Ecological Intelligence, add it to Emotional and Social Intelligence.

Cover photo of Miguel Ángel García Rodríguez

Some time ago we were lucky to be able to attend one of the meetings organized by our friends and head coaches, Albacete Innovunto, on the occasion of a talk by Mª Trinidad Sánchez-Núñez about the”Leadership with Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace”, in which he approached us and helped us in a pleasant and simple way to understand and implement intelligent and above all healthy behaviors.

As always, we learned a lot and we are trying to gradually transfer our lessons and master tricks to be more satisfied, and to manage our personal and professional lives with more “intelligence”.

Casually, and as is often the case when you make an improvement decision, at that meeting of”La Caña” we were aware of another concept that transverse to the main theme of the talk that caught our attention: That of”Ecological Intelligence”. A concept that, although we were not familiar with that nomenclature, we do master more than enough because it is closely linked to our vocation and way of being, which is why we decided to write this post, in our desire to share with simplicity the topics that we are passionate about.

In this post we intend to bring you a little closer to that variant of intelligence that, for obvious reasons, is closely related to our daily professional life. All this without forgetting that we are not specialists in the field of psychology or human emotions, much less, so we have simply grouped together concepts and opinions of experts that we understand are able to summarize it correctly (which is why we appreciate the work and the sources that we include in this post)

The world of material abundance in which we live has a hidden price that is not reflected in labels, and to which we sometimes don't pay the attention it deserves. The manufacture of the simplest of products, in itself presents an inherent complexity of interactions that end up having more or less important consequences on health and society. This involves proposing the”Ecological intelligence” as responsible behavior to better manage this dynamic (responsible consumption) at a particular level or to be aware of the competitive advantages that ecological improvements represent for companies at a professional level, as a line of business and a code of good practices.

Daniel Goleman, the famous and influential American psychologist author of”Emotional Intelligence”; the best-selling essay book in the world and in which he demonstrated that the management of our emotions (EQ) can be as decisive or more a factor than intelligence coefficient (IQ), delves into this new concept that we hope will have the same viral effect; that of “Ecological Intelligence” (the culmination of a discourse that began with the individual and his introspection, continued with the social aspect and now also includes the environment).

According to Daniel Goleman”Ecological intelligence is the ability to live trying to harm nature as little as possible. It consists of understanding what consequences the decisions we make in our daily lives have on the environment and trying, as far as possible, to choose those that are most beneficial to the health of the planet. The paradox is that the more consistent we are with their well-being, the more we invest in ours”.

Therefore, for Daniel Goleman to make statements such as”The revolution is in the hands of the consumer”, or that the”Green wash” is a trend (and we would add, an opportunity if done with rigor and responsibility), it should not surprise us. The consumer must logically tend to consume more and more for values and not for impulses.

It's the turn of the green revolution, according to Daniel Goleman, because any human life has an impact on life on the planet: the famous “ecological footprint” that also preaches Jim Merkel in his”Radical Simplicity” says:”... recycling is not enough. Not even with buying organic food. Not by changing the bulbs or disconnecting the sockets... These steps are necessary but insufficient, because what really needs to change is our way of thinking. All our actions have an impact on the environment: to deny it is ignorants”

Daniel Goleman also states that the problem is rooted in the profound disconnection between man and nature that occurred with the industrial revolution: “While people lived on farms and in contact with the earth, there was an ecological memory that passed from generation to generation... With mass immigration to cities, that knowledge was lost, and so was direct contact with the cycles of nature. We have erected a barrier that isolates us from the natural world and prevents us from seeing the consequences of our actions”

Daniel Goleman also refers to the concept of “environmental sustainability”, which companies must develop if they want to survive and advocates personal responsibility and conscious and ecological consumption: “where we put our money, we put our energy”. “Consumers have power, but we need to believe it, exercise it and assume that it's about consuming less and better and changing course.”

La ecological intelligence It is then the ability to live trying to harm nature as little as possible. It consists of understanding what consequences the decisions we make in our daily lives have on the environment and trying, as far as possible, to choose those that are most beneficial to the health of the planet. The paradox is that the more consistent we are with their well-being, the more we invest in ours.

In short, the concept of ecological intelligence opens up an economic horizon that consists of implementing a regulation that provides transparency to the market and allows us to know the hidden impact of our purchases. That way, consumers will have detailed information about the impact of our decisions.

For all these reasons, it is clear that companies that are committed to sustainability will be rewarded, while those that resist change will tend to disappear.

The moment when this utopia or responsible behavior becomes an established social norm will depend, as in everything, on when each of us, as consumers, begins to bet on”Ecological Intelligence”, What are you waiting for?

Ecological intelligence is based on orienting our daily lives according to guidelines or behavior that is responsible for the environment, as well as the benefits and benefits of living personally and professionally in or in harmony with natural environments.