Introduction
Emotional intelligence is defined as the processes that are involved in the recognition, the use, and management of ones own emotional state and also the emotional state of others to solve emotion-laden problems and to regulate behavior (Salovey and Mayer, 1997). Emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the various categories of cognitive abilities; others are social, practical and personal intelligences.
Emotional intelligence is distinguished from general intelligence because the later relies on hot cognitive-emotional process which is critical to individual development and the surrounding environment whereas the former operates on cold cognitive processes.
Emotional intelligence describes the ability of an individual to regulate his impulse, to sympathize with others and also the ability to be tough and flexible in times of hardships. Emotional intelligence is considered a product of the quantity of communication that takes place between the rational and the emotional centers of the brain (Mackin, 2006).
Emotional intelligence is linked to the following different types of skills:
Self awareness: this is the ability of an individual to understand his moods and feelings; this enables an individual to keep sight on his thoughts and emotions which is instrumental in their understanding of why they feel or behave in a particular manner.
Managing emotions: this helps individuals to exhibit their emotions in an acceptable and appropriate manner; it enables individuals to regulate their anger, fear and sadness.
Motivation: motivation enables people to utilize their emotions in trying to realize their goals; it enables an individual to control their impulses and also to delay the gratification of achieving their goals.
Empathy: empathy concerns how other individual feel.
Social skills: this involves dealing with other individuals in social interactions, it concerns engaging in a conversation and analyzing other peoples emotions (Mackin, 2006).
Relationship to School and Career Success
Emotional intelligence has the ability to enhance success in life. It is considered that the higher the degree of emotional intelligence, the greater the performance of an individual in the areas of participative management, self-awareness, decisiveness, change management and also enables the individual to balance between private life and the work.
Employers had earlier been using intelligent quotient to determine the cognitive ability of individuals and also their career success. This idea of using intelligence quotient has been heavily questioned and the significance of emotional intelligence as the best mode to gauge potential leaders has been favored (Witte, 2004).
Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in the development of careers of individuals and also plays an important role in enhancing job performance of an individual; it has been established that as opposed to general intelligence, employees with high emotional intelligence are more effective and conscientious in the performance of their tasks. Emotional intelligence is the backbone for professionals, suppliers and planners. For a supplier, for example, emotional intelligence enhances their selling and negotiating skills.
The social skills which are fundamental skill of emotional intelligence facilitates social synchronization in a work place which translates to high productivity and also make the employees a talented, productive and a cohesive work force. The fine tuning of individuals emotional intelligence fosters the ability of an individual to improve his effectiveness in the job market (PCMA, 2007).
Students often go to school to realize academic success. The proponents of emotional intelligence like Mayer, Salovey and Goleman have argued that academic success relies on emotional intelligence and the ability of an individual to regulate his emotions. They argued that intelligence quotient is no longer the main determinants of academic success and a measure of individual intelligence but also factors like emotional and social intelligence and furthermore, luck plays a critical role in the success of an individual.
An emotionally intelligent student is skilled in four main areas, which are “identifying, using, understanding and regulating emotions” (Abisamra, 2000, pg. 1). The relationship between emotional intelligence and achievement makes it instrumental in academic success. Achievement is closely linked to the emotional, social and human growth and it is therefore paramount in the study of the relationship between the performance of the student and the level of emotional intelligence (Abisamra, 2000).
How to raise our EQ
Emotional intelligence is very important in the life of an individual; it matters in the intellectual capability, happiness and success in life. Emotional intelligence is critical in the establishment of strong relationship, career success and the achievement of goals. Every individual has the ability to develop skills that can foster their emotional intelligence.
Before learning on how to raise our Emotional quotient (EQ), it is imperative to understand that there is a distinction between human knowledge and behavior, there are several things that we may wish to know or we may like to do yet we will not do when we are under pressure and this concerns our emotional intelligence. EQ is not learned in the conventional intellectual manner but only on the emotional way and to learn about our emotional intelligence we need to engage our emotional parts like the brain.
The improvement of individual intelligence can be achieved through the reduction of stress, individual’s connection to his emotions, perfecting the art of non-verbal communication, the use of humor and play when concentrating with particular challenges and also the diffusion of conflicts and confidence and are expounded below;
Reduction of stress: when human beings are under the condition of stress, their rational thinking and ability to make decisions disappears. This is because stress overwhelms the mind and the body and interferes with our mental faculty with regard to our ability to hear, express and communicate clearly. Increasing intelligence involves our ability to calm you and to manage stress. Reducing stress can be achieved through; realizing when you are stressed, identify stress response and to discover the stress bursting.
Connection with emotions: an individual should be aware of his/her emotions and how those emotions influence his/her thoughts and actions. Understanding ones emotions is critical in understanding oneself and others. This is critical in increasing our EQ.
Non-verbal communication: a good communicator involves more than only verbal skills, it is important to know what we say and how we say and the non verbal cues we send out. Individuals should communicate clearly and be in position to analyze non verbal cues. Non verbal communication is emotionally driven and it may produce some sense of interest and trust and also generate fear and confusion, also non verbal communication demands attention.
Using humor to face challenges: humor and laughter are considered the antidote to the challenges in life and they enable individuals put things in the right perspective. Laughter enables people to reduce stress and elevate the mood (Help guide, 2011).
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence has become a popular topic and a favorite research area of psychologists; it is an imperative area to learn since it is instrumental area in the understanding and the analyzing of human behavior both at work and at school. It is important in the development of an individual since it enables us to understand our emotions and when to suppress them.
The understanding of emotional intelligence enables teachers and employees to devise some better ways of bettering performance. The field of emotional intelligence is not new in the 21st century due to the extensive research that has been carried out in that area. The ability of emotional intelligence to sharpen our understanding of how we define individual’s ability to perceive, identify and to manage our emotions and stress.
Almost all individuals have had emotions that have challenge their cognitive understand but by having the knowledge of emotional intelligence it makes it important to develop pragmatic and measurable approach to individuals’ growth in the work place, at the school and at home.
Emotional intelligence is fundamental than individual’s intelligence or rather the technical and cognitive skills and as an individuals, our success and the success of our careers depend on our ability to read people’s signal and learn how to react to it hence it is important to advance our emotional intelligence skills for us to understand, empathize and to negotiate with other parties especially in this Globalized world. For an individual to advance in life, he should incorporate both IQ and EQ. Emotional intelligence enables individuals to distinguish between performers at different level and also defines our ability to relate and interact with other people.
References
Abisamra, N. (2000). Emotional intelligence and academic achievement. Web.
Help guide. (2011). Emotional intelligence. Web.
Mackin, D. (2006). Emotional Intelligence. Web.
PCMA. (2007). New direction in learning. Web.
Salovey, P &and Mayer, J. (2004). Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model, NPR Inc. New York.
Witte, R. (2004). Emotional intelligence and career success among the highly intelligent. Web.