Just back from speaking at the Key Media HR Summit 2008 in Singapore. I was struck by the near universal move, in business!, toward embracing more of what makes us human. Speaker after speaker spoke about how the emotional impact of good leaders and equitable workplace practices results in increased organizational effectiveness for businesses and organizations all over the world. It seems we are evolving - even if it is painfully slow! And I was also encouraged by how many speakers used the term "emotional intelligence!" It is so great that it is becoming increasingly popular to talk about our capacity to use our own emotions and those of others for greater effectiveness in work and in life!

Here are some of the projects I'm currently involved in that I'm excited about:

• Improving organizational effectiveness in two First Nations' (Native or Aboriginal Canadian) organizations

• Key Note speaker at the Northern Interior Health conference in Prince George - huge interest in healthcare - very encouraging! I may have mentioned the interest from Vancouver Island Health Authority and now Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (just certified two senior people responsible for leadership and organzational development - the rest of the team is being certified in August).

• Just did two one day workshops at HealthCare Benefit Trust

• More work with the federal government on their leadership program for senior leaders in Vancouver and I continue to have more people with the federal government attend the certification program from several different areas within government.

• Work coming up this Summer: BC CGA Association, Comcast University in Phillidelphia, a leadership course in Dubai, another certification course in Nigeria

• This Fall: Petroleum company in Calgary, more work with the City of Richmond, Okanagan College in Kelowna

• Our Emotional Intelligence for Police Leadership course was a huge success! Participants have said that when we offer it again this Fall they have several colleagues who want to attend. I believe this to be the future of policing. 

• Jim Kirkpatrick and I will be offering our two day intensive course "Emotional Intelligence and the Levels of Evaluation" this Fall - dates to be announced. This will be a lot of fun!

This may seem like an extreme statement, but I take this increasing interest in emotional intelligence to be evidence that we are moving in a positive direction in our evolution as a species.

What do you think? Email me to david@eitrainingcompany.com

Wow, I had no idea how hard it is to keep a blog going! It's like it just isn't on my radar screen. And, I think, does anyone read this? Yes, in fact, I get comments from people all the time - "when are you going to write something?" "You haven't written anything for awhile." Who knew? I'll keep trying to keep writing - how's that?

Just returned from Toronto last night where I had a wonderful group of women (yes, many of my workshops are all women...mmmm?) We had a great time and I was also able to see friends and family and experience my first Passover Seder. I really enjoyed it. We don't have enough rituals in life. What is the importance of rituals? I think they remind us of the importance of certain events, like how Passover reminds us to think about the experience of the Jews and their emancipation from Egypt. But it's much more than that as well. It's about family, friends, relationships, spending time together, eating together, and, at our end of the table - card tricks! ;-) I sat at the end of the table with the teenage boys of our good friends and, during the breaks in the Seder, we traded card tricks and had many laughs. We need more rituals! Or maybe we just need to make more of the ones we have?

This is the first blog of EITC, written by me, David Cory, Principal of EITC. What do I want to write about in these first days of thinking about the work that I do in a New Year? It is now the end of a wonderful, restful holiday with my family during which I have tried not to think about work. Now I need to start thinking about it. My mind is busy with many questions about what I want to do next with regard to emotional intelligence and the way it is applied to improve the work and personal lives of people that I serve. As you may know, I have been working with the concept of emotional intelligence for 10 years. I have seen many developments over that time and I have seen many different ways of approaching the topic and I have had the wonderful opportunity of talking about emotional intelligence with people all over the world.

Some things I'm excited about are my involvement in EI China and my partnership with principal, Lily Zeng, as a Master Trainer responsible for the selection and development of trainers as well as the development of curricula and delivering of courses in China on an as needed basis. We delivered 3 programs there in August. I'm excited about my new relationship with STI Consulting Ltd. based in Lagos, Nigeria. I had a wonderful trip there in November and look forward to going back to Lagos in 2008 and working for them in other parts of the world as well. I'm excited about my new partnership with Jim Kirkpatrick from SMR USA. Jim and I are developing a 2-day course combining his father Don Kirkpatrick's Levels of Evaluation with emotional intelligence. I'm excited about my partnership with Steve Watt, former Director of the Police Academy at the Justice Institute of BC. Steve and I have developed a fabulous 2-day program on Emotional Intelligence for Police Leaders which we have delivered to the Public Saftey Division of Baylor Health Systems in Dallas, Texas and now have a full enrollment of police leaders for our public course to be delivered in March in Vancouver.

And I'm exited about adding a blog to my website! I hope to contribute to this blog on a regular basis and I hope to direct my newsletter subscribers to this blog and encourage them to reply to my questions with the hope of developing a community of people interested in how emotional intelligence can make the world a better place. Cheers, David

Wow, so much for contributing to my blog on a regular basis! I got some great advice from a seasoned blogger who said to keep it short and sweet. So I will. Projects since I last wrote include a chilly trip to Ottawa for a certification course and two sessions with my nurse friends. I am working with a wonderful group of nurses up in Campbell River for whom Rebecca Miller, of Core Elements, and I developed a leadership development program. I get to see them once per month and we always seem to have a great time together. Upcoming projects include certification courses in Calgary and Vancouver, work with the Provincial Ministry of Health. Another session with the nurses and then we will then have our Emotional Intelligence and Police Leadership course first week of March and then the Career Management Conference, which is always a lot of fun and where I get to see many familiar faces as I began my career in the career development field many years ago.

Thoughts racing through my head: how to keep in touch with everyone without bugging them? How to get the book in my head into a computer? How to balance my work with my family? (anyone else with me on this last one?) How to get more speaking engagements? Mmmm...