Emotional intelce skills are synergistic (起协同作用) with cognitive ones: Top performers have both. The more complex the job, the more emotional intelce matters - if only because a deficiency in these abilities can hinder the use of whatever technical expertise or intellect a person may have. Take, for example, an executive who had just been brought in to run a $65 million, family owned business, the first president from outside the family.
A researcher, using an interview method to assess the executive’s ability to handle cognitive complexity, determined his capacity was the very highest - a "level six," someone smart enough, theoretically, to be CEO of a global firm or head of a country. But during that interview the conversation turned to why he had to leave his previous job: He had been fired because he had failed to confront subordinates and hold them responsible for their. poor performance.
"It was still an emotional trigger for him," the researcher told me. "His face got red and flushed, he started waving his hands - he was clearly agitated. It turned out that his new boss - the owner of the company - had criticized him that very morning for the same thing, and he went on and on about how hard it was for him to confront low-performing employees, especially when they had been with the company for a long time. " And, the researcher noted, "While he was so upset, his ability to handle cognitive complexity - to reason - plummeted (骤降). "
In short, out-of-control emotions can make smart people stupid. The aptitudes you need to succeed start with intellectual horsepower - but people need emotional competence, too, to get the full potential of their talents. The reason we don’t get people’s full potential is emotional incompetence.
According to the author, technical expertise obviously falls under the category of ______.