The method
A four-question emotional intelligence method for planning how you, and the people around you, will feel. Chuck Wolfe created it in the late 1990s, and it has been used ever since with Fortune 500 companies, the U.S. military, universities, government and nonprofits.
In one sentence
Capable leaders and excellent problem solvers often get stuck when strong emotions are involved: their own, or other people's. Most of us manage those moments by trial and error. That leads to inconsistent results, avoidance, and trying to control behavior instead of understanding the feelings behind it.
Chuck calls the alternative emotion-based planning. Emotions aren't obstacles to leadership. They're inputs. Ignore them and you open what Chuck calls the Emotional Action Gap: the space between knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it. The Roadmap closes that gap.
How it works
“These questions move people from describing a problem to developing a plan.”
Who is involved, and how is each key person feeling?
When smart people are stuck, strong emotions are almost always involved. Focusing on those emotions opens up new options for moving ahead.
What feelings would be ideal for each key person?
The science of emotional intelligence shows some feelings suit particular tasks better than others. The goal isn't to remove difficult emotions but to choose the ones most likely to lead to success.
How can we create the feelings we want for each key person?
Understand why people feel the way they do, and what it would take to change those feelings.
What are we able to do? What are we willing to do?
Problem solving generates options. Managing means choosing the option a person is both willing and able to carry out, then adjusting as you go.
Two ways to use it
Restructurings, mergers, new leadership, culture initiatives. Map how each group feels today and how you need them to feel, then build the plan around it.
A conflict, a tough review, unexpected news. Minutes before a keynote, Chuck once got news about a loved one's health and used the same four questions backstage to refocus.
What it takes
Grounded in the ability model of emotional intelligence developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer.
Understand the unique characteristics, history and pressures of the people involved.
Develop compensating strategies when a missing ability can't be built in time.
The Roadmap in practice
Names are withheld to protect client confidentiality.
Five reflections from Chuck
Feeling nowIdeal feeling
Learn the Roadmap
A keynote or workshop for your leadership team, conference or HR community.
Speaking →Learn the four questions at your own pace for $280, with volume licenses for organizations.
Online course →Executive coaching and consulting for leaders and teams going through change.
Coaching & consulting →1. What am I feeling now, and what are key others feeling? 2. What would be ideal to feel in this situation? 3. What can I do to move from my current emotional state to the ideal one? 4. What am I actually willing and able to do?
It's Chuck's term for planning how you want yourself and others to feel, the same way you plan strategies, projects and budgets. It's a leadership skill that can be learned, practiced and applied immediately.
The space between knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it. It opens when leaders ignore emotions as inputs. The Emotion Roadmap™ is designed to close it.
No. Accountability is a feeling too, and there's nothing soft about making people feel accountable. Holding people accountable while keeping their dignity, offering support and being clear about consequences is what builds trust and engagement.