EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Teaching Teenagers toDevelop Their EmotionalIntelligenceby Marc Brackett, Diana Divecha, and Robin Stern

MAY 19, 2015

If the U.S. is going to remain competitive in an increasingly global business environment,

we need a future workforce that’s prepared. But the reality is that the youth who will be

tomorrow’s innovators, educators, politicians, and business professionals aren’t ready to

meet such competitive expectations — not so much because they’re untrained, but because

they’re unequipped emotionally. To be competitive in the future, business leaders need to

do something about this today.

YOU AND YOUR TEAM

At the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, we are studying the future workforce, and

the outlook isn’t good. Teens in the United States are in dire psychological straits. Their

stress is edging beyond that of adults, according to a recent report by the American

Psychological Association. Their rate of psychopathology is five times that of 75 years ago,

according to one meta-analysis. Their rate of attempted suicide surpasses most other

countries. America’s teens “trail much of the world on measures of school achievement,

but are among the world leaders in violence, unwanted pregnancy, STDs, abortion, binge

drinking, marijuana use, obesity, and unhappiness,” says adolescence scholar Larry

Steinberg. A 2013 survey of more than 123,000 students at 153 colleges showed that more

than half experience overwhelming anxiety, and about a third feel intense depression

during the school year. Business leaders concerned about future U.S. competitiveness on

the global stage, take heed: These are the kids leading us into the 21 century.

Business leaders are beginning to recognize that how people manage their emotions

matters to their society’s economy. Nobel Laureate James Heckman writes that investment

in the education of children’s “non-cognitive” skills — like motivation, perseverance, and

self-control — is a cost-effective approach to increasing the quality and productivity of the

workforce. The 2014 Skoll World Economic Forum’s vision for 21 century education

called for the development of skills like initiative, persistence, adaptability, leadership, and

global citizenship. Studies in organizational psychology and leadership, as well as popular

articles, buzz with discussions of the importance of emotional intelligence.

Some business schools are working to train future leaders in the management of feelings.

The Yale School of Management administers a test of emotional intelligence to students,

then offers coaching to shore up skills in need of improvement. At the Stanford Graduate

School of Business, the most popular elective for 45 years running is Interpersonal

Dynamics, otherwise known as “Touchy-Feely,” where students meet in small groups and

receive detailed feedback on how their behavior affects others. Stanford courses like “The

Art of Self-Coaching” draw on the latest emotion science, positive psychology and

mindfulness training. “Acting with Power” helps students explore the physicality of

authority, status and power.

st

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Emotional Intelligence

Feelings matter at work

Graduates are getting results. “Something as

simple as learning to manage my micro-

expressions — a frown or a smile — has made

me a more empathic and effective leader,”

observes graduating Stanford MBA and

healthcare entrepreneur Nima Ahmadi.

A large and growing body of research demonstrates that emotional intelligence — the

ability to reason with and about emotions — is correlated with positive outcomes in

children beginning as early as preschool, as well as in adults, including business managers

and leaders.

Teaching emotional intelligence — or what’s more broadly called social and emotional

learning (SEL) — to children and adults also has proven to be effective., The approach to

SEL that we’ve developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (called RULER) has

demonstrated that children of all ages can be taught these skills — and that when they are,

there are real benefits, such as more effective leadership skills, stronger friendships and

connections to teachers, better conflict management skills, and greater academic

achievement than children who do not receive the training. A meta-analysis of 213 studies

on a wide range of social and emotional learning programs showed similar findings. And a

cost-benefit analysis released last month concluded that for every dollar schools spend on

SEL, there is an average of $11 worth of benefits to society, including costs associated with

healthcare and educational attainment.

Given that evidence-based SEL programs in school are highly effective and sorely needed,

it’s frustrating to see that the policies to mandate and fund them are slow to come. Two

federal bills are pending. One, the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act (HR 850)

would fund teachers’ professional development. A second, named for a young child lost in

the Sandy Hook massacre, the Jesse Lewis Empowering Educators Act (S 897) would

support evidence-based SEL programming. A few states like Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania,

and West Virginia have moved ahead to adopt their own policies.

American business leaders have the power and — if they but knew it — the pressing need to

advocate for our nation’s schools to include the education of emotions. We hope that

leaders across the nation will work to change education to equip America to be competitive

for the new global century well underway.

Here’s how business leaders can help: The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence in

partnership with Born This Way Foundation — founded by Lady Gaga and her mother,

Cynthia Germanotta — is amplifying youth voices to press harder for change. Together,

they have launched a national campaign called the Emotion Revolution to address the

emotional needs of high school students.

It begins with an anonymous survey for students to report about how they currently feel in

school, how they want to feel, and what they believe needs to happen to bridge the gap

between the two. Encourage the high school youth you know to participate in the survey

here.

In October 2015, there will be a summit at Yale to unveil the survey’s findings and offer

youth the opportunity to share ideas with educators, academics, and policymakers for

creating improved learning environments. Business leaders would do well to pay attention

to what these future leaders and employees are telling us. Your company’s future depends

on it – and them.

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and

developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning.

Diana Divecha, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist and research affiliate of the Yale

Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Robin Stern, Ph.D. is associate director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, co-

developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning, and a

psychoanalyst in private practice.

This article is about EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

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Related Topics: GENERATIONAL ISSUES LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

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