The First (Emotionally Intelligent) American
The term “emotional intelligence” was coined in 1990 by psychology professors John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Rutgers psychologist Daniel Goleman later adapted it for use in business leadership. Emotional intelligence has grown in popularity ever since, but the ideas and practice it contains go much farther back in history. One of the greatest examples of the power of emotional intelligence can be traced back to “The First American” – none other than Benjamin Franklin.
The list of inventions, influence and accomplishments attributed to Benjamin Franklin is quite long. He is often remembered as the man who discovered the power of electricity, invented the lightning rod, authored countless political papers, served as a diplomat, and lived a great portion of his life as a civil activist.
The early years of Franklin’s life, however, are in stark contrast to the legacy by which he is remembered. While he possessed great intelligence and a desire to learn, Franklin’s social graces left a lot to be desired. His cocky, stubborn, opinionated behavior as a young man caused people to resent him and avoid him in many circles. He was known as a womanizer who enjoyed the company of several prostitutes and fathered a child outside of marriage, which was cause for condemnation and disdain in the puritan world in which Franklin was raised.
By the age of 20, Franklin finally realized that he needed to develop his character. He created a system of 13 virtues to help him accomplish this goal. Franklin listed the following virtues:
1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Franklin focused intently on these virtues, dedicating entire months to bettering himself by focusing on one virtue at a time. Franklin freely admitted that he often didn’t live up to the virtues that he was trying to live out, but he never gave up.
History often remembers Franklin as a public figure. As his career in business and politics expanded across the American colonies and around the world, Franklin’s endless efforts at self-improvement sometimes went unnoticed. While there are many things we can admire about Franklin’s contributions to the world, perhaps the greatest is the one that underpins all of the outward-facing successes—emotional intelligence, long before it could ever be identified as a buzzworthy term.
You and I may never be as intelligent or talented as Benjamin Franklin—but his life’s story illustrates to us that if we work to attain the skills emotional intelligence, we will have gained the tools that can take us to heights that pure intelligence never reaches. If we learn to master our emotional cues, we can conquer much more than we ever imagined.
