Harvard Emotional Intelligence Class

Chapter 13 The Infinite Magic Power of Emotional Intelligence (3)
From 1775 to 1786, in order to improve the real society, he applied to be an official in the Weimar Duchy, but achieved nothing. Not only did he fail to defeat the vulgarity of the German citizens, "on the contrary, the vulgarity overcame him" (Marx).So, in June 1786, he went to Italy under a pseudonym to concentrate on the study of natural science, painting and literary creation. After returning to Weimar in 6, he only worked as a theater supervisor. He tended to be conservative in politics, and pursued harmonious and tranquil classical beauty in art. After communicating with Schiller in 1788, with the rise of European democracy and national movements and the spread of utopian socialist ideas, his thoughts and creations also made new leaps, and completed masterpieces such as "Faust".As a representative figure of the "Hurricane" movement in Germany, Goethe called for freedom and eulogized resistance in a series of his works.A great person is not purely perfect. If the thought is detached from reality, it will go to extremes.We're going to be moderate.

Pieszeski, the author of "Goethe", described Goethe's complex and multi-layered character world vividly, concretely and wonderfully in the book: "This person is usually very gentle and patient, but sometimes he is so angry that he gritted his teeth and stomped his feet. He can be quiet. , and can be lively, when he is happy, he is like ascending to heaven, and when he is depressed, he is like falling into hell. He has strong self-confidence, and he often has calm doubts. He can feel that he is a superman to destroy a world, but he feels cowardly and incompetent, unable to move A small stone in the way." Goethe's character is complex and contradictory.Character as a whole system is complete and harmonious.But the objective reality is changeable and contradictory, and reality's requirements for people are sometimes diverse and contradictory.Everyone in a social life full of contradictions has accumulated opposite character traits such as positive and negative, positive and negative, affirmation and negation in his personality structure.Like Goethe's character world.Nevertheless, there are always dominant and essential features in every man's character, a force that is always true to himself and serves as the core and foundation of his character, resulting in a general tendency of his character to be positive and excellent. , or negative.The contradiction of personality is not terrible. The reason why we say that someone has a valuable personality is that he can give up and overcome his own weaknesses.There are times when the brave are timid, and those who help others also think about themselves. The key is that good qualities overcome bad qualities, and they win and show their strength.

Goethe's character has a layman's side, and Beethoven once recalled an incident. In 1812, Beethoven stayed for some days at Teplitz Spa, where he met Goethe for the first time.One day they went out for a walk together.They were walking along a street when they suddenly met the queen and her family.When Goethe saw it, he didn't care what Beethoven was saying to him, and immediately stood by the side of the road, took off his hat and stood there.Beethoven, on the contrary, pressed his top hat tightly on his forehead, wrinkled his bushy eyebrows, and protruded two more inches; he continued to walk forward without slowing down.In this way, the court dignitaries had to pull over and greet him.After passing the group, he turned and waited for Goethe to follow.Then he spoke bluntly to Goethe about his servile behavior.That reprimand was like scolding a snotty primary school student.Does this scene really happen?Is it Beethoven's invention?Is it as said above from the beginning to the end, or is he embellishing it?No one knows.But one thing is certain: Some people doubted Goethe's character and personality.

We ask too much of a great man - want him to be flawless, wish him to be ethereal and pure as poetry...but this is demanding, his character is so Contradictions, there are balance points in contradictions, so in politics and art, Goethe's achievements are amazing. His poetic novel "Faust" has told us his spirit, and his respect for the nobles Admiration and flattery are embarrassing.However, it was also like this that he was a normal spiritual leader who could become an era at that time.In short, the character is stable and unique, but also develops and changes; it is contradictory, but also consistent.Only when we understand the structure and characteristics of our character can we fully grasp our own character world.Those who cannot take the initiative to grasp themselves will always be "superfluous people" of the times.

Vincent van Gogh (Vincent van Gogh, 1853-1890) was born in a Protestant pastor family in the countryside of Holland. He worked as a staff member, a business broker, and a missionary in a mining area in his early years.He sold a painting in his life, which was 2 francs.As luck would have it, in 1987, Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" sold for £2250 million in London.

Van Gogh was withdrawn and stubborn since he was a child. He was full of fantasy and loved to go to extremes.Therefore, after repeated setbacks and failures in life, he finally devoted himself to painting, determined to "struggle with himself in painting".His early painting style was realistic, influenced by Dutch traditional painting and French realism. In 1886, he came to Paris to make a living, got acquainted with Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painters, and came into contact with Japanese Ukiyo-e works.The expansion of his field of vision changed his painting style dramatically. His paintings changed from dull and dark in the early stage to simple, bright and strong colors.And when he came to Arles, a small town in the south of France in 1888, he had already got rid of the influence of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, and went against them.Since then, Van Gogh's madness often occurred, but he still insisted on painting when he was conscious.Van Gogh's madness is actually an expression of strong love, love for human beings and love for vitality. People in the world think he is a madman.

The biggest feature of Van Gogh is to express his heart strongly with color and brushwork.Never before has a painter made you feel its emotion and power so strongly.Look at Van Gogh's self-portraits, his eyes see through everything.In addition, there is a very interesting brush stroke in the middle of Van Gogh's paintings, which is the spiral line of the background color. In his self-portraits, Van Gogh's stiff expression became vivid behind the background color, and the picture became soft.He looks weird and rigid, but he is actually a very delicate and sensitive person.Among them, the firmness and strength shown in Van Gogh's eyes are the perfect embodiment of a painter's ambition and pursuit.The painting Van Gogh made in the last month before his death was Starry Night, which was painted by Van Gogh in the madhouse, where he was fascinated by cypress and the tranquility of the small town.The starry sky on the screen has only been seen by the eyes of children, but the quiet stars and moon hang in such a distorted sky, and the cypresses pointing to the sky like black flames, dreamy and crazy colors.

The strong passion in Van Gogh's heart and the suppression of hard work are all vented on the painting.He explored a so-called expressionist painting language.He believes: "Color is not to achieve partial truth, but to reveal a certain passion." In his paintings, the strong and loud color contrast often reaches the limit.And his passionate swirling and pulsating brushstrokes make his wheat fields, cypress trees, starry sky, etc. rise and vibrate like flames, shocking the hearts of the viewers.In his paintings, strong emotions are completely dissolved in the symphony of colors and brushstrokes.Van Gogh shot himself in a wheat field three months later, but did not die immediately.He returned to his ward, and died beside his dearest brother Theo at three o'clock in the evening. Nine months later, his younger brother Theo, who supported his painting for life and took 9 francs from his salary every month (almost a third of his salary at the time), passed away because of grief, and their graves were next to each other.The year was 150, and Van Gogh was 1890 years old.

Picasso was born in Spain. Compared with Van Gogh's family, there is a huge difference. However, they both showed extraordinary artistic talent since childhood.Picasso's father was an art teacher, so he had received relatively strict painting training at the Academy of Fine Arts and had a solid modeling ability.This is different from Vincent van Gogh, who was impoverished all his life. His life was brilliant. He was the first painter ever to live to see his works collected in the Louvre.In a poll conducted by a French newspaper in December 1999, he was elected as the top ten greatest painters of the 12th century with 40% of the votes.

The great Spanish painter was 91 years old when he died.Maybe you are wondering why we call him "the youngest painter in the world"?This is because at the age of 90, when he picked up colors and brushes and started to paint a new painting, it was as if he was seeing things in the world for the first time.It is precisely because the painter has such novel eyes and innocence-like thinking that his life path goes smoothly, coupled with his own genius and artistic level, his life must be full of flowers and applause.He has reached the pinnacle, and his works, whether they are ceramics, prints, or sculptures, are like childish games.The same thing between Van Gogh and Picasso is that both of them have a tireless spirit in the pursuit of art, and they have a strong sensibility for various styles of art.

His painting method and style have changed several times in his life, which can be divided into several periods: "blue period", "rose red period", "black period", "cubism period", "classicism period", "surrealism period" Period" and finally the "Period of Abstract Art".The artistic techniques of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Beasts have all been absorbed by him and selected as his own style.His talent lies in that he maintains his rough and vigorous personality in various variant styles, and in the use of various techniques, he can achieve internal unity and harmony.In his life, he never had a specific teacher, nor specific children, but among the painters who were active in the [-]th century, no one could completely detour the path opened by Picasso.

He said: "When we work with a spirit of selflessness, sometimes what we do will automatically tend to us. Don't worry too much about various things, because it will come to you naturally or by accident. I don't want to die. It will be the same!" He left quietly, finished his long career at the age of 93, and lived his life as he wished.

Our comparison is over, and the conclusion is in the process of comparison.The most valuable thing you can see from these characters is the role that "emotional intelligence" played in their lives.We may just be their admirers, and we will not envy some people's lives, go our own way, grasp the pulse of our emotional world, so that "geniuses" will not be reduced to the bottom of society.

(Section [-] What kind of person can be a leader?

There must be a method for success, and there must be a reason for failure!There are only two kinds of people in the world: one is the waiter and the other is the doer.Outstanding leaders have outstanding IQ, and even more outstanding vision and will.Looking at outstanding leaders from all walks of life from the perspective of emotional intelligence gives us a lot of inspiration.Different types of leaders take different approaches to their work, and Richard Barrett, author of Unlocking the Soul of the Business, has some great ideas on the subject.In his theory, leaders are divided into seven levels, all of which are important with slightly different content.Barrett said he was inspired by psychologist Abraham Maslov's "hierarchy of needs."Barrett's leadership model according to different levels of skills required from low to high are:

(1) Power type: A qualified crisis manager is willing to take responsibility for things and be able to guide others.Possible disadvantages: After a long time, it is easy to form dictatorship, control and exploitation.

(2) Parental type: Encourage the development of positive and healthy relationships internally and externally.Possible Weaknesses: Such needs can lead to emotional insecurity; easily lead to manipulation and pretentiousness.

(3) Management type: treat management as science.They are efficient, ambitious and productive, emphasizing hierarchy.Possible Weaknesses: May be status-conscious; may have problems with family-work balance and relationships; bureaucratic tendencies.

(4) Promoting: understands interpersonal communication; likes to participate; is both a team member and a builder; empowers others; encourages knowledge learning and innovation.

(5) Coaching type: develop the ability of employees; be able to generate centripetal force and create team spirit; pursue values; demonstrate integrity and emotional intelligence.

(6) Serving or partnering: the leader is a mentor; observe systematically; be a responsible member of the team; form strategic alliances and partnerships with customers and vendors.

(7) Intelligent: want to serve the whole world; have a global vision; have a long-term vision; feel comfortable with "uncertainty factors" and "loneliness"; consider both fairness and future generations.

In different industries, the quality of leadership is very different. It is not possible to set them one by one. Most good leaders are comprehensive and meet several of the standards.If you pay attention, you can find that most of these requirements and qualities are about emotional intelligence. Therefore, the focus of cultivating high-quality management talents is the cultivation of personal emotional intelligence.

Shopping malls are like battlefields, and success in business must require the help of high emotional intelligence. We can take a look at the outstanding emotional intelligence performance of some successful business empire leaders.

★Rockefeller who succeeded on his own

Rockefeller said: The toughest competition often comes not from the most wise and prudent strong competitor, but from the business owner himself who is in danger but ignores the cost. This kind of business owner does not flee because of many debts. It ends with a declaration of bankruptcy.With such a business philosophy, most of the early rich people succeeded by chance, except for John Rockefeller, who relied on himself.

He is not versatile, but he is extremely calm, shrewd and far-sighted. With his unique courage and means, he started from scratch and built up his huge oil empire step by step.Before entering the oil industry, he had already shown extraordinary business acumen. At the age of 14, he attended Cleveland Central High School.After school, he often hangs out on the pier, watching merchants do business. On September 1855, 9, he became a clerk in a grain firm.He was hardworking, smart and studious, and soon developed a good eye for numbers.In addition to keeping accounts, he also advises on the operation of the firm.In the third year, his annual salary was raised to $26.But he knew he had done more than that for the firm, so he asked for a raise to $600, which he declined.Rockefeller resolutely decided to leave the firm and venture into the world.

In 1858, Rockefeller, who was only 19 years old, borrowed $1000 from his father, plus $800 of his own savings, and partnered with Clark, who was 10 years older than him, to start a grain and meat company.This is the first company that Rockefeller has run in his life.Due to the smooth operation, he made a business of 4 US dollars in the first year, and made a net profit of 5 US dollars.At the end of the second year, the net profit was 4000 US dollars, and Rockefeller received 1 US dollars.Rockefeller was always confident and ambitious when doing business; at the same time, he kept his word and tried every means to win the trust of others.Clark admired Rockefeller's careful work. He described the situation at that time and said: "He was extremely methodical and paid attention to details. If there is a penny due to us, he will take it; if the customer is given a penny less, he will Customers also want to take it away.”

When Rockefeller's career was booming, a large amount of oil was discovered in Pennsylvania, USA, and thousands of people flocked to the oil production area just like the gold mining boom.For a time, the land of Pennsylvania was full of derricks, and crude oil production rose rapidly.The businessmen in Cleveland were also excited about this new business. They recommended the young and promising broker Rockefeller to go to Pennsylvania crude oil production area to investigate for himself in order to obtain direct and reliable information.The calm Rockefeller was not in a hurry to go back and report the results of the investigation to the business community in Cleveland, but stayed at the American Hotel in the oil production area for further on-the-spot investigation.He reads the market quotations in the newspaper every day, listens quietly to the narrations of the anxious and chattering oil merchants, and takes detailed notes carefully.But he himself cherishes words like gold and never reveals his thoughts.After a period of research, he returned to Cleveland.He advised businessmen not to invest in crude oil production, because there are already 72 oil wells there, with a daily output of 1135 barrels, and the demand for oil is limited, so the oil market must fall, which is the inevitable result of blind exploitation.He warned that if you want to create a career, you must learn to wait, and waiting patiently is the prerequisite for success.Sure enough, as expected by Rockefeller, "Pioneers can't make money."Due to the crazy oil drilling, the oil price fell again and again, and a barrel of crude oil plummeted from the original 20 US dollars to only 10 cents.

(End of this chapter)