THRIVE - What is Emotional Intelligence?
If one was to set out on a journey of unlocking higher levels career success by skilfully utilising Emotional Intelligence then we can expect to experience the following benefits:
Feel more confident in yourself about boosting your career.
Experience a sense of control when influencing colleagues whether you work in or lead a team.
Become more decisive, assertive and more respected amongst your peers.
To start to enjoy these benefits at greater levels of success we need to gain an understanding of what Emotional Intelligence is.
Here are some definitions:
“Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence is generally said to include a few skills: namely emotional awareness, or the ability to identify and name one’s own emotions; the ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes both regulating one’s own emotions when necessary and helping others to do the same.”
The University of Warwick use this definition:
“Emotional Intelligence is the ability to identify, understand, and use emotions positively in order to manage stress, communicate well, empathise, overcome issues, and manage conflict. ”
The term Emotional Intelligence was first coined in 1990 by psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer (No not the one with a guitar) in their paper entitled ‘Emotional Intelligence’ but it was more popularised by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ’.
In Daniel Goleman’s book the author argues that whilst ‘IQ’ (Intelligence Quotient) is important, there are many people with high levels of IQ who are relatively unsuccessful because they lack the ability manage themselves emotionally as well as lack the ability to tune into the emotional needs of those around them. The most successful leaders of the world will have high levels of IQ but equally they will also have high levels of Emotional Quotient aka Emotional Intelligence.
I would like to share the video below with you which is an interview with Daniel Goleman. The video is about an hour long but even if you watch the first 15 minutes you will gain a lot of understanding about Emotional Intelligence.
Emotions are important!
The bottom line with Emotional Intelligence is that emotions are important. They bring our attention to what is important in the moment with whatever we are doing and whoever we are interacting with. We have an opportunity to use them as tools for helping us to get to the best outcomes personally and professionally.
So often our emotions can derail our progress in bringing about positive outcomes, after all it is human nature, however we can choose to dial down inappropriate levels of reactivity and impulsivity and feel more in control.
Keep checking in with these articles for ways to improve your own career boosting emotional intelligence.
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About John Hicks.
Since 2012, after a career in science and technology starting as a bench chemist then moving into sales and marketing and ultimately senior management, I decided to start my own company to help clients to see the truth in their abilities rather than fall for the deceitful thoughts that come with having a low self-esteem.
I realised that individuals at all levels of organisations can experience overwhelm, self-doubt and be de-railed by their automatic reactions to problems rather than have choice and control in bringing about the best outcomes.
If you want to find out more about my work then feel free to look around my website by clicking here.