At Pfizer, chief executive officer Jeff Kindler couldn't sell the organization on what it would take to get unstuck and moving again in the direction of being a pharmaceutical powerhouse again. In 2010, reports FORTUNE, he was pressured to resign. The way FORTUNE tells the story of the fall of this player provides insight on the need for high emotional intelligence [EI] in an economy disrupted by globalization and technology.
"The Social Animal" by David Brooks might be such a best-seller because more and more of us are recognizing our professional survival depends on our ability to read a situation quickly and accurately and then configure and execute the best, at least for the time, response. By trial and error I acquired or re-acquired it after the executive-communications niche shrunk in the early 21st century [Download CUsersjasneDocumentsjg]. Not only am I now able to make a good living. I can determine what assignments to accept. After all, as we know from the 80/20 rule, not all accounts are created equal.
What might have created the deficit in Kindler's EI? From my experience covering the legal sector - http://lawandmore.typepad.com- I have found that lawyers have an unusually difficult time in career transition. Kindler started out as a successful trial attorney [Williams & Connolly] and corporate general counsel [McDonald's]. Successful lawyers tend to have a mindset, persona, and methodologies unique to that line of work. Those don't only not transfer well. They become an obstacle. For instance, much of traditional law is built on the adversarial model. Organizational life, though, demands intense cooperation, including continuous compromise.
How do we boost our EI? Reverse engineer every professional encounter, positive and negative, about what worked, what didn't, and what might have worked. Stay willing to keep fine-tuning, as well as overhauling. Current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a prime example of high EI.
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