in the law enforcement profession as my ability to effectively lead and make emotional connections with those around me will require repetition and effectively interpreting the intangible, such as a person emotions or body language. It’s also important to realize that a portrayed emotion could have a wide variety of meanings, which complicates things even further and brings the whole concept full circle in that repetition is key. Knowing this and working on this skillset will help me interact with my co-workers, but also those I many interact with on the street. Having the ability to correctly interpret their emotions and personally exhibit a high emotional intelligence will be critical in dealing with the challenges that will be presented. Feeling the emotions is easy, controlling and responding with the correct emotions is not easy.
The topic of EI seems to be something not often discussed when talking about becoming an effective leader, however it most definitely is an important one. I specifically found personal connection to the example used in the lecture of the manager who rules through use of their title but often does not have success in the long run. I think we've all had that manager who is in their position but is not effective because they don't know how to tailor the needs of each of their employees to make them successful. It seems to me two of the most often missing EI traits in bad managers are self-awareness and empathy; both of which can be detrimental to the success of any organization.
I think you make an extremely valid point in that effectiveness requires tailoring to a specific person or setting. Having control and exhibiting good emotional intelligence is only part of the interaction, in that, you must interpret the other person and adapt accordingly. Even if you have strong emotional intelligence but try to apply a one size fits all approach to others you are destined to fail.
The lecture opened my eyes to a concept I have not heard much about. I could not help but think of the numerous situations I have been involved in where emotions got the best of me or others I have worked with. Chief Deputy Mike Robinson’s techniques are a great baseline for Emotional Intelligence. To always be aware of your emotional status is crucial. In this profession, we may have good days and bad days. Many officers show up to their shift, often on little-to-no sleep, have personal problems that may be lingering, or have something on their mind from a previous shift. By knowing where their emotional status is may help them self-regulate and handle how they react to a situation. Learning to control emotional triggers may prevent a “knee jerk” reaction that could potentially cause an unnecessary use of force or escalating of an incident that was not needed. Knowing and understanding your “hot buttons” ahead of time will make you more aware of your emotions and allow you to control yourself. Utilizing the “10 second rule” is a technique that goes along with controlling your emotional triggers. Allowing time to think before you react can be used in your daily life, not just law enforcement. Taking a deep breath, allowing time to process information, and then acting will enhance your decision making. And finally, training your brain with repetition to be aware of Emotional Intelligence will build that conscious thought, allowing you to become a leader and to manage difficult decisions. Overall, this lecture was extremely beneficial and will help strive to become a better leader.
I think what you said about learning to control emotional triggers is right on point! Knowing what your "hot buttons" are and coming up with some pre-planned, practiced responses to those "hot buttons" can help diffuse those situations, or at a minimum, not feed in to making the situation worse.
I am currently assigned to the Training Division within my agency of approximately 1200 personnel. In my current position I review all UoF incidents related to our Patrol and Investigative Division. Having reviewed numerous UoF incidents looking for patterns or other training deficiencies that need to be addressed; Emotional Intelligence (EI) stands out as being a solid foundation for incidents that went well and a faulty foundation where the incident could have been handled in a better manner supporting the data the instructor relayed regarding, 80-85% of all officer complaints were due to the how the officer made the individual feel. It could be just my data and unique to my agency, but younger less experienced officers are often lacking in EI. Finding this to be a deficiency, dynamic scenario-based training has been implemented to recreate the anxiety that can occur with the objective of continually increasing the level of EI in all personnel attending training.
Emotional intelligence is something that I never really thought about. When the instructor stated that between 80 and 85% of all officer complaints are due to how the officer made that individual feel, this is quite alarming. This I believe comes from officers inability to communicate effectively with people from our community. Possibly these officers are not comfortable in their new positions or with themselves as individuals. By becoming more cognizant of their emotional intelligence, this may help how they present themselves to our community members.
I think your right on point here. I very often get complaints from citizens about how a deputy made them feel. When I dive into the complaint further I find that "technically" the deputy didn't do anything wrong or violate any policies, however they certainly could have handled the situation better or brought more empathy to the table.
The idea behind emotional management stood out the most for me during this lecture. In my mind, this is something we don't spend nearly enough time with. This is also what gets us as leo's in trouble in the heat of the moment. Our emotions get triggered by whatever incident we are immersed in, and our actions can be driven negatively by those emotions. Self awareness, emotional management, effective communication, social awareness, and conflict resolution are all tied together. But to me, even if we can't identify what it is we are feeling, if we can't figure out how to quell a pile of chemicals our brain dumps on us during an incident, we likely will react adversely.
That's a great point. I believe being able to identify our emotions is a half the battle the other half is how to respond to our emotions so we can maintain a level of professionalism that allows us to serve the public effectively.
It seems to be clear after this lesson that public safety receiving emotional intelligence training doesn't seem to be very common. Unfortunately, law enforcement officers seem to need it the most. With law enforcement having an extremely high burnout rate and lately seem to be very much so in the spotlight of the nation, officers being able to handle their emotions seems like it should certainly be a priority for departments. I've been in the situation where it has been evident that one of my co-workers is struggling from a call that they were on or I've been on calls where a co-worker is out of line because they let their emotions get out of control. Fortunately, my department is currently in the process of putting together a peer support team. I will be on that team, which I'm excited about because it is something that I am truly passionate about and hope to be able to help the people that I work with everyday. Seeing someone you work with decline at work and in their personal lives is tough to see, especially when it feels like there isn't a lot you can do about it. Emotional intelligence training needs to be come a new norm, and not be something that is brought up every once in awhile. It is something that needs to be trained and then frequently be refreshed with everyone.
Kari,
Our office is in the infant stages of introducing a peer support group for our employees. Emotional intelligence is something that our employees need to be cognizant of, and learn more about.
Lt,
Peer to Peer is outstanding. We currently have a robust peer to peer program that has had great results. This program was developed at our agency by two of my mentors who have continued working on expanding the program to a full officer wellness routine which is still in its infancy. Training EI and offering the solid foundational support to nurture it is on us a leaders and I would like to see more implementation of EI training at the academy/entry level so once we get them, a solid foundation is in place and we don't get that look of, I don't know what you’re talking about.
Emotional Intelligence is something that I had heard of, but did not truly understand. This session was very helpful in better understanding the concept. I especially took note during the interview when it was stated that emotional intelligence was twice as important to businesses than the IQ and technical skills combined. Yet, they are not truly taught... Also when listing the top skills managers are looking for in new hires, 6 out of 7 were based in emotional intelligence. This session has opened my eyes to the need to truly evaluate my EI and take steps to improve in this area.
Of the many topics within the section, the most important lesson was the terminology of emotional hijacking. I am very familiar with the need to be versed in self-awareness and how you are often the center of your tests, trials, and tribulations. Keeping emotions in check was a challenge earlier in my career. Upon having a significant life changing event, only then did I see the effects anger and emotions were having on my career progression.
To codify anger in the fashion presented was enlightening and an excellent presentation to keep in my resiliency toolbox. While I am known for not letting emotions openly affect me, as seen with the snake attack video, my interactions with superiors and peers were where I struggled. Anger can have a purpose, but as stated within the presentation, “anyone can be angry, but being angry with the right person, to the right degree at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not easy” (Robinson, 33:52-34:06).
Through continually refining my understanding of this concept, I am better able to use the eight different uses of emotional intelligence with better success in the development of my leadership capabilities. I make better decisions while remaining highly motivated and positively committed to serving my organization, community, and subordinates. As I reviewed the material, I noticed how my emotions cause challenges to those in this profession. Still, as I enhanced my emotional literacy, I saw that I better manage hot buttons, interpersonal challenges, and I have increased my efficiency in my duties as outlined within section 11 of the presentation.
Robinson, M. (2017). Practical emotional intelligence. Learning area 1, Module 3. National Command and Staff College.
The biggest take away from this section for me is the 7 steps to improving EI in Law Enforcement. In the world we live in today it is clear and evident that the "old way" of conducting our jobs or the way the "organization" is run outdated and behind times. It is my opinion that many organizations still run under the hierarchical system and most likely don't do enough to groom and grow the appropriate people for the jobs. More often than not people get promoted for the wrong reasons. By searching our those people who already have a high EI not necessarily a high IQ and allowing them to grow and giving them the tools they need to grow even more will only produce a better organization and place to work. A strong statement from the module was that people leave because of bad boss's not because of a bad organization. In doing some self-reflection I know my biggest area to focus on and improve on is emotional literacy. Many times over in both my personal and professional life I have said things I do not mean to say and wish that I could retract them and start over choosing better words to make my point.
Our agency doesn't present training specific to emotional intelligence, however we require all supervisors to partake in training that has the topic built-in. The problem is the benefits would be better served starting while you are younger in your career than later. The guys that are already supervisors have matured and learned (for the most part) to manage their emotions and read others better than the did when they started. To me the most important aspect of EI is specific to the individual officer and their health. Not learning to manage their emotions or having the self awareness can lead to lifelong issues. There were a tremendous number of police suicides in the US in 2019. If training in EI would have save just one, it would have been worth it.
Emotional Intelligence seems like it’s an academic way of studying/teaching/understanding something that we ALL do. The value of controlling our emotions and perceiving, analyzing, and reacting to other's emotions is something most all humans learn to do during childhood.
We teach it to some extent in Police academies. The instructors place cadets into stressful situations and the cadets learn that if they cannot control their emotions there will be negative consequences. Control of emotions is probably the biggest EI selling point for law enforcement. Loss of control of emotions is behind most embarrassing moments for agencies and time when LEOs/agencies get sued. Moving forward, agencies should develop more training where more emphasis is on emotional control under stress vs straight shoot/no-shoot scenarios.
"Promoting to their level of incompetence", I could completely relate to this statement. Law enforcement promoting practices are finally starting to catch up with this notion. The basic idea that promotion is based on years of service, technical proficiency, a test, or even by who you know has longed plagued this profession. This has lead to incompetent leaders and stressful work environment's for subordinates. The idea of promoting based on the ability to lead by influencing the ones around you seems to finally be in the picture.
William, I couldn't agree with you more and this is the very thing I wrote about in my discussion. The "old" way of doing business are quickly fading and no longer acceptable. We need to and will be held to a higher standard and as you said that starts with growing the appropriate people to promote and be the future of the department. Hopefully as turn over in the departments happens the new way of leadership will begin to take over and change.
I had to chuckle a bit reading that. We have a couple deputies of higher seniority than most, that have verbally stated during Sgt's interviews that they believe they deserve a promotion because they've been here longer than the other candidates applying for the position. Needless to say, these specific deputies haven't demonstrated the ability to positively influence those around them.
Daniel Goleman's book, Emotional Intelligence was a carry-over from the ICLD series and a good refresher for this course. I found the book to be very "smart" and it took a little longer to fully read through it and grasp all its concepts. In summary, I have come to realize that emotional intelligence (EQ) is learned as we mature and gain more experience. I do think reading and studying the topic is a good idea for leaders and in particular law enforcement leaders. Who hasn't had their buttons pushed, and pushed hard, in this line of work? I wish I knew some of these concepts when I was a rookie officer, I would have likely handled things differently in various scenarios.
The key takeaways for me in this module revolve around how I treat my subordinates, especially when getting angry would surely be understandable. Over time and in dealing with many internal conflicts I've come to realize that a cool head keeps the issues on the ground and the exact opposite occurs when we try and resolve issues with anger or emotion. Most instances can be handled in a manner that keeps emotion in check and is acceptable by all involved.
One last comment, group think among a diverse group of leaders and be disastrous. In other words, I may be calm but one or two of my peers may not have the EQ appropriate for the scenario. They may add fuel to the fire per see causing me or someone else to handle a scenario in a calm manner vs a heated one.
The hardest part for me dealing with a mistake is taking out my emotions. Because we all know its not the first, second, or even third time we have addressed the same issue on a squad or division. That fourth time always hits when everything else is going wrong. Governing your emotions is a legit skill.
I had a boss that used to say "never type angry". Through many of my leadership failures, I've learned that he was right. If something has me wound up, I really try to put some thought into an email before a "reply all" is sent. I've often joked that our agency ought to have soundproof rooms in every building where employees can go and yell/scream to let out negative emotions. It would be very therapeutic.
I found this lesson to be very rewarding and helped to reinforce and revisit concepts that are crucial for success as a leader. I had heard much of what was was covered in the past, but I appreciated the way that it was delivered and the easy steps for how to become more emotionally intelligent. Developing my emotional intelligence and that of the people I supervise is key to the success of our organization.
I agree, Sergeant Gronholz. that the lesson will help reinforce concepts for successful leaders. I think being able to control emotions shows maturity and wisdom in an individual, especially a law enforcement professional. As law enforcement professionals we are constantly in the "public eye". Now more than ever we need to harness our emptions for sound decision making.
I found this lesson very informative. Its funny because I talk with my oldest son all the time about different types of intelligence. He is a great student and good at math. He's in advanced math getting good grades and gives me a hard time about algebra. I think he feels that Math makes him intelligent. While I am very proud of his drive and IQ, I try to explain to him all time that there is a lot more to intelligence then just getting good grades. I have found that being driven and being composed has gotten me further in live then any "A" in a class ever did. Don't get me wrong I feel that getting good grades is important, but Daniel Goleman's discussion on emotional intelligence was spot on. I can't tell you the people that I have worked with in my career that I felt were very book smart, and a minute later they would get angry with one of their co-workers, losing control of their emotions. I do believe the many good police officer learn emotional intelligence just in experience related to sheer call volume, but it really does take practice. I almost wonder sometimes if officers become too good at it. How many times does an officer’s spouse look at them and think we’re is the emotion? Maybe some of that is just that the officer learned to control their emotional response, and it becomes hard to flip that switch on and off. It does concern me some, that we are training our children in topics mostly related to IQ and not as much emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman's discussion on what companies are looking for and what companies are getting like the big tech example he gave is eye opening.
Excellent points made Andy.
1. I have 5 children and can fully appreciate what you're saying about IQ vs. EQ. The smartest (IQ) of the bunch can be dumber than a bag of hammers when it comes to EQ. This helps explain my point about EQ being a learned skill that we definitely mature in overtime. I can say wholeheartedly that 20 years ago I was a dunce when it came to EQ. I've learned and continue to learn.
2. The spouse scenario; spot on! I found your comment laughable because I bet a vast majority of us have ample stories about comments made by a spouse related to our emotions or how we handle scenarios. By sheer nature of our jobs is the reason we're so level when it comes to debate or arguments. At least I'd like to think.
This lesson was a good reminder on how much body language plays a role in how we respond. Self reflection on what my body language is saying when you are talking to someone can make the situation worse or better. Taking the time to make sure your body language is in check when you are having conversations should be considered by taking distractions away and focusing your attention. At the end of the lesson it was said we should "be aware, control emotional triggers, apply the ten second rule and train your brain by conscious thought'. These are all achievable goals that we can add to our daily lives in the leadership role.
Certainly body language is a much better indicator of emotions. Included with body language is facial expresssions. I enjoyed the exercise we did in the lesson about recognizing facial expressions. It's important to keep body language in mind when communicating with others because when what a person saying and what their body says differ, people tend to believe the body language.
Watching and listing to Dr. Goleman was truly fascinating. I read his emotional intelligence book many years ago and had a general understanding. However this interview provided another layer to the book. I am always intrigued and impressed when people push a concept forward and it has the longevity of EI. His concept of how success is measured not just by admission tests and IQ scores is a great lesson. Never underestimate anyone and do not provide undying support based solely on high test scores. Dr. Goleman's interview caused me to reflect on a computer programmer I knew 25 years ago. The programmer was brilliant with a computer but lacked social skills to interact with others. Had he possessed IE his life would have been more successful.
I really enjoyed the conclusion to the lecture by Chief Deputy Mike Robinson. Chief Deputy Robinson challenged all of us to use 4 simple techniques to improve our emotional intelligence at work. Always be aware of your emotional status, learn to control your emotional triggers, allow yourself 10 seconds before responding to emotionally charged situations and train your brain exactly the same way that you train for holstering your weapon.
If we all take some time to understand that typically our emotions dictate our responses vs. the facts we might respond more effectively. We all have been in situations where we wished we had taken a moment and thought prior to speaking - I for one hope to practice this more often.
I also enjoyed the lecture. We would all be better off if we took 10 seconds when emotionally charged to respond to someone. I can think of many times I wish I had taken a moment and thought before speaking (my wife will second this).
Or 10 days:)
I often say the Lord gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth. Maybe there's a reason?
Andy, that is so true. Reminds of a term that was told to me; Listening is not just waiting for you turn to talk......
I found many aspects of this module interesting, but I agree the concept of training our EI just like you train with holstering your weapon. I know I would practice a draw and re-holster numerous times, especially if I made any changes (new holster, tac light, etc.). I had never really thought about practicing emotional intelligence. This is an area that I will certainly be looking more into because I feel it is not as strong as it should be.
Practical Emotional Intelligence
As the law enforcement profession continues to recognize the need for additional training(s), it only makes sense to incorporate “EI” training right into the curriculum. New officers should be receiving this training at an academy level along with ongoing training throughout one’s career. I imagine the use of force, the number of complaints and a number of other areas of concern would be impacted (positively) by agencies ensuring their officers and leaders were all aware of EI and trained appropriately.
I totally agree Brad. Based on Daniel Goleman’s discussion it seems that Emotional intelligence is extremely important. While I realize that the state is being asked to add more and more curriculum as evidenced by the increase of our academies from 520 hours to 720’s, this training is a must. Training Emotional intelligence should be part of the Professional Communications Curriculum provided by the state. I believe it should also become part of our Field Training Program and could be added to the definition of interpersonal communication related to documentation in a Daily Observation Report. It is important to train officers in unified tactics based the probability of a life or death situation, but training officers in communication, and controlling and understanding emotions can also save lives and a lot of headache for the officer’s and supervisors.
After watching the video and conducting research on this topic, I learned that the root of success for people, especially leaders, originates from the effective use of emotional intelligence. As discussed on the lecture and video, self-awareness is a key element of emotional intelligence. Being aware of our emotions during difficult situations is the key to understanding how to deal with these situations. More emphasizes should be placed on proving law enforcement professionals with information on E.I. I know I could improve my leadership skills by using emotional intelligence when dealing with my subordinates and my superiors. It is important as leaders to practice emotional intelligence to foster happy healthy relationships at work. As a behavioral health crisis intervention instructor, emotional intelligence could greatly assist officers dealing with individuals affected by a mental illness. The proper use of E.I can minimize use of force incidents, citizen complaints and benefit law enforcement professionals dealing with the public, peers and supervisors. Emotional intelligence will be something I will be working to improve my people skills.
Very good point on the use of force relationship to EQ. The whole de-escalation thing fits right in here. If we take time to study and practice defusing people, we'll be better off. I have been on calls with certain officers who might as well have brought a bucket with gasoline to the call because the scenario exploded due to their lack of EQ.
I agree your statement, "emotional intelligence could greatly assist officers dealing with individuals affected by a mental illness. The proper use of E.I can minimize use of force incidents, citizen complaints and benefit law enforcement professionals dealing with the public, peers and supervisors." The majority of the complaints we get have nothing to do with force or action. The root of the complaint almost always goes back to how they were talked to. Most cases the complainant just wanted to be heard and the deputy didn't hear them out. Most of those times, there was no action we could have taken to help the person other than listen and offer some suggestions. A little "customer service" would have gone a long way.
Emotional Intelligence is a new term for me. I have always chalked it up to personality; some people care, some people don’t. Some people learn to manage their emotions better than others over time. I really liked the breakdown of the skills needed for E.I. I can see the lack of E.I. in newer staff, they don’t realize how important it is to be able to communicate and understand people. I would agree this is likely a direct reflection of their supervisors. We have crisis intervention training which could be like a E.I. model. The view from senior staff that haven’t attended is usually negative. Newer staff are excited to attend. Either way it has become mandatory, along with officer resiliency, and it is important.
Hello Jacqueline. E.I was also a new term for me. I had a belief that some people were "naturally" charming when dealing with people not knowing it was all about emotional intelligence. Over the years I have learned to develop patience and worked on regulating my emotions. It has definitely been a journey of ups and downs. As a supervisor, I will be more aware of my actions and emotions. I agree with you that crisis intervention training can be linked to the E.I. model as it focuses on very similar concepts. I wish I was introduced to this concept early on as I entered law enforcement. I would have helped me staying out of some difficult situations. Great post!
After watching Goleman’s interview, I concluded that my understanding of this topic is limited at best. For example, I was unaware that emotional intelligence is something that we can learn, and that it is a skill that naturally improves with age. I was also unaware that we can improve these skills with thought process training. And after reflecting on the subject further, all of it makes sense. It is common knowledge that 90% of our communication is nonverbal, and since emotional intelligence is centered on our ability to read and manage emotions, which in turn determine our body language and behavior, it is very obvious that this subject needs to be given significantly more attention in our line of work. Bottom line is, increased emotional intelligence will improve officer safety.
I've heard about emotional intelligence quite a bit over the last couple of years. I've also seen the interview with Daniel Goleman previously so a lot of this was a review but still good information. The seven steps to improve emotional intelligence is something I can definitely use to improve my abilities. I may also share that with others because it seems like a good process to improve your skills. I found it very interesting that emotional intelligence was two times more important than cognitive ability and technical expertise combined. I've understood the importance of emotional intelligence but that stat was impressive, I re-watched that portion of the presentation just to make sure I understood it correctly.
I had heard of emotional intelligence prior to this module, but the way it was explained helped me better understand how emotional intelligence relates to the relationships in our lives. After Goleman explained his story about his classmates and how he correlated their long term success to associate with their emotional intelligence, it seamed to make sense that this was a key component to success. I couldn't help but think of several of my own interactions over the years, where I did not achieve my desired results from interactions with co-workers, family, friends, suspects/victims/witnesses and how emotional intelligence may have contributed to a different outcome.
I agree Kyle. Goleman's classmate story resonated with me as well. As did the discussion on the Peter Principle. Not only will I be applying what have I learned personally, I will also attempt to self monitor as I mentor and lead.
I agree Kyle, the portion where Goleman talks about his classmate was very interesting to me as well. It should be fairly obvious that a lot of the times those who make the most money or are described as doing the best were not always the most intelligent or received the best grades. Most of those people in my experience are knowledgeable about their interests and can speak about them passionately and most if not all can easily connect with others.
Emotional Intelligence as it relates to Law Enforcement is not given the thought or time that it deserves. So much of what a law enforcement officer deals with on a day to day basis can benefit from improved EI. Training in EI should happen regularly, just like Crisis Intervention training as the 2 are similar. I think officers would appreciate the training once they learned that it was just as much about looking internally as it is looking externally at the subject(s) we are dealing with. Managing our own emotions and reactions to difficult situations can give us more power to understand someone else which helps us to steer outcomes in our favor. The concept of EI shows that people continue to develop EI throughout life, similar to the concept of mental maturity. With this known, it only benefits LE agencies to develop their new/young officers' EI early on, because then you have a more effective officer and probably one with better overall mental health. With our increased focus on both mental and physical wellness for officers, why wouldn't we make EI development a top priority?
Matt, I think your absolutely right that we need to start training on EI like we do with firearms, UOF, and other tools we use on a daily basis. After learning more about EI, I feel it should be a goal of everyone in this class as a leader to start that process within our agencies, weather talking with administration about bringing in training or actively working with those we supervise/peers.
I agree completely. Emotional intelligence development should be included within an officers training each year and reinforced just as other critical skills. I like your point on emotional intelligence and the connection to officer well-being and mental health.
In my opinion, the area that summed up this module the best is the section that covered “Circles of Emotional Intelligence”. I thought this tied it all together. Working from the most inner portion of the circle, Self-Awareness to the outermost circle, Motivation, made the most sense to me. In Law Enforcement, the ability to manage what is going on in our own head and heart is the first major step to be able to handle what is going on with the people around us.
I found this lecture to be very informative and applicable to my current position. One of the statements which stood out to me was that 80-85% of complaints on an officer are due to how they made people feel. It's often said that 90% of our job is be an effective communicator, thus having the skills of emotional intelligence should be at the forefront of our training both during skills and on the job training is imperative to our success.
As law enforcement officers we spend a lot of time training tactics and ensuring we are current in changing trends in laws. However, we sometimes lack the emotional tact to maintain calm and control in our every day contacts. We use emotional intelligence to have a better understanding of ourselves, but also to be able to relate to the community we serve. It also allows us to be more successful at communicating with all people. This has become a continued expectation in our field. We need to be able to communicate in a way that people don't just hear what we are saying, but are able to relate to the feelings behind it. We utilize these skills both on the road as well as in the office as managers.
I so agree. We can deescalate so many satiations through effective use of our emotional intelligence. Working in a diverse area so many things are conveyed non verbally. Being able to read a person goes far beyond the spoken word.
Very true. I agree with you about people not just hearing what we say but relating to the feelings. Communicating and having emotional intelligence is becoming more and more important in our day to day lives. I believe we are going to see a big boom in E.I. training over the next couple years. In the last two years these types of trainings have increased. I also think if someone WANTS to improve in this area, they will. I feel like there are a lot of people that I know, that don't care to improve.
I agree with Daniel Goleman in that Emotional Intelligence seems to be more important as you move up in an organization and that it's application begins at the lowest level of an organization. When I went to the police academy in the mid 90's, there was no class on emotional intelligence and how this skill could be cultivated to manage the outcomes of chaotic situations. I learned about it from my peers. As a young deputy, I saw how more experienced deputy's talked their way out of having to fight with suspects. This was my first exposure to emotional intelligence. At the time, I did not know what the exact term for this was but I knew that it could help me be successful in my job. As I progressed through the ranks, I learned exactly what emotional intelligence was. I saw the benefits of being self aware, managing my emotions (AKA ..don't write tickets when your having a bad day) sensing the emotions of others and being empathetic. Now, as a senior commander in my agency, I have been successful in initiating positive change specifically because of my understanding of emotional intelligence. I am better able to read people, manage my own emotions and make better decisions both personally and operationally. I have even included some of my "pet peeves" (hot buttons) in the expectations I review with all newly hired officers. I was once personally thanked by a suspect for the thoughtful way I treated her during a warrant arrest. Conversely, I have been on the receiving end of a citizen complaint because they felt a subordinate made them feel demeaned or disrespected. Emotional intelligence is key to officer success/ self-fulfillment, leadership success and the success of a department.
Dave G.
Dave,
I agree with what you are saying, I too attended the academy in the late 90's. We had a very small introduction to "Verbal Judo" which I took away "Feels good. No good." and based that mantra on my career, and truth be told in my personal life too. At times when our emotions seem to have the best of us, we want to say things that will allow us to vent and deflect. That really does not resolve the underlying issue and will just be quick to escalate the situation. Over the past 20+ years, this has been called many different things, but now really identifying what it is and showing how it can be useful could be part of a change many of us need to continue to embrace.
This module was very informative on emotional intelligence and its importance in leadership. Although I had received some training on EI from my department as part of our Police Training Officer program, this helped put it even more in perspective. I was particularly interested in the comment made by Dr. Goleman about EI being twice as important as cognitive and technical skills in successful business leaders, and that cognitive abilities and technical skills are best used to assess entry level thresholds. EI should be integrated into more department trainings.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one intrigued by the comment about emotional intelligence being twice as important! I agree this was more in depth than other trainings I've received previously and it absolutely should be integrated more.
Early in my career, I welcomed everything in task/ lessons as a toss-up. The explanation for this is I was being taught by very pessimistic and negative deputies. Sometimes it appeared that everyone had the same attitude. Emotionally, negatively, and uncooperative in just about every task. Eventually, I started to ponder carefully, and back away from the negative, and damaging people and started making conscious decisions to change the way I thought about my job. At the beginning of my career exceeding for me and my family was a must. I began to use social awareness and conflict resolutions skills that created the deputy that I have developed into.
It is our job as supervisors to assist our personnel and help them avoid negativity. I always use personalized stories to uplift, motivate, and encourage my peers. In doing this, I hope my effective communication tactics will be a pillar of strength to aid my them further in their career.
In the law enforcement profession, we seem to emphasize cognitive skills such as intellect and problem-solving. We often put less value on the emotional intelligence skills such as self-perception and the interpersonal skills needed to build and maintain relationships. Personally speaking, this has been an area where I have found myself needing improvement. Over time, I've realized that communication and human relation skills are just as essential as our profession's other skills.
Marlon Shuff
My entire life I have been drawn to emotional psyche. It has enhanced my friendships, family life and career. Leadership training has been a huge game changer for the agency I work for. The IA complaints have lessened and use of force has also lessened with the correctional facility. Once allow young officers to learn how to express themselves better and to understand others emotions you move as a whole in a positive direction.
It is great that IA's and complaints have gone down with EI based trainings. Teaching young officers how to control their own emotions to better control an outcome is something that I wished was around when I was in my early 20's maturing in life and in this career. I can definitely see the relationship between having a better handle on your emotional responses and a lower complaint rate, especially since the majority of officer complaints are about how the officer makes a person feel after the encounter.
Discussion comment for Module 3
Increasing your Emotional intelligence will go a long way for law enforcement officers to control hostile situations. It can only be a benefit for the officer
I agree, It will benefit us all through out our carees and personnel lives.
Out of all the topics we covered this one is by far the most interesting. Knowing oneself and how you will react in a situation when it spirals out of control is worth its weight in gold. There has been a shift in law enforcement from brute force to thoughtful force...if that makes sense. With all the demands placed on police in this day and age, you really do need to be able to know about not only your emotional intelligence but how to see it in others.
Jeff, I totally agree. Instead of gaining compliance, we should attempt to gain cooperation.
I agree, using emotional intelligence in our daily works provides an element of clarity and slowing things down to see the bigger picture.
Great analysis. The shift in law enforcement you speak of is very real. While officers still need to be able to bring the fight at times, the majority of the time is better spent on community policing efforts. Emotional intelligence often prevents us from having to bring the fight.
I have to agree with you. You have to be self aware of yourself and how you react/respond to certain people or a certain situation. The 7 steps to improving emotional intelligence is something that would be very useful for all.
There was a lot of information in this module. Emotional Intelligence is one of the most important pieces for each person and for a supervisor to understand in order to respond appropriately in many situations.
The 80 to 85% rule I strongly agree with. The 80 to 85% rule references that a majority of complaints we receive stem from how we made a citizen feel during our contact with them. I think that even to take this step further and incorporating communication. For example, I have noticed that often times when people are upset their emotions stem from a lack of communication or explanation of the situation. In most situations, if our Deputies take a little more time trying to understand a persons problem, and take the time to communicate and explain processes, procedures it really goes a long way. Most of the time when I field complaints it's because the Deputy did not take the time to do these things. Law Enforcement is mostly about changing behavior and that can be done through many different approaches. If law enforcement officers slow things down and try to understand the offenders point of view, explain processes, procedures and work with people we can typically garner trust, cooperation and will often times reduce complaints.
I also like the 4 techniques to help with increasing our emotional intelligence skills. First, always be aware of your emotional status. Second, learn to control your emotional triggers. Third, apply the ten second rule. And Finally, train your brain to act accordingly, subconsciously, by practicing or training through situations before they occur. I think that if a person keeps this "recipe" in mind they can gain a high level of emotional intelligence and they will make good sound decisions.
How emotions drive a significant amount of our complaints is vital for officers to understand better. The challenge is for our junior officers to understand the effects it has on the organization’s mission and vision when their actions, while seemingly inconsequential, have a lasting impact on many others. We as leaders spend a precious commodity, time, addressing, and repairing relationships with our customers, the community as a result of one individual’s low emotional literacy and maturity. I hold hope that our profession embraces emotional intelligence and its components, and only then will we be able to turn the tide of public perception through our collective ability to effectively communicate, be socially aware, be better at conflict resolution, all while managing our emotions more effectively.
This module very clearly defined the important differences for me between technical skills and emotional intelligence. The portion of the lecture that really drew me in was when Mr. Daniel Goleman mentioned that emotional intelligence was just as important than IQ and technical skills combined.
For me, I feel that the first step to improving and growing my emotional intelligence was focusing more on active listening to other people that I am conversing with. Without active listening is a conversation really happening? I would say probably not. I think that with active listening that is one of the first steps in improving and growing empathy for persons. I can think back to heated conversations I have had with persons on calls (domestics, person in crisis calls, disorderly conduct, etc…) and recognize that I was not truly listening to what persons were trying to convey to me (both verbally and non-verbally), in contrast they were probably not listening to much of what I was saying. However, as law enforcement we have the responsibility to be the first persons to show that we are empathetic to the other persons needs. Maybe this will lead to the other person slowing down and opening up to our discussion and conversation.
Just these simple things can lead to a more positive contact with persons even if we agree to disagree. These steps can also lead to a decline in use of force incidents as well as complaints. As mentioned in the lecture 80-85% of complaints received in law enforcement are stemming from how a person felt after police interaction.
I have heard of emotional intelligence on several occasions prior to this module and have taken a couple of courses where references to Daniel Goleman’s book are heavily utilized. I will fully admit that I have not read Mr. Goleman’s book and I was actually surprised his book was not on the required reading list for this course, particularly due to the weight the module instructor dedicates to learning, practicing and developing emotional intelligence. I learned some about the history of social and emotional intelligence; that the thought process of being successful has a lot more to do with this topic rather than cognitive or technical skills. And now having the foundation of the five qualities (self-awareness, managing emotions, motivation, empathy and social skills) coupled with the three domains (cognitive or threshold abilities, technical ability and emotional intelligence), I can really begin to focus my effort in areas I need to improve. How will I do that? I will start by asking those I supervise and those I trust to give me honest criticism how I am doing with each quality and in each domain. I want to improve because I want to make a difference in the professional and personal lives of whom I consider I serve, not the other way around. I really enjoyed Mr. Goleman’s comment about letting people go from a company; that it matters because everyone is watching. I believe everyone watches their supervisor, and other supervisors, and how we treat them day in and day out matters. I can, and will, always continue to better myself and improve on my four branches (perception, reasoning, understanding and managing) of emotional intelligence by practicing the eight different ways to improve. And I will read Mr. Goleman’s book before the end of this course.
I did the same thing, as the lecture continued on I really began to take stock in areas that I could improve on with emotional intelligence. There is always that talk in law enforcement about the “it factor” that some officers have. But we can never really define what “it” is. We all know the officers who have the ability to talk a suicidal person off of a ledge, a 250-pound body builder into handcuffs without a use of force, motivating the unmotivated officer who is down and burnt out, all within the span of 1 shift. Maybe emotional intelligence is that “it factor.” The ability to truly recognize, listen, and understand people.
I like your reference to Mr. Goldman's thoughts that everyone is watching how we treat our employees. I always try to remember that not everyone you supervise is going to remember what you asked them to do but most employees will always remember how you made them feel.
I agree with many aspects of this statement. Emotional intelligence seems like a modern buzzword but I learned in this presentation that the concepts have been discussed since the 1930's. Academy courses always seem to focus on the cognitive and technical skills required to be a supervisor but not the intrinsic tools of self control, emotional management, communication skills and social awareness to truly be successful leaders. As a leader, the statement that "everyone watches their supervisor, and other supervisors, and how we treat them" really resonated the most for me. It reminds me that I set the example even if I think no one is watching me and that I have to continue to improve myself at every opportunity.
Dave G.
You're absolutely right. I think that this is the missing link in academy communications training. You cannot be a great communicator without having good emotional intelligence, and the good news is that we can teach these skills. I think that most of the challenges we face our organizations can be mitigated with increased emotional intelligence.
The statement “everyone watches their supervisor, and other supervisors, and how we treat them" really meant a lot to me as well. Though I have always tried to set a good example for the employees under my supervision with my actions, I never truly realized how much it meant until watching this lecture. It too reminds me that I set the example even when no one is watching, and we should always try to improve ourselves at every opportunity to truly be a positively effective leader.
Lt. Flavin, a portion of this module that I thought about and looked back at was how critical it is for all of us to be leaders, not only at a supervisory level. While dealing with the public and presenting ourselves as professionals, it's important to display ourselves as leaders in order to gain the respect and trust from each situation. It appears critical, as law enforcement as a whole is currently dealing with critical times. If all of us could learn to manage and understand our emotions, our decision making and actions may provide a more positive experience for the public which could redirect their judgement towards law enforcement as a more positive experience. The module couldn't have explained it better. If once person within your organization has a negative representation, it could effect your department as a whole.
I totally agree with your message and thoughts. If we can get all of our officers to have those positive experiences, trying to work with others and better understand and explain the situation, I think law enforcement nation wide would be in a little better position.
This module discussed many key points regarding emotional intelligence and the effectiveness it has above cognitive ability and technical expertise. Although the other two domain of abilities are important, emotional intelligence was identified as being two times more important and a more effective skill set. The module explained how emotional intelligence continues to be learned, which will then make your life and effectiveness in your career, better. As I reviewed this module, and then responded to a call for service, it was unique in return how I applied the five skill sets during a stressful situation. I first of all was self-aware of my feelings and how I was able to manage my emotions during the event in order to control my stress. It was rewarding to identify how individuals were feeling during the event without them describing their feelings to me, which gave me the capability to empathize, as I had dealt with a similar type event with a family member in the past. I was able to utilize my social skills while empathizing with them which made it easier to diffuse the situation resulting in a positive outcome. As this call for service was concluded, those skill sets provided me with more positive motivation to utilize in future situations which will hopefully provide the same outcome. This module was very effective and rewarding, as I was able to utilize some of the information provided to endure a positive outcome. It was unique to practice during a real-life event which led to a rewarding outcome.
This was a very enlightening module for me. When Daniel Goleman said that while IQ is going up, EQ is going down. Being intelligent and being emotionally intelligent are two very separate forms of intelligence as it pertains to leadership. I thought that was explained very well. When the subject of emotional intelligence and law enforcement was talked about, the stat that was thrown out; 80-85% of complaints are about how an officer made someone feel, really stuck out to me. Looking back at complaints members of the public have made about our deputies, that stat remains true. Being cognizant of your emotions, keeping them in check, and having the ability to empathize with others will eliminate the majority of complaints departments receive. I also found the 7 steps to improving emotional intelligence in law enforcement very educational.
Reply for Module 3
I agree, almost all of the complaints handles by myself or my Sergeants are conduct based.
This was a very interesting and enlightening module. First off, I found it very interesting that self-awareness was front and center to so may of the learning concepts. It makes sense, especially after viewing the lecture, but was interesting how it corresponds to so may aspects of emotional intelligence. I also took a lot from Daniel Goleman’s vignette, but especially like his explanation that emotional intelligence is a profile, not a score. That stood out to me, and really explained the complexity of the subject. Next was the 3 domains of ability, and the revelation that the emotional intelligence range is twice as important as the first two (cognitive and technical expertise) combined in terms of a good leader. The two examples used here were very illustrative- the “Peter Principle” and the waiter and restaurant analogy. I really felt like the section on “Eight Different Uses of Emotional Intelligence” was going to be my “Aha” moment for this section (especially #6 Identify problems before they escalate) and I have to admit- the emotional hijacking snake video example to illustrate emotional hijacking was hilarious. However, the one that I took the most from was the “Seven steps to improving emotional intelligence in law enforcement”. Steps 1 and 2 really tie into implicit bias training. Steps 5 and 6 illustrated identifying the physical and mental cues associated with anger and other negative emotions, as well as providing useful definitions for the practical vs emotional problems issue. All in all, a very interesting and relevant module.
The peter principle stood out in the fact that they are definitely people that are promoted to their level of incompetence. A lot of times as someone posted in a previous discussion board that the person was the only person to put in for the job opening. i am not sure what you do in those instances, do you give the person the job even though that don't have the qualifications. I feel that all promotions and transfers should come with a 6 or 9 month probationary period in that time you will know if this person has the emotional intelligence to fulfill the requirements of the position.
I feel there should be some sort of emotional intelligence aptitude test administered as part of the hiring process. That way, someone who doesn't have the desired emotional intelligence required for a supervisory position would be weeded out in the process. When it comes to hiring someone because they were the only one that put in for the position, if that happens I think that departments have to look into why and reconsider if they need that position moving forward. The department I work for has a one year probationary period for supervisors. The emotional intelligence aspect is key and I will be relaying that to my supervisor for future hiring processes.
I agree emotional intelligence is a quality that is vital when hiring entry-level employees. When our department interview new employees they are asked questions that relates to their character. In the past, we hired individuals who possess technical and cognitive skills however lacked emotional intelligence. Unfortunately, that culture has not completely change for promotions. After learning more about the importance of having emotional intelligence I am confident that more people that work with my agency will change their way of thinking. The old way of doing things will soon be non-existence. A person will no longer be promoted based solely off their cognitive and technical skills.
I hadn't thought or read any information on this until this module, but you are right- emotional intelligence is vital as we higher entry level employees. I just sat on an interview panel this week for a first level supervisor eligibility roster within my agency. After viewing this module and reading your post, I believe a question that delves into that area of the candidates would have provided more insight into the "person" and not the position we we interviewing for. I This concept definitely has its place for both the new hire and promoted spots, including administrative positions. I hope I can look back in a few years and see that your last statement became true for our agency.
That would be another game changer at my agency; adding a level of testing on emotional intelligence for new hires and promotions.
I really enjoyed this Module on Emotional Intelligence. Those of us in law enforcement (both enforcement and support staff) are required to use this on a regular basis in descaling situations whether it is in situations involving use of force, phone calls, interviews, taking complaints, or trying to communicate with one another. Sometimes it is so crucial to take a time out and focus on the practical problem rather than our emotions to be able to successfully resolve a particular situation.
It is so easy to get caught in the day to day operations and to lose awareness of what may be affecting you or those around you. This module is a great reminder to all of us to remember to be more self-aware of ourselves and others.
While firearms training, defensive tactics training, and law updates are essential in our profession, after reviewing this module, I can now understand how emotional intelligence is also crucial. Every agency has the one officer who, when he or she arrives on scenes, tend to make the situation worse just by talking. Far too many times have we seen officers escalate situations with their words, or body language, that cause a controlled scene to go awry.
I think that Emotional Intelligence was not a training topic in law enforcement because of time and money. As we grow as an agency now, I believe that any agency that does not train Emotional Intelligence will not build trust and bond with the community. These days with social media, it is essential to show people that we will make the right decisions and show compassion. By learning Emotional Intelligence, officers will become better people as well as leaders.
As a trainer, I can tell you that emotional intelligence is not something out of the realm of possibility to teach. What is the reason why law enforcement does not explain this? The idea is that we didn't realize what it was and that we are capable of doing so. One of the key factors I found to profound is empathy. Being empathic, not sympathetic, to what our brothers and sisters are doing in their day to day. More often than not, it is assumed that other divisions within an agency are not busy. That is not the case. What is lacking is the understanding of what others are doing and being empathic to what that entails. We get so wrapped up in rumors and falsehoods of our surroundings that we become numb to those we serve with.
I agree Darren that it is easy for us to become numb or lack awareness and empathy to those we serve with. Such a profound statement.
It is so easy to get caught in up in what we as individuals or divisions are trying to accomplish that we sometimes lost sight of the big picture, the common goal, trying to help improve ourselves, our agency, our community and essentially each other.
I really enjoyed your comment and how it was directed internal to the agency. I think a lot of us get wrapped up in thinking of EI as an external issue, particularly when it comes to line staff, and how we deal with the public. Understanding the roles within the organization can certainly lead to a more productive work environment, rather than a competitive or downright destructive one. I see that as prevalent in my agency as well and this happens consistently with individuals until they move into and work different divisions and gain the understanding from the driver's seat.
Emotional Intelligence discussed in this section is something consistently overlooked in law enforcement. I think it is a topic we could all use more training on. I for one was struggling with this as a young supervisor. I have learned several ways to control this since attending ICLD I-IV. There have been numerous times that I have typed a response to an email in anger and before would have immediately sent it. A lot of times I would regret what was said in the emails. I now take that angry response and print it out. I then read the email and usually end up writing another email once, I have taken the time to collect my thoughts and have a "cooling off" period. I am proof that EI can be developed and at any point in a career.
I was not sure that EI can be developed at any point in the career. It is reassuring to know that overtime an individual can acquire the skill.
I found this training topic to be very interesting. Prior to participating in this training module, I had never heard of the term Emotional Intelligence. When it comes to the emotional aspects of the job, the agency I work for has always focused on mental and emotional preparation as it relates to officer safety and awareness. After watching the training video, I ended up with a deeper understanding of the many different components of EI and how it applies to law enforcement.
Lt.,
I'm sure we've all dealt with emotional intelligence, we just never knew it. You remember the old saying, "common sense isn't so common?' I think emotional intelligence falls into this saying. Regardless, cops are not very aware that we can actually relay our experiences as well as we can until we're able to relate to the material and also the topic of discussion.
I think we have all heard the saying "never make a decision when angry". This goes to the heart of EI. We must always try to control our emotions in order to make rational and proper decisions. Self awareness is the key. My biggest take away was the information provided by Daniel Goleman that Emotional Intelligence can be learned and developed at any age.
I agree with you. When I started my career, I was told to be as proactive as I could. For example, if someone would speed, write them a ticket. If you get to a call and you can make an arrest, make the arrest. There was no sympathy or compassion. As I learned in my career and involved, I learned that is not the case. I believe building our Emotional Intelligence to strengthen our bond with our communities and fellow officers.
This was a very good lecture, and not my first time seeing some of it. There should be no question as to whether law enforcement should use these skills and concepts. The real question should be how do we present this for use by officers and leaders? We have all seen the same reactions for any initiative, especially one that talks about feelings. The "old Salty" referred to in some of the previous posts hears emotion or feelings and shuts down
In a lot of ways, law enforcement has been employing emotional intelligence for years with different terminology and in some cases only to higher or specialized positions. The conclusions sound quite a bit like the advice I received as a young MP and later as a rookie officer and that I have seen given to others. Be aware of your surroundings and yourself. Do not go to work so mad that you can't think straight. Learn to control your emotions, refrain from yelling at a citizen or the wife/husband, unless called for. Apply the ten second rule. I was told from day 1, unless it is life threatening, you have all the time you need. Finally train the brain. That sounds suspiciously like play the what if game.
As for the number of complaints against officers due to feelings, you got us. I had an officer that I could tell when he and his wife were fighting. He would make a traffic stop and I would get a complaint. In trying to talk to him about this, all I got was he had seen other guys do it. It took this man years to learn the correlation between emotions and complaints. As not to throw anyone under the bus but, is there anyone reading this that has not taken a mental day? I know I have either from fatigue from working so many hours or I needed a break.
Sorry to get on the soap box for a bit, the thing that sticks out for me, from the lecture, are the tips for improving our EQ such as self-appraisal, Self-talk, learning our hot buttons, emotional literacy, reading cues in ourselves and others, determining practical or emotional problems, and taking that break to make the decision.
As for my comment about higher or specialized positions utilizing this, SWAT, Crisis Intervention, and Negotiators have been stressing these skills for years as lifesaving. In addition, successful detectives and interrogators live by some of these skills. As leaders we should make this a priority in academies and in service. If applied correctly, this can only assist the officer, at every level.
Kenneth Pinkston
This lecture is a good "fall back" moment in your career to re-evaluate how you handle situations. For example, overreacting to a "call" that was likely to be resolved with simple conversation could escalate. Showing up to a scene and handling it as the "routine" call out (i.e. acting in many hats we wear) may really help a person out. The ability to handle a person's "crisis" moment may seem "minuscule" to the observer, but it may mean the world to the person who called or needs help. Always attempt to be resolute in any situation and it will provide the desired results people always seek. That is applicable to interacting the people we work with, regardless of the role we play.
This module has definitely made me evaluate my own ways of handling personnel. Without emotional intelligence, understanding and having empathy for others, it is difficult to understand why others are behaving in a certain manner, or their work product is a certain way. I have certainly changed over the length of my career, noticing that I have improved in some areas, but still need improvement. It can be difficult to motivate personnel when you are unaware of the personal experiences, but once getting through this, can be a great experience to watch the individual improve themselves by simply listening to them, whether it be a personal issue or a bad work experience.
I completely agree with you. It has been a career to change some things. As the lecture says though using EQ does not always give the other party a nice calm reply and that is where I think people misunderstand. Sometimes the straight forward answer is the best and being blunt serves both parties well.
Like you I have improved in some areas and declined in others that I need to work on. One way that I tripped in to knowing more about employs' situations was running and scheduling details. In a small agency, like ours, officers would come to me when a spouse was out of work, child getting married, illness, bills got out of hand and so on. By officers coming to me, and knowing their personal situation, I could try to help, financially, through details, or if they needed some other type of help, maybe make a call.
"80%-85% of police complaints are made by how people were made to feel"-Daniel Golman. I have learned through this module that this is exactly the essence of emotional intelligence. Another important quote, again attributed to Daniel Golman is "People don't leave companies, they leave bad bosses". This particular module was intensely interesting to me as I have experienced this kind of e.i., or lack thereof, throughout my own career. I to have left one agency because of a bad boss and the strong reassurance that, though the top echelon of the agency was fully aware of the fact, nothing would be done about it. I learned in greater detail the importance of harnessing a vitally aware e.i. and how to put it to work with those with which I serve.
Before this address, Emotional Intelligence was a term that I was completely unfamiliar with. However, as the lecture continued, I realized that what I had perceived as self-control and maturity was Emotional Intelligence. In law enforcement, we must monitor numerous factors while on the job to ensure that we make the correct decision. If we cannot control our own emotions while at work, how are we able to correctly address the issues of the community and ensure a favorable outcome for all of those involved. The lesson on Emotional Intelligence opened my eyes in a way to better control my emotions as well as observing and reacting correctly to the feelings of others.
I found this module very interesting. It definitely made me take a look at myself. Especially, the key steps in behaviors. I believe I am good with several of the behaviors but I need to work on a few others. So much of my current position relies on all of these behaviors. The cognitive intelligence is there for the most part but I can definitely see that the behaviors play a much bigger role as I deal with many more people on an emotional basis at this point in my career.
This was a good module. I liked when he talked about the waiter in the restaurant being less then pleasant when he asked him for a bowl. This lecture made me think about some of the people I have come in contact with over the years who are the same exact way. Emotional intelligence is very important in our line of work. As supervisors and training staff we should place an emphasis on emotional intelligence and teach our deputies how to leave a good first impression.
Learning about Module 3 about Practical Emotional Intelligence is a huge eye opener. Without having Emotional Intelligence you're unable to connect to Social Intelligence, when in law enforcement you have to have both because having the Social Intelligence is connecting with the public, and once connected with the public you have to have your emotions in tact in order to provide the right answer. This lesson was really good because it tells you that you have to know what are your "hot buttons" and once you realize those buttons you have to keep the emotional side of it in control, so the advice given is to take a step back and breath to gather your thoughts. This is a good lecture that all law enforcement officers can relate to.
I agree this was a good lecture. It made me think about taking a step back and thinking about what is fixing to come out of my mouth. I think if we all just take a moment and think before we speak we would all be better off.
What you are saying is one of the best pieces of advise I was given by my former commander when i was promoted to my current position. And that was if I have to take disciplinary action is to not rush into a decision and let your emotions control your thinking. Give it a day or two to let those initial emotions dissipate before making those types of decisions.
I completely agree with you about learning to take a moment before speaking during certain situations. There have been times where I spoke before digesting the event and let my emotions get the better of me. Now that I'm more mature, I feel as if I have a better grasp of this and it makes me a more effective leader.
Since my first day on duty, i honestly never thought or knew about anything about emotional intelligence i continued to believe this is just my personality, and nothing more of it. After this lecture, i have been able to self reflect and evaluate myself, my E.I. strengths and and even begrudgingly my weaknesses. I've always been aware of my control over my emotions to the point that I've been nick named "Mr. Spock." Even Commanders in my Department have made comments how calm i am even under stressful training and they've always found it amusing. Motivation and empathy have never been a problem within my E.I., my true weakness which is constantly on my mind and I'm attempting to fix is my Social Skills. i am aware outside of uniform, i have almost no social skill whatsoever and wanting desperately and eager to learn.
Like you, I kind of thought that this was something that just came with the territory for those of us in law enforcement. Instead, we have learned that this important understanding is vital to all people, regardless of career or education. There was so much to learn throughout this module and I feel like I was drinking water from a fire hose. Here is to continued vigilance in caring enough about others to truly understand them first before trying to simply be understood!
Your comment struck a cord with me. It took me loosing two wives to learn the fact that outside of the job my people skills quite frankly sucked. My third wife opened my eyes to this and though it has taken awhile, the wall that was built over the last forty years in law enforcement had begun to come down.
Great module and after seeing how much the private sector puts into this and have witnessed myself in the private sector, i feel the public sector would benefit greatly with using this a serious training requirement. One thing that struck me was the use of empathy in EI. When we have empathy to see someone else point of view and try to understand why they may feel the way they do, we should not take there feeling so personal. I strive to be happy every day and plan to use emotional intelligence to assist in prevent myself from not have emotional control at all time. This along with limiting drama and stress in our lives can help us lead a more purposeful life for others.
Emotional intelligence is one of the most vital components in the career as a public safety professional, as well as a tactical tool. As with any profession, one must be on top of things to get the job done. Experience changes in our lives 'like what we dealing with now cover-19' but when we walk on the job, the welfare and wellbeing of the citizens are our responsibility. As professionals, we must understand and recognize what drives and affects others emotions. Empathy is one of the toughest for a law Enforcement professional, for it involves considering the feelings of others when deciding and treating people in accordance to their emotional reactions.
I use to have this issue my self so I decided to imagine everyone I deal with as if they were myself or someone I loved and how I would want them to be treated. Great thoughts.
Steven I agree with you as well, I feel that we have to treat everyone as if they're a loved one. It puts us in a different mind frame because we know the people we encounter is someone's father, child or uncle. So we always try to handle everyone with fairness, which I know my social skills come into play because I know I can be a peoples person until I have to act accordingly depending the situation, but still in all I know I have to keep my emotions intact no matter of the situation.
I agree. I take every opportunity I can to remind our staff to treat others the way they would want to be treated. I'm not asking that they be submissive, I just ask that they show a little bit of common courtesy and respect others.
This lesson is a key lesson to the times we are all living in right now. Every officer has different fears, especially right now of getting COVID-19 from a call for service, or community spread. I am watching officers struggle financially with loosing extra jobs that bring in extra forms of income.
Knowing how to manage your emotional intelligence is important so we can stay strong as leaders. Knowing how to read you employees is even more vital then before so we can make sure they are safe and prepared for duty. I am watching employees stress over how they will survive, or issues such as who will watch our children while we are supposed to be at work.
Learning empathy was a hard pill for me to shallow as a leader. I want to hold everyone accountable to the standards and work ethic I hold myself to. As a young leader, I was not very empathic to employees due to the fact if I am doing it so can you. I never took in account for family issues, or things going on in personal lives.
Now that I am at the top of the food chain, Emotional Management and Intelligence is something that I have to stay abreast of, and keep in the forefront. I have read and participated in several book studies and lectures on emotional intelligence. Each book and lecture add different tools to my toolbox. But most importantly this has made me a stronger leader, who makes employee who want to work for you and follow you into battle.
During this hard time knowing how to manage your emotional intelligence is important. Some employees are staying at hotels of fearing bringing the virus home to their families, extra money they use to make has been terminated. So as a leader we have to stay strong and deal with this crisis one day at a time.
Scott
Your post brought back memories of a younger version of me, another lifetime ago prior to Law Enforcement, i was a total work horse. Training ingrained in me by my Father. "The job had to get done no matter what", "leave your problems at home they cant touch you here" was the mantra constantly being fed to me. Now i find myself a leader in my Department, and that mindset will not get me far. Gaining empathy for others and their personal situations have put me in situations where now, people want to work for me or want to be transferred over to my shift. Amazing the change that occurs once you start learning E.I. and putting it into practice.
We all have that one employee that just pisses everyone off. They are technically proficient but yet get way more complaints against them than all others. We always just said he cant talk to people. I will now take a different approach and think about that persons emotional intelligence and offer ways for him to become self aware and work on his emotional IQ.
Like everyone, I too feel that emotional intelligence is a very important but also very consistently overlooked trait, which all people not just in a law enforcement but in everyday life could benefit from exploring and growing. The old saying that the first step is admitting you have a problem comes to mind, but how do you admit you lack emotional intelligence if it is something that you never evaluate? Throughout the power point i thought about myself personally and about how i could better react if i just started working on a few of the ways to use emotional intelligence. I believe we all could benefit from putting this lesson to use in everyday matters and not only enhance our professional lives but also better personal relationships while doing so.
Unfortunately in law enforcement, emotional intelligence is not a personal quality that is well evaluated prior to hiring. Officers in the beginning of their careers, at least in this area are generally in an age range where they may not have had an opportunity to emotionally mature. Of course there are exceptions, but I believe that better emotional vetting and nurturing of existing employees would reduce complaints and produce a better product for our stakeholders.
Going hand in hand with your comment as I went thru this latest course I started to re evaluate how I scored people on the promotion boards. Going forward I will place more emphasis on their emotional IQ.
As I went through this lecture, I began to ask myself how emotionally intelligent I actually am. I feel that I am rather scholastically intelligent, but my emotions could use some work. I began to reflect back not only to when I was a young officer but to my childhood. The earliest life lesson I ever remember receiving was, “Suck it up! Boys don’t cry! Never let anyone see you’re upset.” This was in response to another boy taking an action figure. This advice was followed up by, “Now you had better get it back, beat him up if you have to, but don’t come home without it.” My mother was the person who told this to me.
Then I began to think about being a new LEO. I believed I was rather good at putting myself in other people’s shoes, especially victims of domestic violence, as my household was not the most pleasant, and it gave me and excellent base for my early career. I did find myself lacking in the arena of empathy for most others and was often cold and harsh on other complaints, which lead to a lot of resisting charges. Through my career I feel I began to mellow, better learning how to manage people by at least fain interest, but by genuinely beginning to understand what issues some people were having.
With all that said, as a new sergeant I was the one who was the “head-hunter” and earned a reputation that someone could easily catch a corrective review; a reputation which was wholly undeserved, but worked to keep subordinates in line. I did find that it left me with very few friends. I believe this was because I did not deal well with what I considered “petty” complaints from the deputies. I never put myself in their shoes and would instead tell them to, “Suck it up and deal with it,” the words of my mother – Ahh!
After being promoted again, I found myself with the continued stigma of my previous position, one which is hard to break. I have and am trying hard to shake it, but old habits die hard. As Dr. Goleman stated that someone can grow and learn to be more emotionally intelligent, I feel as though I have grown and am less rigid than I used to be. I know I still have more room for growth and am working on it every day.
Emotional Intelligence is not a subject that is discussed in law enforcement on the level that this module did so. As officers we are always told that we should be respectful to the public that we deal with not matter the situation. This is usually the end of the training for dealing with the public and co-workers. As leaders this is excellent training that should be practiced and also handed down to the people that follow us.
This lecture on Emotional Intelligence has given me a better understanding of why it is important to manage my emotions, and how it can affect me and my followers when I don't. It also made me aware that having Emotional Literacy, can help me respond correctly to situations when they come up. As a commander, if one of my followers has done something that would push a hot button, using the four techniques I learn is this lecture will help me properly address the situation while keeping the respect of my followers.
I couldn't agree more. It is easy as a leader to not respond as we should when a "Hot Button" is pressed. Emotional Intelligence is defiantly a tool that not only every leader but every person should work on.
Emotional Intelligence is probably one of the hardest topics for a law enforcement officer to accomplish. While we spend hundreds of hours honing our skills on weapons, tactics, and the law we usually fail to study these topics.
I agree topics like this was briefly touched on in training because it wasn't deemed as a priority. But not having the knowledge of Emotional Intelligence is one of the reasons Law enforcement is scrutinized today.
While I believe we all agree that Emotional Intelligence is one of the hardest topics for LEO's and agencies to accomplish, I think we all agree after going through this lesson that it is a "skill" that we now know the importance of and can push to gather more information on and bring back to our respective agency to bring them and our peers to the next level.
I agree with you, Dustin. Many agencies tend to focus only on the fundamentals of shooting, defensive tactics, or law updates. While all those are necessary, we must also bring to the forefront the importance of emotional intelligence. Every agency has one or more officers who arrive on the scene and make it difficult when interacting with victims, witnesses, or suspects. Emotional intelligence training would be very beneficial to officers such as this.
I particularly enjoyed this session on Emotional Intelligence and learning the key concepts and principles. I agree completely with the video explaining how companies, departments and the work force in general are moving more towards evaluating potential employees emotional intelligence rather then just IQ. Especially in the Law Enforcement career field it is extremely important to be self aware, self regulatory, have social skills, empathy and motivation. In my CID unit I have instituted a EI test for new applicants that put in for positions and have incorporated it into the evaluation process. One misconception I had before taking this training, was that EI was something that was just part of ones personality and really didn't change. After completing the training, it was interesting to learn that EI is something that can be learned. The person must want learn, want to be taught and be able to recognize what EI looks like in others.
I often acted out of anger and was very emotional early in my career. Several years ago, I evaluated my attitude and started using some of this philosophy without even knowing what it was. This has definitely explained some of my thoughts and carried it to a whole new level. I am excited to go further into this process and see what the results will be.
I agreed with your statement. We apply some of the techniques that were mentioned in the presentation without even knowing.
I agree. Before I ever knew about emotional intelligence I was utilizing it when it comes to empathy towards my subordinates. Its is a great tool to have in your tool bag.
I have seen different courses and books with Emotional Intelligence (EI) as their core principle. I believe there is an unquestioned place for this concept in evaluating and promoting leaders in an agency. The concept of EI to maturity makes a lot of common sense. As people gain experience they are better able to judge situations and make better decisions. The self realization of ones own emotions are very important.
One of the most important principles brought to my attention in my Crisis Negotiator role was the inverse relationship between Logic and Emotions. I make sure to share with my cadets and fellow law enforcement professionals that realizing this concept and being aware of the emotional state of others is very important. When one is dealing with someone who is in an emotionally charged state, that person's ability to think logically can be severely compromised. Many people struggle with self regulation. This can take various forms such as crumbling under stress or with anxiety to anger or even misplaced blame when faced with grief or anger.
Being aware of the 5 principles of EI will allow a person to better prepare and react to a situation as far as their own actions. It will also give them the insight to have Empathy when others don't understand the behavior of someone who has not achieved a level of EI where they have self awareness or self regulation.
I had a colleague that returned from the FBI National Academy, and we discussed his studies, and he mentioned Emotional Intelligence, which was the first time that I heard of this. I tried to put the information we discussed into perspective but was limited. This module provided growth and enabled me to have a new insight into myself and how I interrupt others. Daniel Goleman’s interview, along with the other information presented, allowed me to understand my mindset through self-awareness and to understand my emotional intelligence in addressing problems. Can I move forward when an obstacle has presented itself? Am I empathic towards others? These are a few things out of the many that have to be considered and recognize within.
Practical Emotional Intelligence
I had a little knowledge of Emotional Intelligence before this lecture. This lecture opened my eyes to all the different aspects that go into emotional intelligence. I can look into our Agency and observe the different levels of EQ. I found that as I grew in my career, I also increased my EQ. Although I still have lots of room for growth, I can see a difference. The seven steps to improving Emotional Intelligence in Law Enforcement is the one section I took the most away. I have found myself responding to supervisors or colleagues, strictly on emotions. I should have taken the time to gather my thoughts and examine my feelings before my response. After listening to this lecture, this will be the case moving forward.
I agree, emotional intelligence is certainly a quality that involves maturation, not only career wise, but as a person. At a command level it could mean a difference in unit effectiveness, but at an officer level emotional intelligence and response to trauma or antagonization could mean the difference in a productive ending, to a complaint, or worse yet an indictment.
Emotional intelligence was a term that I had never heard before this lecture. However, thinking back during my lifetime I understand now how I developed from a young man, prior to ever working in public service, to who I am now. As a young teenager I was very quick to anger when things did not go my way. Then I got married and eventually became a parent. Most of us know children change your perspective on a lot of things so I quickly learned patience.
My public service career began in the medical field. There we were trained to recognize signs and symptoms and more importantly human physiology. Those skills were polished to where I could read someone’s face to determine how much pain they were in or the pattern of their breathing to determine if they were in distress. You most certainly had to be empathetic as well as develop good communication skills to speak with patients or other medical staff. I worked alone so a patient’s life depended solely on me so I learned to operate in a highly stressful situation. So unbeknownst to me I was developing emotional intelligence early on.
Fast forward to the beginning of my law enforcement career where I carried those tools I learned in the medical field with me. On the street learning criminal body language skills came easier, speaking with complainants came easier, excelling in the high stress situations came easier, and managing my own emotions came easier. These skills all served me well while I worked in enforcement. The trick now is to learn how to use these skills as an administrator more effectively.
Many of these skills we possess, we just have not put a million dollar name on them. I believe your ability to recognize and identify your use of these skills in the pass will make the transition to administrator easier. The Empathy and ability to recognize how others are felling gives you the ability to make good judgement decisions.
I agree that there are many of these skills that each of us possess, probably without even knowing that we do or putting a fancy name on them. For me putting a name on them, helps me recognize the qualities and hopefully make me more aware of them. Kinda like self awareness in a way, being able to identify if I need improvement on one of the key concepts of EI. For example just being more self aware of my own moods, emotions and feelings will help me better deal with a problem and possibly help me make better judgement calls.
I understand Emotional Intelligence as a tool to first study yourself and secondly study others around you to identify the general mood of a situation or the environment you are currently operating. Body language is one of the biggest indicators. Law enforcement has been doing this for a while; it was just never explained or detailed in this manner. Nor do I believe it was specifically targeted as another tool to put in our “experience toolbox”. Look at most agency Use of Force guidelines. Officer presence is usually listed first and I was always taught that if you’re calm then you are likely to make the situation calm. And if not, here’s (insert drama here) what can happen. The lecture certainly makes it more understandable and breaks emotional intelligence down to a teachable and useful tool. Identifying your own EI characteristics first may help you to identify others when things are going south or you need to be put in check yourself.
Donnie,
I definitely agree that this is another useful tool for the tool box. I also think it'll behoove us to use that tool more often with our officers so that this is not just something they have to learn, or re-learn, but something which will carry on for years to come.
Emotional intelligence is something that much like a leader can be ingrained or born with as well as learned over time. Emotional intelligence is something that we continuously learn and can also be thought of as maturity. As we grow older we mature with emotional intelligence. Those who have higher emotional intelligence do well as leaders and managers because in most cases employees care more about how you make them feel that what you know. As long as you can find the right answers it is more about being able to emotionally connect with people.
I agree with this. Just like everyone is born with a moral compass, you also have an internal understanding of different emotions. How they are controlled and utilized is where this lecture helps. Learn to develop an emotional intelligence strategy in yourself and you may produce or influence other productive thoughtful leaders.
My department began introducing this topic some time ago and amongst many other communication trainings that were focused on officers having the tools to de-escalate situations. To look at this through the lens of leadership, I can see instances where the leaders in my agency have room to improve, myself included.
My biggest take-away from this lesson is the recommendations at the conclusion; being self-aware, being in-control, 10 second rule, and conscious thought and repetition in practicing these methods. I can attest that poor decisions made by me and leadership I have observed over the years has been mostly attribute to decisions made based on emotions and where more time and consideration should have been taken before action.
I believe that adding time to critical decisions is a key element for all types of decisions. Time is relative to the timeline dictated by the problem we are faced with. For example an executive decision about the direction of the agency can be contemplated for days, weeks or months, as opposed to a use of force decision that can only be given seconds, minutes or hours. Adding time, contemplation and collaboration can only help us make better decisions in either of these circumstances.
I agree with the ten-second rule as I wish I would have used it in the past. I also feel that while selecting Officers for the Field Training Officer program, this is an excellent opportunity to choose Officers with a more significant amount of EQ, as they will be the officers rookie policeman look towards for guidance. We can use this to build EQ in our newer employees. By placing the salty old officer that hates the world into the FTO program, that negativity will rub off on the rookie and have consequences down the line.
Lt. you make a great point as we look at training and the FTO program. We also have to start them young and place this training in the Academy.
Mr. Collins I totally agree with you. If this course can be implemented into academies; it will definitely help push out a better quality officer. So many of these millennials have the entitled mindset. They feel that the world owe them something and they have no respect for authority. This would expose them to positive reinforcement. They need to be taught how to evaluate their feelings and control their emotions.
During my early years, I was a negative person while working in Transportation. During those years I would constantly argue with my Lieutenant. It got to the point where I would quote policy and procedure just to prove him wrong during arguments, doing so in front of other deputies. Then one day my sergeant pulled me to the side to talk. During that conversation, she stated, I was a good deputy but need to quit being so negative and to stop arguing the lieutenant in front of others, whether I was correct or not, be tactful, she stated.
After that conversation I changed my ways. I practiced Self-Regulation, not knowing it of course. Taking control of my emotions and getting assigned to another division help me advance in my career. I am now a Lieutenant who supervises a shift of about fourteen deputies with fourteen different Emotional Intelligence levels.
I always enjoy learning more about Emotional Intelligence. It is something we often talk to our personnel about because you never know what you will have to deal with over the phone. Our personnel often get the callers who are emotionally hijacked and have to attempt to calm them down to get information for responding officers. The way we respond to them is the difference between them cooperating to give us information or them becoming more uncooperative and providing no information. I will take the tools provided and share with my personnel.
I recently heard someone speak about handling emotional situations. You can manage a crisis or you can become a part of it. Emotional intelligence is about learning to observe emotions and manage them.
Kudos to this, being able to rapidly assess a situation is a learned skill in the LEO world. Handling calls and dealing with "real world" situations grants the ability for officers to use their experiences to "stop" a situation that otherwise may grow from an unnecessary situation. Being able to "diagnose" a situation can literally "save lives" during certain incidents we encounter. The old saying " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is appropriate for this board I believe.
I really enjoyed this module and it resonated with me personally quite a bit. Early in my career I took everything negative someone said to me as a personal attack. Sometimes it was, but most often it was not. That didn’t matter though. I tended to let my mouth run wild. No, that did not serve me well in any fashion. It got me verbally scolded by my supervisor regularly. Eventually I took a step back, did some self-analysis of why I reacted that way too often and made a conscious decision to change. My career then began to move forward. That was not a coincidence!
It is our job as supervisors to assist our personnel in avoiding that pitfall. I have used my personal story on numerous occasions when helping someone having the same issue. Because it is personal for me, it has worked well and I have been able to help others get out of that habit much more quickly than I did.
I too was a negative person in the early years. I would constantly argue with my Lieutenant. One day my sergeant pulled me aside to talk. She explained that I was a good deputy but way to negative and vocal. She also stated, I would never get promoted if I continued acting like this. After that conversation, I took a step back and realized she was right. After taking control of my Emotional Intelligence and transferring to another position, I was promoted to Lieutenant.
Correct and it wasn't until you yourself decided that it was time for a change. No matter how much you were spoken to it didn't matter it is something that you have to decide to make that change.
I did not realize the concept of emotional intelligence was introduced in the 1930's by Edward Thorndike. I thought it was a rarely new idea. Since then this topic has been explored by many individuals and I find the work of Daniel Goleman to be intriguing. He thoroughly explained emotional intelligence is "how we handle ourselves." A person who has emotional intelligence does not display negative emotions. I also learned about the five circles of emotional intelligence as well. In order to have emotional intelligence one must know who they are, be able to channel their emotions positively, be able to achieve their objectives and know how to work out disagreements. Also, empathy is very important. Officers must work on their response in different situations, especially in the public. Body language also plays a factor in emotional intelligence. How would you handle a person exhibiting a negative attitude through their body language?
I was surprised by how long ago this concept was first brought up as well, Roanne. And I agree, the interview with Goleman was fantastic.
As far as someone under your command exhibiting negative body language, deal with it right away. I have found they don't even realize they are doing it. Once you bring it to their attention though, they begin to see it and dislike doing it. Change then takes care of itself.
I believe that Law Enforcement as a whole has progressed in the last decade to the point where we are more aware of the importance of Emotional Intelligence. I believe that as time goes on, as stated throughout this presentation, officers mature by learning to manage their feelings, anger and anxiety along with gaining self confidence. I know that at our Agency we promote verbal judo and active listening skills. I believe that we should now focus more on self awareness and control with all of our officers, especially our young officers, to help them be better officers and future leaders.
I completely agree Nicole. What we used to label as maturity and experience are really components of Emotional Intelligence. I remember in the academy (very long time ago) seasoned officers would explain that as they became more experienced they spent more time talking with people and less time exerting their authority which often leads to uses of force or complaints.
Many law enforcement officers do not often associate with Emotional Intelligence. For many years, you were considered weak if you showed any emotion. It was considered a “macho” profession. Times have changed, agencies have evolved to where we need to bring Emotional Intelligence training into our agencies more and talk about it. As stated throughout this module, people need to be aware of their own feeling, be able to see how other people are feeling just by looking at their body language and being able to remain calm in stressful situations. Our officers are on the front line and their behavior is a direct reflection on the entire agency.
Laurie I could not agree more with your statement. Law enforcement is still considered a “macho” profession and some are considered weak if they show emotion. To add to that law enforcement officers are human beings that have all the same emotions as the very people they deal with. If most could learn to treat people how they want to be treated or their family to be treated by law enforcement what a better environment it would become. So the need to change that perspective will have to come from education about emotional intelligence.
I found Daniel Goleman's interview on Working with Emotional Intelligence to be very interesting. Mr. Goleman mentioned the "Peter Principle," which we have all probably seen while working for law enforcement agencies. We have all had that one person who is politically connected, possilby giving things on a silver platter or commonly referred to as the "brown noser". However, at some point, that person rises to the level of incompetence. This is a prime example of a person who fits well in a division within an agency but is promoted or moved to another level of leadership where they are no longer competent. This person may have excelled in their previous roles but now cause a headache to their subordinates because of the "Peter Principle."
I never really thought how much emotional intelligence is needed in law enforcement until now. As law enforcement professionals, we not only deal with employees, co-workers and bosses, but also deal with the public. It is imperative that a law enforcement officer is in tune with the emotional intelligence to better handle a situation; whether it be a citizen complaint being handled or when dealing with an employee. The officer who has a good understanding of their emotional intelligence can turn a highly agitated situation into a clam and manageable situation in the matter of moments. As law enforcement professionals, we need to do better at teaching officers about what emotional intelligence. If we do this, it will greatly improve the public’s trust and respect for law enforcement. Also, as leaders, knowing about our emotional intelligence will allow us to be better at leading our employees. If we are in tune to their needs and can empathize with what maybe going on in their personal or professional life, we can foster better working relationships between leaders and employees.
David, I completely agree with you more. I can't tell you the number of emails I have replied to in anger and would have sent before ICLD. I now stop before sending the emails, print them, read them again, and usually end up putting the printed copy in my desk as a reminder and rewriting my response with a cooler head.
To be a good leader one should be able to direct and motivate. A leader should also be able to influence people by providing a purpose. In the five keys circle of emotional intelligence a leader should also possess Motivation, Empathy, Social skills, Self regulation and Self Awareness so that he can be well rounded. Out of the five keys I really believe that a leader should stress empathy due to the new age employees not being able to deal with some of the day to day events.
Jarvis I strongly agree with your last sentence. The Millennials or Generation Y definitely require law enforcement officers to be more empathetic. Though officers possess the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, this generation makes it a bit more challenging.
Empathy is key. If you can put yourself in another person's shoes, you are a head of the game.
The reality is that law enforcement is a service industry. We are here to serve the customer, and learning, then applying emotional intelligence in all that we do is what the customer expects. Often, it seems we forget this, which creates dissatisfaction, complaints and hatred for the most noble profession.
Lucia that is really well put and I couldn't agree more. We as officers often forget just that thing, we are civil servants. A lot of our officers are not self aware and are not utilizing self-control and empathy in situations that are high stress. So definite dissatisfaction when it could have all been done so differently.
This module has taught me the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership. Having never learned about this topic in the past,I found it very interesting. I have seen it used in the past to deescalate a situation at a scene, but what I found most useful was its use as a leader. I have used this technique in managing people, having learned it from my leaders from in the past. I have always found that one of the most useful tools was empathy, if you can put yourself in the shoes of the employee or complainant, and see it from their perspective, you will be able to help that person come to a satisfactory resolution to their problem.
I completely agree. I think as leaders we knew what emotional intelligence was but never formally learned about it. I also think that empathy is one of the most useful tools. Every agency has that officer to where when they come to a "hot" scene, we know they are about to escalate the situation rather than being empathetic to the complainant's situation.
I have learned that I have been using emotional intelligence everyday. When I have been on calls and have looked at the suspect body language or facial expression to determine if the suspect was truthful. Even at a restaurant when dealing with a server. I have used this in determining if someone's personality was compatible with mine. In the one lecture the instructor states how he made a determination about the restaurant because of the one waiter, this is true in law enforcement. The way one officer treats a citizen can determine that persons views of the department their entire life.
I agree. When dealing with others, we should used a great level of empathy and self awareness. When someone see that you care it will change their body language, mindset and facial expressions of the department.
This is a great subject in this lecture and when put into use, will help our every day interactions with the public. The better i get to know myself the better I will be in my job as a leader.
Agreed David. And the better we know ourselves, the better we can control ourselves.
This is the first time I have heard of Emotional Intelligence. I think as law enforcement officers most of us subconsciously do theses things. I am type A personality and often too aggressive where I shouldn't be. Though ,I think my Self-awareness and emotional management has improved recently. The four branches of Emotional Intelligence simplified the topic.
Maybe what you call aggression is really passion. Passion is an emotion that has to be controlled as well.
I liked this module as it is an area of improvement I work on daily. Watching as a person speaks to interpret their verbal cues is a challenge. It also requires intense listening. As with most people, I have the habit of thinking what I want to say while the other person is speaking. This E. I. module is a good reminder of the benefits of knowing myself better and learning more about others.
Learning to read nonverbal cues from others is very important when dealing with the public, as well as, those we supervise. When dealing with the public, recognizing nonverbal cues can help in de-escalating situations. We also have to be aware of the nonverbal cues we give off as supervisors. We can be saying one thing verbally but our facial expressions could indicate something opposite.
I agree that nonverbal cues are important. Upon viewing theses clues especially in an interview sometime you can tell if the suspect is being truthful. Paying attention to non verbal cues often will tell if a suspect is about to resist arrest.
Non verbal cues are also really important when interviewing people for employment as well. No eye contact, fidgety or things like that. It could mean that someone is nervous or maybe that they are timid when may not be a quality you are looking for in your candidate.
It is only in recent training I have attended that I first heard the term Emotional Intelligence and it made me realize a lot about myself and others around me. If we wish to be successful in anything, we must learn how to navigate both ourselves and other people. I believe that mental preparation and training is key, just as we train our muscle memory. We must mentally imagine scenarios and how best we should deal with them. This certainly applies to our personal lives and our professional relationships with our co-workers.
I agree with role playing scenarios. I do this often while working ODS to help me prepare for possible scenarios. I liked the last slide in this module about "train your brain to draw your weapon exactly the same way. By conscious thought and repetition". These are effective suggestions.
What I take from this module is several important things that we do on a daily basis, and sometimes, we don’t even think about it. For example, out of the 4 branches, the first is perceived emotions. When you get to work what clues do your followers give you on how they are doing? On patrol a certain tone in their voice on the radio could be one non-verbal signal that they are having a bad day. Or, if you are talking to them in person on a situation they may have, usually reading their body language dictates on how you will react. What is your self-awareness on your reaction to their situation? When dealing with followers or even the public, try to be aware of your reactions, facial expressions, and body language. If you give the wrong non-verbal it could send the wrong message
I'm sure we have all been on that call where all is going well, only to have one officer's body language have the entire crowd turn against you. Self awareness is our first step to success on this topic
I think self regulation is also a great tool. Because if an officer can regulate himself and conduct himself in a professional manner the crowd may stay under control and on his side.
I agree with you. Non-verbal cues are very important and give the wrong impression.
I agree with the watching your non-verbal cues. I don't know how many times that my staff had made comments to me about "looking angry" or not being in a good mood, when in fact, there is nothing wrong with me. This was a self reflection on managing my own body language and paying attention to others.
Emotional intelligence although has been around for sometime, is not being taught to young officers graduating from the police academy.I do believe that emotional intelligence is needed in our profession. I would have to alleviate some of the issue that plague young law enforcement officers. Understanding what will trigger an unwanted response and how to handle the emotions will make us better individuals.
Brown,
Although an actual block of Emotional Intelligence is not taught in the academy I believe other facets of training in assisting them to be more self-aware. I do agree with you that maybe there should be something specific taught so young cadets can place an emotional reaction to part of their training and understand it better. Maybe by this, it will help them be more self-aware of their own emotions when reacting to a situation presented to them
I agree. There are so many things that is covered in the E.I. Module that would have made my career easier and me a better officer.
I graduated from an academy in May 2019 and we were taught several aspects of emotional intelligence. I would suggest it as an in-service so new and old officers can benefit.
I agree this should be taught in the academy. I'm sure we have all seen a situation deteriorate because an officer arrived on scene who did not practice emotional intelligence. Many times we can keep situations calm just by keeping our emotions in check.
I have previously attended leadership training that included the subject of Emotional Intelligence. Prior to this training I was not aware that such a thing existed. I have noted from the training that I like many other police officer's need to improve in the area of empathy.
I found that the interview in the lecture was very informative. I agree with the statement made in the interview where according to Goldman, D. (2020), "You can't make someone be empathetic. They have to want to be more empathetic. Empathy is crucial".
This is one area that I have focused my attention and plan on working hard to improve upon.
This module discussion about emotional intelligence hits home with what I try to accomplish with the people that work with and for me. Listening to their day to day talk about their family life or work life gives me a better understanding of who they are. With that knowledge I am able to assess the way they are on a daily basis. If someone is having a bad day it allows me to acknowledge that much more quickly.
The part of this section that hit home was the review of the 4 branches of emotional Intelligence, especially managing emotions. Sometimes I immediately get upset when I feel that a subordinate did not complete an assignment. I need to better realize that even though they did not complete the assignment how I expected it may be due to me not being clear on my directions. This emotion could cause the employee to shut down or lose respect for me.
If you would like to develop your EQ, I would encourage you to purchase Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. It's a quick and easy read. The outline EQ in the following way: Personal Competence: Self-Awareness and Self-Management. Social Competence: Social Awareness and Relationship Management. With the purchase of the book, you get a free EI Appraisal, which is very informative and will help with your self-assessment.
If we all believe that we should be life-long learners of leadership, then I would submit that the daily development of your EQ is not negotiable.
I agree with all the comments made by the group. I personally have struggled with not having control over the triggers that create a negative response to conflict. The ability to apply the 10-second rule has been something that I've been training myself through an APP called Positive Intelligence. The daily focus (PQ) reps allow you to train your brain to have a positive (Sage) outcome. Remember, this will be a life-long process to develop your Sage brain and showing your EI brain is in control.
This module discussed the idea of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and understanding how its application in law enforcement and as a leader. Emotional Intelligence is the idea that you can understand and control your emotions, as well as interpret the emotions, and emotional responses of others. In law enforcement, we are all trained to pick up on body language cues, its what helps keep us safe. When we contact someone in the field and although they are verbally compliant, our training and experience help us detect whether they are about to run, fight, or are being dishonest. The same is true as we discuss the implications of being a leader with a good understanding of EI or a high Emotional Quotient (EQ). As a leader, you must understand the emotions of your personnel, even when giving direction that is unfavorable to them. Despite our need to manage in our own name, we must also understand or be empathetic to their response. I would even expect a leader with high EQ to anticipate the response and prepare some support or be prepared to respond to negative reactions.
This lecture for very informative to me what have learned from this lecture is the importance is making decisions by using reason and not personal feeling and not making decisions out of anger. I agree that sometimes we need to take a breath think about our decisions on how the other person an employee or citizen of the community is going to perceive our decision. I have learned that when we make a delivery on a decision we have made we need to sometimes hide our personal feelings (facial expressions). If i sound sincere when listing to some one about a issue they are having but i'am not engage in their conversation and i roll my eyes or look around the room and im not making eye contact they can tell or perceive that i'am not listing to their problem or i don't really care.
You are spot on Colby. If the situation allows us time to think before acting, I believe we must. We can most likely avoid a lot of heartache, grief, and a never ending report which will follow. I learned early on to treat everyone with respect, actually the same as you would want to be treated. But if the person does not allow you the opportunity (and you are forced to perform a forceful action) do it quickly and be done with it. I also agree that non-verbal body language is important. The public sees it just as much as we see theirs. Whatever their problem or complaint is, we have a duty to serve them. This should always be done in a professional way.
In listening to the lecture I was happy to see my department has been proactive in providing training related to emotional intelligence to our officers and discussed topics that were covered in this chapter. However, the training is good and all, but if we are not disciplined to practice and employ what we learn, then what good Is the training? It made me realize that this cannot be a one or two times training evolution and check a box off. We as supervisors must remain engaged with our officers and have an understanding of where they are coming from. Our peer support program has significantly helped officers in dealing with their emotions. I believe officers need to see, know and feel the command is engaged and genuinely cares about them.
With that it also made me realize I need to be more aware of my triggers and how I deal with them and how I project my and convey my messages to my peers and my subordinates.
Magda,
I enjoyed your post and reading that your department's peer support program is helping your officers deal with their emotions. This idea of dealing with your emotions is somewhat foreign in the field of law enforcement. Anyone with a significant amount of time on the job, was more than likely trained to "just deal" with the variety of emotions experienced from highly traumatic situations such as deaths, shootings, stabbings or being physically attacked. I believe as supervisor's we must encourage our personnel to understand that it is okay to be affected by these situations and help them deal with them so they can have a long and prosperous career.
Frank
I am glad to see your department has been proactive in providing this training. With all of the POST requirements and other training departments overlook this important training. I agree of the importance of this training and hope my department takes the suggestion from me.
I agree with the lack of training in the psychological area.I think most departments mainly focus on enforcement and not on preparing officer how to handle the mental aspects of the job.
This lecture was very informative. I find that building upon our ability to identify , access and control our emotions and the emotions of others to be an effective tool as a leader within an organization and the community. If I could have utilized the ten second rule much more in discussions in the past. I coud have walked away feeling much better about the incident and myself. This lecture will help me become a better person as I learn to become self-aware of my emotions and managed them to achieve effective communication with my personnel and the public. I also recognize it is just as importance to socially be aware of the emotions of others and to successfully provide resolution while controlling those emotions. Improving our emotional intelligence ability will allow us to recognize our "Hot Buttons" and learn to control them. Great Lecture!
I agree with you, There are many times i made emotionally charged decisions that i later regretted. I guess i have never recognized what my true triggers were, so i never recognized them when they happened . I also agree that decisions made when we are emotionally charged can be very draining both mentally and physically. Although my department provides training on emotional intelligence, i don't think i have ever broken it down to this level. Learning how to recognize my triggers, waiting before i say something or do something is something i definitely have to do.
I learned a great deal from this lecture. I have heard of the 10-second rule and even when I think I am being mindful of my reactions, I still let my emotions get the best of me. This lecture brought me back to the beginning. The need to be more self-aware of my emotions, think about the situation before speaking and being a better communicator.
I have often found myself in the same boat. I was letting my actions outrun my emotional intelligence. This was an excellent reminder to slow down, think, and keep improving.
This was a very interesting lecture and one that really brought some realities to me and my department. I think having an Emotional Intelligence course, or at least some sort of training would be a great idea. In fact, from what I can remember, the only EI that I was ever taught was at the academy during pursuit driving training. I vividly remember the instructor talking about tunnel vision and to make sure you open up your eyes to your surroundings. We often times go to advanced officer training to be a FTO, ride a motor, investigations; however, we never train our emotions even though they are the one thing that are completely in our control. I often talk to my officers about having a "knee jerk" reaction and to not just react based on emotions and feelings. Maybe implementing a course like the ones stated above would help our department with this issue. Especially since our new officers that we hire seem to have less (or different) life experiences then before.
Henry,
I agree with your post as it pertains to implementing or providing an Emotional Intelligence course for our personnel. Most of our training is cognitive based and rightfully so, but we need to work on emotional intelligence because it this career our emotions and the emotions of other are what cause problems to escalate. As the lecture stated, 80 to 85 percent of complaints against officers were based on how the officer made a person feel. If we could teach each our personnel to recognize and control their triggers, we maybe able to reduce our complaints significantly and possibly reduce our use of force.
This is the first I've heard of Emotional Intelligence and found the topic very interesting. I've found not having self-awareness of my emotions as a young officer and even as a newly appointed administrator has given others the wrong perception of me. My passion for certain issues was sometimes perceived as anger and I can see why now. I have a tendency to wear my emotions on my sleeve and react before clearly thinking about the other view point. I feel this is an area I need to grow more as a leader and this module has definitely given me the tools to better managing my emotions.
This is the first i have heard of Emotional Intelligence as well. After i completed this lecture i asked one of my coworkers how my delivery was perceived by other staff members and i was informed that when i was upset staff would tell each other not to approach me until i have calmed down. I'am now going to work my self awareness as well.
I had the same issues early on in my career. I started applying this method without really knowing what it was until now. It is quite a difference.
Like you Brian, this was the first I have heard of Emotional Intelligence, especially when related to Law Enforcement. This lecture brought to my attention many areas where I know I can improve, both professionally and personally. Being self-aware of certain “hot buttons” or triggers ahead of time can be beneficial. Always knowing your emotional status and how to control these emotional triggers will not only make you a more professional law enforcement officer, but a leader others will look up to. Looking back on many incidents, especially in my early years in law enforcement, I see now how important this concept is. I am certain with self-regulation and clear thinking before acting, incidents that escalate may not always have to.
After completing the lectures in this module, I thought back upon my career thus far, and the many of personnel I've worked with. While one would assume there is an initial course assisting law enforcement officers get to an acceptable level of emotional intelligence (EI), including an annual booster class, it is surprising there is not. I have worked with many police officers who cannot control their emotions and often had to overcome disciplinary issues after negative interactions both with the public and supervisors. The seven steps identified to improve EI for police officers seems to be a quick and possibly effective solution to fill this void. Specifically, officers NEED to know what their "hot buttons" are and identify ways to navigate through them. Sharing these with peers and possibly a supervisor though, requires humility and a desire for change.
I agree with your assessment that it is surprising that there are not many formal training opportunities for law enforcement officers on emotional intelligence. To contend with the absence of such training, our Department recently introduced a 2-hour 'Emotional Intelligence' course within its required Advanced Quarterly Trainings (AQTs). Since the introduction of this course, I have found that some of the basic concepts of EI are now occasionally being referenced in our briefing trainings and even in discussions regarding our policies and procedures. Even though our understanding of EI is basic, I have already seen its benefits, albeit on a limited scale, and I believe we are all beginning to see its potential.
Corbin - what a great idea. The AQT is definitely something lacking in our Agency. EI specifically, isn't even mentioned in our mandatory or optional trainings. It would be great to see what your EI course looks like and see if it would be a good addition to our courses.
I also agree having EI as part of AQT is a great idea. Is the 2-hour course something your department created, or did you go with an outside provider?
It is unfortunate that this type of training is not mandated annually in order to keep our law enforcement accreditation. I know that many agencies face the challenges of not having the funding available to provide this sort of training to every police officer. I think it would be beneficial to everyone involved.
You are correct. Before this, the closest thing out there was Verbal Judo. It was effective is helping you maintain control but it did not do much to stave off anger or frustration. More departments should mandate these types of courses since it seems our words seem to be getting police in more trouble than physical force.
I agree. Training on EI is slowly making its way into all levels of law enforcement but it has been a slow roll. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of EI before it was introduced in and adult learning session of our Police Training Officer program. EI needs to be required training to be P.O.S.T eligible. As Goleman said in the module, EI can be learned. So it should be a standard park of LE training.
I agree with you Ryan, but think I think we should take an additional step and have this integrated into our public school systems. If you look at a lot of the issues that we deal with on a daily basis, I could make the argument that the majority can be tied back to EI. ie: Social Skills, Impulse Control, Managing Emotions. Kids are not being taught these life skills at home.
The formal training venue is an excellent opportunity to introduce emotional intelligence to our co-workers. While it is nice to have formalized training to point to, it is also incumbent upon us as leaders to synthesize the training into our daily work lives for ourselves and our teams. Something as simple as "hip pocket training" can help drive the teachable moments home with our team members in micro-lessons while also hitting on the technical aspects of policing.
I couldn't agree more that officers out of all people need to be able to control their emotions. I have also seen many be disciplined for their actions because they were unable to control their emotions. Unfortunately officers are frequently put in situations that are going to test them and not being able to keep themselves in check during times of high stress is going to cause a lot of negative reactions and most likely poor decision making. Everyone has their "hot buttons". Some seem to have more than others, but those are the individuals that need to work harder towards being able to control their emotions. Training for this is often put by the wayside in our department it seems like, but it is something that is very important to remember and that should be brought to the front to be completed and to regularly be done.
I completely agree with you. I think being able to identify your "hot buttons" is crucial. The 7 steps were very informative.
My biggest takeaway from this module is that I need to slow down and be more deliberate and empathetic when giving assignments to my subordinates. After considering how I typically do this, I now see that I tend to be too task-oriented when giving an assignment, and not sufficiently focused on ensuring that my staff gain a clear understanding of what the path to success looks like, what challenges may present themselves, and what tools and skills will be required to ensure success. By focusing more on their perspective and working to give them the information and support that I would want when being assigned a task, I am confident that I can help my subordinates achieve greater success, and bring greater efficiency to the management of our projects.
I agree with what you have said. I to tend to be task oriented when assigning tasks to be completed. I tend to think how quickly I can get the task done, not taking in to consideration that the one I have assigned it to is still learning and trying to accomplish the same task with possibly less experience. Taking the time to inform, teach and show them the proper way and why it needs to be done a certain way I still need work on.
I agree with you. Sometimes we get more involved in getting the job done, and need to slow down and make sure we are communicating to our subordinates. We need to take the time to listen to them and observe their nonverbal expressions. I think that supporting the process of how they want to accomplish the task is just as important as the task being completed.
I agree that we do not spend enough time communicating with co-workers, leaders, and followers, or observing their emotional cues. In Law Enforcement, we tend to listen only to obtain facts. I feel continued education and training in Emotional Intelligence are very valuable for our future.
I understand and agree with what you said Chris. I tend to be very task-oriented and I assume that my subordinates are too. I need to be more understanding when giving assignments and take note of the person I am assigning something to. I need to make sure that they are equipped with the proper understanding of the assignment and have tools to accomplish the task. I need to be more empathetic to them and their understanding and be more of a teacher so that they succeed.
The topic of emotional intelligence at my agency has never been directly discussed. Using the definition in the lesson that it is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, others and groups, it seems obvious that as LEO's we have been doing this for years and learning, usually informally and on the job, how to do this. 10 years ago it was taught in part as "verbal judo." But formal training in all aspects of EQ has never been provided. As a supervisor and a manager, the employees that receive the most complaints or get into the most fights generally do so, I see now in hindsight, because of a lack of EQ. I can see training in this as a benefit, but difficult to quantify and therefore justify the time and expense for agencies.
I think you are correct in that we as law enforcement officers have been utilizing our emotional intelligence for years and learning to hone those skills in our daily interactions. I would argue that we do not necessarily have to justify time/expense for training, but rather understand how to better utilize and assess the EQ skills in our current training regiments. When we train our officers using scenario-based training our instructors/evaluates can assess an officer's level of EQ by the manner in which they perform.
Deficiencies in EQ can then be addressed through further instruction and exposure to training scenarios that will allow officers to develop their EQ skills.
Kyle,
I couldn't agree with your post more! We also have never really had any training or discussion concerning emotional intelligence. As a first line supervisor, I field numerous telephone complaints a week over various issues. Most, if not all, each week could be tied directly into emotional intelligence. They are quick to respond in anger or say things they know they shouldn't or do things they know aren't appropriate. After this lesson, I look at them in a new way. Is this something they know they are doing wrong? How can they be held accountable for something they weren't given adequate training to deal with?
This module discussed some interesting topics regarding Emotional Intelligence and its uses for law enforcement. It is true that the citizens we serve expect law enforcement officers to exercise high levels of emotional intelligence. Citizens should expect officers to handle their emotions and their responses to things that trigger strong emotions, as this is a critical element needed when responding to high stress and often dangerous calls for service. The police are often the first resource called when someone is experiencing crisis. If officers do not possess emotional intelligence and exercise control over their responses to these emotions, they will only add to the chaos and will be unlikely to effectively deescalate a situation. The eight different uses of emotional intelligence covered in this lecture provide some insight to the effectiveness of emotional intelligence, as well as a road map that can be used to develop these skills in officers. I believe that emotional intelligence can be taught, as suggested in this learning module. Officers can be trained using practical scenarios and classroom work aimed at providing tools for personal development targeting topics such as: self-reflection and self-assessment, active listening and empathy skills, effective communication strategies, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving. We already train in many of these areas, but the training focus is generally on police tactics where officers are trained to protect themselves by focusing on inherent dangers. This training is critically important for officer survival, especially in today's social environment. However, we must not ignore the need to train our officers on the importance of not just police tactics, but also on employing our emotional intelligence to deescalate and resolve issues before they rise to the level of police use of force.
I could not agree more, this training is critical in today's’ social environment. We see case’s every day make headlines when an officer can’t control his or her emotions. People are out there with a single purpose to push officers into making a poor decision. The number of mentally ill who are in society without any skills of their own to cope effectively. Training such as this needs to be standard in every academy across the country. As you have stated, communication, critical thinking, and empathy skills are needed to effectively deal with the problems officers are faced with in this environment