Social and Emotional Intelligence instruments for use in Asia Pacific

by | 20 December 2011

 The following is a contribution from Joseph D’Souza to a LinkedIn group discussion thread. The question posed is:

“Advice please. Could you recommend an assessment tool that measures social & emotional intelligence in workplaces with diverse national cultures? I am keen to coach in Australia and the Asia-Pacific.”

I am sometimes called to facilitate and present to multicultural audiences in Australia. (I have also worked in many countries in Asia in my corporate life. I was born and finished schooling in Kenya of Goan (Portuguese India Goa) parents, Lived in London for 25 yrs, now in Australia (18yrs). Equally, I find myself coaching executives of varying cultures. What I have discerned, is that no one instrument adequately covers the ‘self understanding’ for the individual in the context of where ‘they have come from’ to where ‘they wish to be’ I have however found that a few core items successfully start conversations which lead to very good outcomes.

In my practice, I refer to this as The QuestUnique Five Key Anchors. I then have a template (your Unique True North) which captures these results and it is surprising how much the individuals, especially within teams share this discovery. These are about:

  1. Values (always an education in a multicultural context)
  2. Strengths (Gallop Strengths Finder – universal)
  3. Personality Preferences ( MBTI Step II now proven in diverse countries and cultures)
  4. Emotional Intelligence (BarOn and Emotional Capitalists)
  5. The Holistic Individual (The ROQUE Model)

I am happy to share this template and the tools I use if anyone would care to email me.

In addition to my business studies (Marketing, MBA, MLM) I also have degrees in comparative religion and philosophy, social anthropology and psychology. Together with my corporate experience, my awareness of other cultures certainly helps me with understanding the interesting ways to both engage and support individuals from varying cultures and in different countries.

This is a great area of work and I would love to do even more!! I know I shall be learning from this group. Asia Pacific is a grand, rich and historically interesting playground. Best wishes. Thanks!