Ghana’s first certified Emotional Intelligence coach, James Addison, is the lead speaker at the Africa Emotional Intelligence Conference to be held in Nigeria from 30th to 3st May, 2018
After successfully introducing Ghanaians to the benefits of emotional resilience as far as the youth is concerned, James Kwesi Addison has been requested to help the Conference to understand both the rationale and operation for “Building Emotional Resilience in Students”.
Africa is focusing more and more on its estimated 760 million young people under 30 years, recognizing the need for skills in being emotionally resilient as future leaders, workers and parents.
SESA Ghana is James’ model to present in Nigeria, representing innovation on how to build the skills for emotional resilience in students – but more importantly how to also sustain this powerful and traditional Ghanaian capability.
Speaking to journalists Mr. Addison said “I am honoured for them to invite and host me and to have the stage to explain how Building Emotional Resilience in Students is a vital element of the future in any country”.
He explained that “Emotional Resilience is an inner capability to navigate our lives and circumstances whilst deploying skills in Emotional Intelligence – a construct of 10 social emotional skills which enables us to harness our emotions into positive thinking and behaviour; rather than destructive and unhealthy thinking and behaviour”
“We just build emotional intelligence from an early age, tune-into ourselves and know ourselves as emotional beings. Recognise our thinking and behaviour and learn to move quickly from the emotional area of our brain (Fight, Flight, Freeze responses) and into the logical part of the brain where we seek solutions from our inner competencies and problem solving,” he added.
Explaining how he came across Emotional Intelligence in the first place, Mr. Addison said: “As a native Ghanaian, in 2014 I saw the clear need for communities to use emotional intelligence (awareness of self, emotional responses and how to harness this into positive creativity, relationships and lifestyle) to address many of the modern day societal issues which are emotion centred – such as: violence, divorce, trauma and crime. I researched and trained myself in the science and practice of emotional intelligence as a coach; qualifying in both the practice and assessment of emotional intelligence.
“My international research into the practice of emotional intelligence in business and leadership, led me to recognise that this capability was a fundamentally forgotten Ghanaian one, but the growing scientific research actually now presents the evidence of the real benefit from building emotional intelligence”
According to him, Emotional intelligence is part of us all, the only difference is the conscious development of it – practice and perfection. “Having grown at the knee of Nana Antwi II, the Late Paramount Chief and the President of Enyan Denkyira Traditional Area and a founding member of Ghana’s ‘National House Chiefs’ I listened to the stories of how the old leaders practice listening, calmness and taught their communities these skills in regulating emotions, channeling emotional energy and how together they overcame the distress of adversity and set-back. I knew I needed to reinstate this capability.”
According to him, there is a psychological structure to Emotional Intelligence which enables anyone, any age, to build 10 social emotional skills – which are interdependent and make a powerful difference to our mental wellbeing, social interactions, happiness and resilience.
“I found a gentleman called Jay Baughan, in Europe, who had spent years perfecting a community learning process in Africa, the Middle East and Europe – dedicated to building emotional resilience – called SESA. I tracked him down and convinced him to let me take it to Ghana. We partnered, and I now have access to SESA which is now the world’s first learning, development and research infrastructure which can be embedded deep into communities to build the Emotional Intelligence capability, resulting in emotional resilience.” Addison explained.
“Going to Nigeria, which is where Jay created SESA to support Niger Delta youth reintegration, I am able to now lift the lid on what emotional resilience is and what we need to consider for helping ensure communities and self-sustain it for the long-term,” he said.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
