This chapter determines how leaders promote the emotion perception (self and others) facet in their leadership via the use of intrapersonal intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence, and nonverbal communication. In addition, this chapter also discusses how educators promote the emotion perception (self and others) facet in their classrooms via their use of intrapersonal intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence and nonverbal communication, thereby embracing their roles as leaders in the classroom. Finally, this chapter also gives authority to the positions of those who oppose the promotion of the emotion perception (self and others) facet in leadership and education.
TopIntroduction
What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are. -C. S. Lewis
One of the fondest memories in each of our childhoods is when we try to lie to our parents, but they know that we are lying. For no matter how much we want to believe it, a gremlin did not pop out of the couch and break the lamp—it was our own behavior, and now we are simply trying to avoid the consequences of our actions. As children, we think that our parents have superpowers in order to detect the truth from a lie, but this seemingly superhuman ability, is simply the capability to know how to read signals correctly and decode the behavior of others by studying body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. These subtle clues give us insight into one’s internal psyche, and they can often serve as a rudimentary lie detector test when necessary. The ability to read these signals in self and others is a skill of paramount importance for leaders and educators alike, since both leadership and education involve the ability to decode the messages within others, and ourselves and adapt one’s approach in order to meet the needs of one’s followers or students accordingly. This ability to read the signals within one’s self and within others, is what Petrides (2009a) refers to as the emotion perception (self and others) facet, and he defines it as the ability of an individual to be “clear about what they feel and able to decode other people’s emotional expressions” (p. 59).
Consequently, this chapter will meet the following objectives:
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Discuss how leaders promote the emotion perception (self and others) facet in their leadership by practicing intrapersonal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and being cognizant of nonverbal communication.
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Determine how educators use the emotion perception (self and others) facet in their classrooms by practicing intrapersonal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and being cognizant of the nonverbal communication of their students.
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Give credence to the arguments of those who disagree that leaders and educators should promote the emotion perception (self and others) facet.
TopEmotion Perception (Self And Others) In Leadership
A person in a leadership position must first be able to know himself or herself before they can begin to form high-quality relationships with their followers (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). Meaning that individuals who actively practice the emotion perception (self and others) facet, just like the ancient Greeks of Delphi, are able to know themselves (Nicholson, 2002), while simultaneously being able to know others (Dimaggio, Lysaker, Carcione, Nicolo, & Semerari, 2008). In order for leaders to embrace the emotion perception (self and others) facet and incorporate it into their leadership, they must actively practice (1) intrapersonal intelligence, (2) interpersonal intelligence, and cognizance nonverbal communication. In addition, leaders must be cognizant of the (3) barriers to the emotion perception (self and others) facet in order to demonstrate the difficulties leaders may face when they incorporate the emotion perception (self and others) facet into their leadership. With support from the scholarly literature, each of these three points merits further discussion in the subsequent paragraphs.