What is Emotional Intelligence and Why Should you Care?

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a concept familiarized by Daniel Goleman, an internationally known psychologist, which is defined as one’s ability to understand and manage his or her emotions as they happen in themselves and others, while using this awareness to manage relationships effectively. Emotional Intelligence is a collection of four major skills. Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Each of the skills fall under two primary competencies; personal and social competence. Personal competence is made up of self-awareness and self-management skills, which focus on the internal aspects of a person, especially their own emotions and behavioral tendencies. Social competence is made up of social awareness and relationship management skills, which focuses on the individual’s behavior in relation to those around them. In recent years, EQ has been proven to be a better predictor of workplace success than cognitive intelligence (IQ) and experience. This groundbreaking research shed light on “another kind of smart” that became increasingly popular in corporate America. Research reveals that 90% of top performers had higher EQ than their counterparts; in which only 20% of low performers had high EQ. These findings created skepticism amongst many people. However, unlike IQ and personality which is consistent from when you are 15 to about your late 50s, emotional intelligence (EQ) is a skill that can be developed through practice in order to see enduring changes in your behavior. One strategy for turning these skeptics into believers is first convincing them to measure where they stand today. There are many assessments that would not even pass the smallest of tests, but there are a few eq tests that can help improve your emotional intelligence. After completing your survey, you want an assessment that does not just compute your score but one that includes a developmental aspect to it. For example, after you are given a score for each of the four skills and overall EQ, you want an emotional intelligence test, that will provide you with e-learning and a virtual coach that will help you develop your ability to understand and manage your emotions as they happen in yourself and others, while using this awareness to manage your relationships effectively; both professional and personal relationships. Another strategy for converting skeptics into believers would be to have them recall a situation in which they were overwhelmed by emotions or “emotionally high-jacked” and how they handled the situation. Ask them what made the emotion surface and what was the overall outcome in result of the experience. In a relevant study, researchers found that only 36% of individuals are able to accurately spot their emotions as they happen. This means we are emotional beings and have yet to hone this skill and tend to allow our emotions to get the best of us. Understanding the ripple effect of our emotions is a necessary skill to master – this means understanding your emotions as they happen and filtering your behavior to best fit the situation so that you can overcome the emotion and avoid putting a strain on your relationships.