Dr. Lenny Kristal measures emotional literacy to foresee success

Full Frame

Do we run because we are scared, or are we scared because we are running? As the cofounder and chief scientific officer at Cognisess, Dr. Lenny Kristal can illuminate the technicalities and nuances underlying this “chicken-before-the-egg” quandary.

Dr. Kristal is at the forefront of redefining how we understand and improve human potential. Along with his co-partner, Chris Butt, Kristal offers companies integrated cognitive, emotional, social/personality and well-being assessments. His team has created a scalable, integrated system to enable any organization to assess job applicants or current employees in order to place them in the position that is the “best fit” for both the employee and the company. This insight, and coaching on how to use the data, can improve an organization’s use of human capital.

Through his personal experience, and later through his scientific research, Kristal has debunked the myth that one is born with a set IQ or a pre-determined level of emotional literacy. FMRI studies (which are used to measure and map brain activity) have proven that the brain can regenerate itself and improve its cognitive capacity.

“The whole field is changing,” he said. “We can even proactively stave off mental decline in our old age.”

Kristal’s tests can measure in statistical terms if your ability to perceive social cues diverges from a particular culture or cohort. And he argues that your ability to perceive facial expressions and vocalizations may be more important than your ability to answer multiple choice questions on a standardized test.

Dr. Lenny Kristal joins Full Frame’s Mike Walter to share his research findings, but also to put our correspondent’s emotional literacy to the test.

Dr. Lenny Kristal Measures Emotional Literacy to Foresee Success

Our society has long been fixated on using quantifiable metrics to measure intelligence and success. We often assume that our GPA, university entrance exam results, and IQ are the best measures of our success. But emotional intelligence experts will tell you that’s far from the truth.

click on Global Cognitive Empathy Study for the test.