SCP Podcast

Guess what? When you set out to hire for or measure emotional intelligence (EI) you may be measuring something totally unrelated to the skills to accurately perceive, understand and manage emotions. That’s because the term is used to describe a wide range of unrelated traits and skills. As a result, it is easy to select for the entirely wrong set of attributes. The good news is that you can avoid these issues by taking a closer look at what various EI tests claim to measure.The paper “Emotional Intelligence and Socioemotional Attributes: Distinct Constructs and Their Uses” is one of the top six most downloaded articles over the past five years published in the Consulting Psychology Journal.There are several costly errors people can make when they set out to measure or hire for emotional intelligence (EI). The reason is that the term means many, very different things. Are you looking for assertive, optimistic people or are you seeking people who have the skill to “read the room”, connect with others, understand emotions and manage tough situations? Both approaches are valid, but they predict different workplace behaviors. Conflating the two dilutes their effectiveness and can lead to bad decisions. If you are interested in the first set of attributes, you are not measuring EI, instead you are measuring what we call socio-emotional attributes. If your interest is in the latter category, you still face a few challenges. Since many people over-estimate their EI you need a measure of EI that assesses hard skills in an objective manner. In this podcast we’ll talk about a new, objective measure of EI, the Mayer Salovey Emotional Intelligence Test Second Edition, how it measures EI and was developed based on more than 20 years of research.John D. Mayer, PhD and David R. Caruso, PhD, join Rachel Boehm, PhD, to discuss why the paper matters for coaches, consultants, researchers, and business leaders. If you are using emotional intelligence for your work in any way, this is a must-hear interview!Read the paperConnect with John D. Mayer:John D. Mayer is an American psychologist and professor at the University of New Hampshire. He specializes in emotional intelligence, personal intelligence, and personality psychology. He co-developed a popular model of emotional intelligence with Peter Salovey. Mayer and Salovey co-developed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) with David R. Caruso.https://cola.unh.edu/person/john-d-mayerConnect with David R. Caruso:David R. Caruso is the co-founder of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Skills Group, the co-author of the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), a consulting psychologist to thousands of executives, and served as a Senior Advisor to Yale University.https://eiskills.com/Connect with Rachel Boehm:Rachel Boehm is the founder of RB Strategies, which provides reputation management and performance coaching to leaders and teams. She is a multimedia practitioner and member of Division 13’s Research Domain.https://www.rachelboehm.com/

Dr. Vicki Vandaveer's word for her career is serendipity – and once you hear the whole arc, it is easy to understand why. In this episode of our Past Presidents series, host Daniel Ogunyemi talks with Vicki as she chronicles her journey through family, learning statistics over one terrifying weekend, pursuing a graduate degree, and the ebbs and flows toward consulting and coaching. She speaks passionately about the shift from a nomothetic to idiographic perspective and continues to speak regularly about coaching as process facilitation – helping people think, rather than telling them what to do. Dr. Vandaveer is a Fellow of APA, SIOP, SCP, and the International Society for Coaching Psychology, and founder of The Vandaveer Group. In this episode, Vicki discusses:Finding her "North Star" through an unplanned crash course in statisticsBreaking into a graduate I-O program that had room for exactly one woman a yearLearning to coach – and to manage up – inside a politically delicate, newly independent leadership teamWhy she calls the shift from a nomothetic to an idiographic lens the real turning point in her practiceThe instinct that tells her when a coaching referral is really management avoiding a harder conversationWinning a career-defining international engagement by listening instead of prescribingHer advice for early-career psychologists trying to close the experience gap that standardized internships used to close for free

We’re excited to introduce Behind the Research, a new podcast from the Society of Consulting Psychology designed to take you inside the research, ideas, and conversations helping shape the field of consulting psychology.In our first episode, we’re exploring an important question: How can research better inform the work of consulting psychologists—and how can practitioners use research to strengthen the work they’re already doing?Rachel Boehm, Ph.D., sits down with Ted Hayes, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Consulting Psychology Journal®, to discuss the connection between research and practice.Together, they explore the journal’s impact on researchers and practitioners, its role in advancing the field, and how consultants, business leaders, and researchers can apply its insights to their work.The Consulting Psychology Journal® covers the breadth of consulting psychology—from coaching, assessment, and leadership to team and organizational consulting—bringing together research and practical application across individual, group, and systemic levels.Watch the first episode of Behind the Research on YouTube:https://youtu.be/ua910lAWvWoExplore the Consulting Psychology Journal®:https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/cpb

Do you create an environment where everyone can realize their potential?" These are the two questions Dr. Randy White has challenged his students with throughout his career – and they frame this insightful conversation in the SCP Past-President Speaker Series. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Randy White to reflect on the evolution of consulting psychology, the importance of elevating the client voice, leadership as a cornerstone of democracy, and how we can future-proof the profession in an era of AI and rapid change. It's a thoughtful conversation about leadership, legacy, and leaving the field stronger for the next generation.Randall P. White, Ph.D., is the co-head of leadership in TRIUM, a joint program from HEC, London School of Economics, and NYU Stern and has taught in several international EMBA programs. He began his career at the Center for Creative Leadership and became a founding partner of the Executive Development Group LLC, specializing  in leadership consulting to C-suite executives and the Boards of large global organizations. In 1987, Dr. White co-authored the best-selling business book, Breaking The Glass Ceiling: Can Women Reach The Top Of America's Largest Corporations?.  He later wrote The Future of Leadership: Riding the Corporate Rapids into the 21st Century and Relax, It's Only Uncertainty. Dr. White has written a variety of pieces for Chief Learning Officer and the Journal of Consulting Psychology. Dr. White earned an AB from Georgetown University, an MS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He has served as president of the Society of Consulting Psychology, is a Fellow in American Psychological Association’s Divisions 1, 13, and 14, is a lifetime Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, a Salzburg Fellow on Women’s Issues and was awarded APA Division 13’s highest honor of the RHR International Award for Excellence in Consultation. Dr. White contributes consulting time to Save The Children, the Paralympics (in sailing), and other international philanthropic causes. When not in airports, Randy enjoys cycling, sailing and the people and food of Miami.

SCP Past-President Speaker Series – This special series of the SCP Podcast is dedicated to preserving the history and wisdom of consulting psychology. Through conversations with past SCP presidents, we explore the experiences that have shaped our field, the lessons that continue to guide our profession, and the opportunities ahead.In this episode, we sit down with two-time SCP President Dr. Greg Pennington to discuss leadership, legacy, and the future of SCP and consulting psychology. He is known as a bridge builder and expert on leadership that continues to leave an outsized impact on those he connects with. We even break down Dr. Pennington's adage, "Leadership is not revealed in vision statements, but in the everyday choices leaders make when pressure, power, and people collide" and what he means by leadership is like "herding cats and dogs."