l intelligence. Essentially, self-regulation involves self-control, discipline, and responsibility. The leader who is able to direct his or her energy in the desired ways is self-regulated, rather than reactive. Leaders who are reactive to situations or other people are likely to squander their energy and often fail to take proactive, creative steps to manage events.
Self-awareness, too, is seen as a vital aspect of emotional intelligence. High self-awareness means that the individual understands his or her own emotional make-up, and other people's, clearly enough to lead. It means that leader's understand about fear and compassion and uncertainty, and are able to work with these emotions, rather than deny them or scorn them in others.
There is support for the use of emotional intelligence as a model for business success in the work down by Michael Jensen done at Harvard University. Working with a group of different professionals on the Mind, Brain, Behavior Initiative, Jensen has studied the way in which the Pain Avoidance Model influences human behavior, including business decision-making behavior. The Pain Avoidance Model influences people to avoid pain in the short-term, even though the long-term pain might be even greater. The physiological response operates in such a way that the fight-or-flight mechanism is triggered, which makes it more difficult for the person to think clearly and learn from mistakes. Thus, business leaders may be unable to admit that they have made mistakes, or need to change the company, or make difficult, painful decisions about reorganization. The Pain Avoidance Model is essentially a reactive model. The leader possessing emotional intelligence may be affected by the same physiological responses as others, but is not overwhelmed by the Pain Avoidance Model. Instead, the emotionally intelligent leader is able to be self-regulating. This is the key to self-regulation: to be able to choos...