Martin Seligman, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist behind the research on learned helplessness and optimism, spends two Hidden Brain episodes with Shankar Vedantam on why some people act on what's in front of them while others decide nothing they do will matter. In Part 1, he builds his case for agency, which he describes as having three parts, efficacy, optimism, and imagination. 

To illustrate this, he explains that about a third of the people in his helplessness experiments never gave up, and that how they explained setbacks to themselves set them apart. These people exhibited high degrees of agency.

Part 2 is where the conversation gets practical. Seligman says agency can be learned and then provides us with some ways to do it. For example, when your mind jumps to the worst case, write down the worst outcome, the best, and the most likely, then plan for the likely one. Start absurdly small, like washing one cup from a pile of dishes, and build from there. Put your strongest traits to work on purpose.

Throughout the episodes, Seligman offers much wisdom for those of us who feel ourselves stuck, limited, or otherwise languishing.

Three senior client partners from global consulting firm Korn Ferry recently published a piece that offers five ways for leaders to build emotional intelligence. ELI facilitator Stephen Taylor shared the article with us, along with his thoughts on how the authors’ suggestions overlap with how entrepreneurs already work.

The authors sum up the skill in a simple line: "Emotional intelligence is relational." It means reading how someone is reacting and adjusting your response to fit.

Their first step is to challenge your default mode, noticing what triggers you and choosing your reaction. Stephen pointed out that this shows up in the entrepreneur's habit of questioning assumptions.

Next, they have clients look at a leadership problem as themselves, as another person with a stake in it, and as a neutral observer.

Stephen noted that this is the stance ELI’s Opportunity Discovery Process asks for when you talk and listen to people whose problem you are trying to solve. He recalled Gary saying, "No one cares about your passion until you translate it into something useful for someone else."

Stephen summarized the authors’ third point—reviewing conflict through different lenses—well: “Entrepreneurs inevitably face conflict, but through respectful interaction followed by thoughtful reflection, differences can be ameliorated, resolved, or a new mutually beneficial path blazed together.”

The fourth is reading. A 2024 study cited in the article found small but significant gains in empathy and perspective-taking among fiction readers, and Stephen adds that nonfiction does similar work.