Seligman at Positive Psychology Conference 8th Nov

You'll be delighted to know that Martin Seligman is the keynote speaker at UEL's one day Positive Psychology Conference on Thursday 8th November. Also speaking are Dr Susan David, an Emotional Intelligence expert, Dr Alex Linley, founder and Director of the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology, Dr Gurnek Bains, CEO of corporate psychology consultancy YSC (Young Samuel Chambers), as well as our very own Dr Ilona Boniwell who established and leads the UK's first MAPP programme at UEL. Details below.


Positive psychology, well-being and business: Cutting-edge science for organisational success
Thursday 8 November at the University of East London, Docklands, with Professor Martin Seligman

UEL would like to invite you to a special one-day conference, Positive Psychology, Well-being and Business, featuring a keynote speech from world-renowned psychologist Professor Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology.

Positive Psychology - the scientific study of well-being - is increasingly recognised as having major, lasting benefits for business. Evidence shows that employees with higher levels of well-being are more focused and engaged with their work; are better team-players; have higher levels of motivation; have less illness and absenteeism; and perform better overall.

This new thinking explicitly challenges the conventional wisdom that fixing a weakness is essential to improving performance. Rather, positive psychology concentrates on what drives and motivates success. Globally, many major organisations are implementing the findings of positive psychology and strengths-based performance management in the workplace, helping them to grow and succeed. This conference will enable you to learn how to put these findings into practice in your own business or organisation.

Whether you are involved in business, human resources, social and corporate responsibility, communication, organisational development, marketing, executive coaching, training or business consultancy, this conference could make a valuable contribution to your operational and staff development.

For more details and to register, visit www.uel.ac.uk/positiveconference or contact Sue Meade on 020 8223 4428.

Do let me know if you plan to go, I'd be delighted to meet up with you there.

Emotional Intelligence in Schools

How the next generation will be better prepared for the challenges of the workplace.

The Times today reported that "lessons in happiness, well-being and good manners are to be introduced in all state secondary schools".

It's unfortunate that the SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) programme is being labelled in this way by the media, because it instantly downgrades its importance, putting it firmly in the category of pink and fluffy fads which we'd be better off without.

What SEAL is actually for is to promote children's social and emotional skills which underpin effective learning, positive behaviour and emotional health and well-being in schools. "So what?", I hear you ask. Well, for many years now, various employment and business related organisations in the UK, such as the Confederation of British Industry, have been highly critical of employees' lack of (so-called) soft-skills. In 2004/5, Sir Digby Jones, then Director-General of the CBI said of new graduates:

“ A degree alone is not enough. Employers are looking for more than just technical skills and knowledge of a degree discipline. They particularly value skills such as communication, team working and problem solving. Job applicants who can demonstrate that they have developed these skills will have a real advantage.”

So you could say that the real point of the SEAL programme in schools is to start providing kids with the necessary tools to develop their self-awareness, empathy, motivation, social skills and ability to manage their emotions, so that ultimately they can become successful members of the community and successful in the workplace. Makes perfect sense now, doesn't it?




Thanks to Bruce Stanley for the Times article.

EI - Emotional Intelligence At Work

Five key things to understand about workplace Emotional Intelligence (EI - defined by psychologist Dr Susan David of Yale and Melbourne universities as "the ability to solve problems with and about emotions effectively"):

1. Emotions are resources - so treat them as data; whether positive or negative the purpose of emotions is to tell you that action of some kind is required.

2. The 4 stage RUUM model (Recognise, Use, Understand, Manage) is an extremely useful model for applying EI at work. It is possible to have different EI scores for each stage of the model, so for example you can have a high score for recognising emotions and a low score for managing them. The model allows you to pinpoint which areas of your EI ability you can benefit from developing.

3. When it comes to managing emotions in the workplace, there are several short term and long term strategies you can use. Psychology research shows which are very effective strategies and which are not.

4. If you're considering implementing an EI measurement tool at work, choose carefully. David claims that some well-known EI measurement tools actually measure personality, not EI.

5. Emotions provide useful data for business decision-making, because they underpin cognitive processes. Therefore, accept that there will be an element of 'heart' in all business decisions. Improving your ability to interpret your and others' emotions at work can transform your decision-making ability.

I'll be returning to the subject of EI , measurement tools and strategies for improving your workplace EI in a later post. In the meantime, you can find lots of useful information here.