How emotions work at multiple levels
With Dr. Neal Ashkanasy, on a model of emotions across five levels of analysis and what it means for organizational effectiveness.
About Chuck
“Take the wheel and control how you feel.”
Charles J. (Chuck) Wolfe is an emotional intelligence pioneer, executive coach, consultant and speaker based in Simsbury, Connecticut. He has spent more than four decades helping leaders understand the emotional side of leadership.
1994Founded Charles J.
Wolfe Associates
Wolfe Associates
The story
Inside big companies, then alongside the scientists.
Chuck's instinct to ask how people feel before asking what they think was formed inside large organizations. At Harvard Business School he was a research associate to Professor Anthony Athos, “the most brilliant thinker about organizational and individual behavior I have ever known.” He went on to lead leadership development at Exxon, then spent ten years at The Hartford building a management curriculum for every level of leadership.
“I learned that leadership development succeeds best when leaders align business realities with an understanding of the emotional impact of their behavior on the workforce.”
The other strand is the science. In 1999, emotional intelligence pioneers Peter Salovey (now Yale President Emeritus), John Mayer and David Caruso asked for Chuck's help making emotional intelligence practical. He published their Multi-Factor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS), co-created the original MSCEIT certification program, and co-led certifications with them until 2004. “Their work established the field. Mine focuses on helping people apply those ideas in real situations.”
Chuck has taught the Emotion Roadmap™ as guest faculty in Daniel Goleman's coaching certification program, and has taught emotional intelligence at organizations including The New York Times, Chevron, the U.S. Army, Yale University, Fidelity and Kaiser Permanente.
Harvard
Doctoral program, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Organizational behavior research associate to Prof. Anthony Athos, Harvard Business School (1980–82).
Exxon
Senior training coordinator at Exxon Chemical Americas, then Director of Leadership Development at Exxon Office Systems.
The Hartford
Director of Management Development, building leadership development for every level of management.
Charles J. Wolfe Associates
Founded his coaching, consulting and speaking practice.
Emotional intelligence pioneers
Published the MEIS and co-created the MSCEIT certification program with Salovey, Mayer and Caruso.
The Emotion Roadmap™
Created the four-question method now used with Fortune 500 companies, the military, universities, government and nonprofits.
The Emotion Roadmap show
Host of the volunteer radio show on WPKN and the weekly Emotion Roadmap livestream on YouTube.
Recognition
Trusted by the emotional intelligence community.
International Society of Emotional Intelligence
Advisory Committee member, alongside John D. Mayer, Peter Salovey, David Caruso, Marc Brackett, Cary Cherniss, Robin Stern and Helen Riess.
emotionalintelligencesociety.org ↗Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
Member. Chuck's interviews with leading emotional intelligence researchers are featured on the Consortium's website.
eiconsortium.org ↗40+Years in leadership development
12Chapters & articles published
2009Started The Emotion Roadmap show
4Questions that change how teams feel
In conversation
Chuck interviews the thinkers who shaped emotional intelligence.
On his radio show and livestream, and for the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, Chuck hosts conversations with the field's leading researchers. His guests have included Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey, John Mayer, David Caruso, Marc Brackett, Richard Boyatzis and Helen Riess.
EI and entrepreneurial leadership
With Dr. Scott Taylor, on the role of social and emotional intelligence in leading a new venture.
Team emotional intelligence
With Dr. Vanessa Druskat, a leading expert on how teams become emotionally intelligent.
Harvard Alumni Panel: why is interest in EI soaring?
Chuck hosts Dr. Richard Boyatzis, Dr. Cary Cherniss and Dr. Helen Riess.
Leading with emotional intelligence
With Dr. Cary Cherniss and Dr. Cornelia Roche, about their new book.
Hear the conversations
The interviews are published on the EI Consortium website.
Listen at eiconsortium.org ↗In the press
Featured in Executives Diary
Chuck Wolfe: “Trust and Engagement Are Emotions”
A profile of Chuck's career and the Emotion Roadmap: the Emotional Action Gap, three cases where trust had gone and came back, his ten years at The Hartford, and five reflections for leaders, from treating accountability as a feeling to measuring how respected people feel.
“Emotions are not obstacles to leadership; they are inputs.”Read the feature ↗
Publications
Selected writing
- 2024“Engagement is a Feeling!” HRD theHRDirector, Issue 240, October 2024.
- 2024What Does it Take to Be an Excellent Caretaker? Radical Compassion International Essential Tremor Foundation, November 2024.
- 2018“Successful Leadership Coaches Influence Clients' Emotions, Thoughts, and Behavior” in Professional Coaching: Principles and Practice, ed. S. English et al. Springer Publishing. Written at the request of the International Coaching Federation.
- 2016“Emotional Intelligence: Emotion Roadmap” HRD theHRDirector, Issue 140, June 2016.
- 2010With Mark R. Hamel, “Want an Effective Kaizen Event? Don't Forget the Human Side!” Defense Industry Daily.
- 2009With Mark R. Hamel, “Transformation Leadership” in Kaizen Event Fieldbook. Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
- 2007With M. Brackett, B. Alster, N. Katulak and E. Fale, “Creating an Emotionally Intelligent School District: A Skills-based Approach” in Educating People to Be Emotionally Intelligent. Greenwood.
- 2007“The Practice of EI Coaching in Organizations: A Hands-on Guide to Successful Outcomes” in Educating People to Be Emotionally Intelligent. Greenwood.
- 2004With David Caruso, “Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Development” in Leader Development for Transforming Organizations. Erlbaum.
- 2001With David Caruso, “Emotional Intelligence at Work” in Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life: A Scientific Inquiry. Psychology Press.
- 2001“Results of Emotionally Intelligent Actions at Kaiser Permanente” Competency & Emotional Intelligence, Vol. 8, No. 4.
- 2000“Assessing, Developing, & Coaching Executives Using the MS Model of Emotional Intelligence” Linkage Conference, London.
Where Chuck is now
Making emotion-based planning as common as strategic planning.
Speaking has become central to Chuck's work. “Speaking to leadership teams and organizations is the best way to introduce awareness of how powerful emotional intelligence can be.”
He is also bringing the Roadmap to caregivers and the people they care for, and using it in volunteer work to help people feel welcome and feel that they belong. “If each of us, within our own circles of life, works to make even one person feel more welcome, we can ultimately make the world a happier, safer, more inclusive place.”
Book Chuck to speak