Emotional Intelligence
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence (EI) - also known as "Emotional Quotient" (EQ) - is defined as: "the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously, and empathetically."
To have a high amount of EI means that you are in control of your emotions, not a slave to them. Whether that be in full control of your anger so that you do not fly off the handle at an insignificant problem, the ability to properly empathise and understand what another person is feeling, or the ability to express your emotions clearly to yourself and others.
Why is Emotional Intelligence important?
Other than the obvious benefit of being able to understand the complex emotions we all go through on the day-to-day, EI is an important skill to master to help with conflict management and clear communication. Whether at home, or at work, these skills are key to living a happy, fulfilling life while avoiding stressful situations.
While I hope everyone who is reading this immediately understands how vital EI is for our domestic and personal lives, how EI helps us all in the workplace may be less immediately obvious.
The workplace is fundamentally different to our home lives. We must work with people who are initally complete strangers, who's beliefs and habits may clash with our own. It is in these situations that EI is so important to lessen conflict and help us understand one another. Empathy and understanding are crucial for teamwork to blossom.
How can we improve our Emotional Intelligence?
This may seem daunting at first, but there are a few ways in which we can improve our EI in non-intrusive ways. Taking a breath and slowing down to process emotions such as anger or frustration can really help by giving us the opportunity to think: "Why am I angry?", "Can I change anything to improve my situation?", or "Is there something I can say right now to explain my emotions to those around me?"
Understanding our strengths and weaknesses can also help immensely. Personally, I know that I can be hot-headed and prone to anger when a process or inanimate object does not do what I expect it to do. By this, I mean that I can get very frustrated at heaters that do not heat; at knives that do not cut; or at routers that do not connect properly. On the other hand, I also have a lot of patience and empathy for any mistakes made by people around me, and undestand that they may have simply made a mistake rather than acted maliciously. Understanding this, I have found that assigning personalities to some more frustrating items helps me become less irritated at them.
IQ vs EQ: What's the difference?
From an early age, many of us have heard of IQ (Intelligence Quotient), and have a vague understanding that it's related to how intelligent someone is. Far fewer of us have heard of EQ (Emotional Quotient), which is another way to say Emotional Intelligence (EI). In the most simple terms, IQ is related to our analytical brain, whereas EQ is related to our holistic brain.
We can think of IQ as a traditional view of intelligence, measuring cognitive ability and logical reasoning. This is easier to measure through standardised tests and easily spotted through individuals' logical reasoning, working memory, and problem-solving skills.
EQ/IE on the other hand, is a more modern view of intelligence, measuring social skills, empathy, and self-awareness. This can be harder to measure conclusively compared to IQ, however unlike IQ, EI can be developed and improved over time. Improving our EI is always a good idea, as it helps us in almost every aspect of life.
The interplay of IQ and EQ
As far as we currently know, we are stuck with the IQ that we have, but that doesn't define our intelligence. This traditional idea of intelligence is not enough to achieve success all by itself. We require EI to manage our stress and emotions, and to help communicate with other people.
There is little benefit in being able to easily solve difficult analytical problems without the emotional capacity to manage the stress that comes from pushing oneself through the stress of doing such a thing. To have no EI is to be lonely, as one may lack the ability to form relationships with those around us.