Well, welcome back to another episode of Geek, Skeezers, and Googleization, where we're talking about how the wire, the tired, and technology are all converging. And I'm really pleased today to invite back, or to have back, a previous guest, at least one other time, Jennifer Zemecki from Well Run Concepts. And we're going to be talking about emotional intelligence today and a little bit about the millennials as well. So, Jennifer, good morning.
Good morning, Ira. Great to be back. So let's just dive into this today. This has been coming up.
I've been on a little bit of a tour of talking about recruiting in the age of Googleization. And every time I do that, the last two weeks, it's been to a group of HVAC contractors. And every time I spoke, one of the issues is, what do we do about those millennials? And we didn't venture into emotional intelligence.
We talked about that. But you and I know that's somewhat behind the scenes. So we want to talk today about emotional intelligence. But beyond that, beyond just the millennials, just kind of give a brief description of what emotional intelligence or emotional quotient is and why it's important.
Okay. Well, a real easy definition to remember is, you know, EQ is about managing your own emotions and understanding how they affect other people. And that's really kind of the key, because a lot of people understand their emotions, but they have no clue how it's affecting other people. So that's a big part of it, as well as being able to recognize and manage others' emotions.
So just so everybody understands that. So I'm told that, you know, that I'm a good speaker, or I'm a good coach, or I'm a good mentor, I'm a good manager, or that, boy, I'm so friendly. I mean, what's the difference of knowing my personality or what I'm good at? How does that fit into emotional quotient?
And we're using these interchangeably, but emotional quotient or emotional intelligence? Yes. Well, what you were talking about is more of a disc model, you know, how you go about something. You know, that's the how.
So think of the disc is your hands and your feet. Right. But nowhere is that the emotional level that we're talking about. So the EQ is an impulse.
It's an emotion that comes first. Farther down the chain is how you play it out, which would be through your disc style. Are you very direct? Are you very friendly?
Are you introverted, extroverted? All of that, that we say are personality traits, are way down the chain of events. The emotion, the heart of the matter, is the first impulse. And that ends up driving behavior.
Okay, good. So, you know, going back, I mean, obviously, the dominant question of today is, well, how do we find better people? And what do we do about millennials? So we're not going to talk about recruiting today.
We're going to talk about these millennials. So one of the questions come up is that millennials born 1980 to 1996. So they're somewhere between 37 years old and the youngest is about 22. At what point do you, you know, is it reasonable to expect that, you know, any person would have a high EQ, that they would have control, that they would be able to have control over these emotions and higher self-awareness.
I mean, it looks like somebody 25 years old. They haven't had all the life experiences that you and I have had. So are millennials just too young? I mean, are people's expectations too high for that?
Well, that's an excellent point. What you brought up is that EQ is a skill that ultimately has to be developed. And how it is developed is through practice. So you and I, if we're in the, if we're in the Gen X, if we're a baby boomer, we have had almost twice as much life experience as the millennials and the generation younger than that.
So by the nature of our age, we have a higher EQ because we have lived longer and we have practiced, hopefully, now this is making an assumption, that we have practiced managing our emotions, which most people have. So the question is, yes, millennials are at a disadvantage because of their age, but that doesn't mean that they can't do something about it. So what would, what would be some steps to, you know, what would you advise? Because it sounds like as Justin, we talked about skills, you know, whether it's a technical skill, how to be a technician, computer skills or critical thinking or communication skills, because EQ is a skill that, you know, should be put in the curriculum, I guess, or life curriculum.
What would, you know, what would you suggest? How does somebody get started? Yes, absolutely. Well, I want to go back to an important point is that 90% of top performers are high in EQ.
So that means EQ is two times as important as IQ. And here's what, here's a point to millennials. The skills needed in the workforce are going to be less about IQ now and more about EQ. And the millennials know that because they have technology at their fingertips.
They understand it. They can get their IQ, if you will, from their handheld devices. They have mastered technology. So therefore, they don't need to be a walking encyclopedia.
That's what Google's for. So now, when we're throwing IQ out of the equation, which is what the boomers and the older generations have used to work up the corporate ladder, now the millennials are going to have to use something else. And what they're going to need to use is their ability to manage their emotions. And one of the big skills of your question was, where do we begin?
We begin with the mastery of self. And there's a huge gap between boomers and millennials in the skill of self-management. Boomers are much less prone to flying off a handle when things don't go their way than the younger generations. And there's a lot more to leadership than the mastery of technology.
The question is, can they manage themselves, much less others? Oh, boy, you just opened up a whole host of questions in my mind. Stay tuned. We'll be on the air for another two or three hours.
I'm just kidding, folks. So one of the things has just changed. And you know that. I talked about how rapidly things are changing.
And part of the instant gratification that we talk about millennials wanting, that they have a short attention span, as part of it, is that in reality a skill that people need today? We're looking at it that, what does everything need to happen so fast? But things are happening faster. And that's the only world that the millennials know.
So it sounds like many baby boomers I try to keep up. I know you do, too. Many baby boomers or even Generation X who were used to it. Every generation thinks that the younger generation is moving too fast.
But this generation is accelerating. But that's the world we live in. So we need, you and I and anybody over 30 or 35, probably need to learn how to adapt, how to manage better in this new world. But then the younger millennials, or even the Gen X, we're talking about an 18-year-old, we're not even talking about millennials.
We're talking Generation Z. I'm sorry, the X, but Generation Z. You know, anyone born after 1997. So they're, I mean, they just don't have that life experience.
I mean, but they do tend to adapt pretty well to the today. But they're not fitting into the rest of the world that's also struggling to manage the much faster pace. So I guess what I'm saying is that the millennials need to learn how to adapt to, or to be more comfortable with baby boomers. And the baby boomers need to be more comfortable with millennials and younger.
Everybody, it sounds like, needs to increase their EQ a bit. Am I on the right track here? Yes. Let me tell you the kind of the scale.
Actually, boomers are peaking. You know, boomers hold the majority of leadership positions at the top. And one of the reasons is because, one, they are in that age group. But two, they have really mastered EQ.
You know, these areas of self-management, managing relationships, the things that the millennials are struggling with. So if we think of it as in kind of decades, you mentioned the Gen Z. Okay, so there are teenagers. They're just now going to start entering the workforce.
So on an EQ scale, an average score for them would be about 66. Then when we're in our 20s, the Gen Y, the millennials, you know, the 20s have a score of about 68. And then the older millennials that are in their early 30s, they have a score of about 70. And then when you get to our Gen Xers, they're around 71.
And it peaks with our boomers at about 72. So right there, you can see that there is a big gap in just the numbers of the age between the boomers and the millennials and the scores in EQ. So EQ peaks at about 60 years of age. And it actually can either level off or could actually start declining in the 60s and the 70s.
So we have to assume that our boomers, they pretty much at this age in their 50s have mastered EQ. That doesn't mean not every single person, but the average numbers show that they are in mastery of their emotions. And like I said, specifically when the areas of learning to control their tongues and manage relationships, they're much better at that. The millennials, where they really need to focus is that they need to resist that temptation to speak out when it's not going to help the situation, to learn to keep the lines of communication open when they are upset.
And those are their biggest issues. And if they can work right now on their EQ, they're going to fast forward, they're going to speed up their ability to take over these leadership positions as the boomers are retiring. And those Gen Xers out there, if they are not, they're in their late 30s, 40s, they need to be mastering EQ. And if they haven't, they're going to be passed over by those millennials who do master EQ.
Yeah, actually, the oldest, and I had this in my presentation, the oldest Gen Xer, actually 52, 53 years old. So they're almost speaking, but there's still an opportunity, obviously, life expectancies and careers are extending. And never too late to learn to my mother's, you know, be 94 in the fall. And she's always interested in what's going on.
I know we're going to run if we stop bashing the millennials and say, listen, yeah, their EQ is low, but that's not a problem. That's just partly with age, but it can be improved and it can be improved quickly. So if I'm a 22-year-old trying to get, you know, get launched into my career or I'm the parent of a millennial and I'm trying to make sure they have the best shot at moving up pretty quickly in the workplace, what's, I mean, the first step is the self-awareness. So what does that look like to, you know, to the individual wanting to improve their EQ?
Well, first of all, the self-awareness is start with an assessment. I know you have them available, Ira. What assessment would you suggest? Is it an EQ assessment or is it something like DISC or, you know, what's it start with?
Yeah, I would start with the EQ. You know, we're talking about EQ. DISC is kind of another conversation. All assessments, I think, are great for self-awareness, but if we're specifically targeting EQ, I would take an EQ assessment.
They're very affordable and you can take them, I mean, teenagers can take them. So certainly a millennial, their EQ has patterned and they can take an assessment, have reliable results, and therefore we have a place to start. What is the benchmark? Where are they starting?
What are they high in? Are they high in self-awareness but low in self-regulation? Are they high in social skills but low in motivation? You know, what are their measurements?
And then from there, there's a, you know, there's a plan you can put together to develop those areas that are going to help them succeed in their career. Yeah, it's a great perspective. Yeah, no, it's an absolutely great perspective because I know a lot of people are looking for career assessments and what they should, you know, what subject should they study and everything else. But I'm not sure, you know, and I live this world.
I'm not sure that I've heard that EQ should be part of that, but boy, after this morning, I'm thinking that's going to be a key. Yes, as important as DISC is and workplace motivators and assessing personal skills, which we do all of that, you know, each piece is important. But when we were specifically this morning talking about millennials, if there's one thing I could tell millennials or one thing I could tell the boomers or the Xers who are managing the millennials is help them develop their EQ and then with all their other skills that they bring to the workplace and they're really excellent at learning new skills and acquiring new information, I think they'll eat it up. Hey, Jennifer, we are out of time, but I know that there's probably a lot of other questions and I already thought of three other topics.
We can probably follow up on this. Excellent. But for now, if someone had a question for you about EQ and, you know, you and I talked about doing some additional webinars. I know you have a training program.
We both carry EQ assessments. But if somebody wants to get in touch with you, how would they do that? Yeah, the best thing is go to our website, well-run.com, W-E-L-R-U-N.com. You can get in touch with me from there and I'm happy to answer any questions about EQ.
Well, thanks very much, Jennifer. We always have a great conversation. The time goes incredibly fast. Our topic today was talking with Jennifer Zemecki from Well Run Concepts about emotional quotient or emotional intelligence and especially targeting the millennials.
We'll have follow-up topics on recruiting and change in the near future, so continue to listen to Geeks, Deezers, and Googleization. My name is Tiger Wolf and I hope everyone has a fabulous day. Thank you.