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Literature View: Emotional Intelligence: Emotions Might Even Be More Important Than IQ
Literature View: Emotional Intelligence: Emotions Might Even Be More Important Than IQ
Literature View: Emotional Intelligence: Emotions Might Even Be More Important Than IQ
Literature view:
Emotional intelligence
Although scholars have offered a number of definitions for EI, perhaps the most widely accepted was
proposed by Salovey and Mayer, the two scholars who coined the term. These scholars define EI as
“the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotions; the ability to access and/or
generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotions and emotional
knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth”. Mayer
and Salovey’s ability model argues that EI combines intellectual intelligence and emotion in a way that
enhances intellectual understanding of emotion and the manner it guides thought and action. Hence,
the ability model focusses on emotion and the cognitive abilities associated with it.
Other researchers, including Goleman, Bar-On, and Petrides and Furnham, have proposed and tested
alternative models of EI. Given that these models consider emotional abilities in the context of
personality factors and traits that do not focus primarily on emotion or emotional reasoning (such as
motivation, assertiveness, and independence), they are referred to as mixed models. These mixed
models have led some critics to raise concerns about the validity of EI as a construct. For example,
Davies argued that measures of EI present unacceptable overlaps with measures of personality traits.
Similarly, Conte and Landy raised doubts about the validity of such measures. Locke also critiqued the
construct of EI arguing that EI cannot be considered a form of intelligence, and that in any case the
definition of EI is too broad to be meaningful. Responses to such criticisms by proponents of the ability
model have established the validity of Mayer and Salovey’s ability model of EI.
The potential contribution of EI to the personal lives of individuals has raised a great deal of research
attention. The role of EI in the workplace has also been explored. For example, research has shown
that high EI is related to desirable outcomes on various work and career measures, such as
transformational leadership, success in job interviews, and job performance. Research has also found
EI to be related to higher levels of job satisfaction and perceived organizational justice, as well as to
lower turnover intentions and burnout. Nonetheless, we still do not know enough about the manner
in which EI relates to success in organizational politics. This is surprising given that an assumption
regarding the contribution of EI to explaining success in OP was presented in the seminal work of
Goleman almost two decades ago.
Emotional intelligence is basically the ability to manage, learn and understand emotions.
Analysts agree that this type of intelligence plays a great an important role in success, and
some have suggested that emotional intelligence might even be more important than IQ. In
any case, research has suggested that emotional intelligence is linked to everything from
decision-making to academic achievement.
Self-awareness
Self-awareness, or the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions, is a critical
part of emotional intelligence. Beyond just recognizing your emotions, however, is being
aware of the effect of your own actions, moods, and emotions of other people.
In order to become self-aware, you must be capable of monitoring your own emotions,
recognizing different emotional reactions, and then correctly identifying each particular
emotion. Self-aware individuals also recognize the relationships between the things they
feel and how they behave. These individuals are also capable of recognizing their own
strengths and limitations, are open to new information and experiences, and learn from
their interactions with others.
Goleman suggests that people who possess this self-awareness have a good sense of humor,
are confident in themselves and their abilities, and are aware of how other people perceive
them.
Self-awareness means understanding one’s emotions, strength, weakness, needs and drivers. People with
self-awareness are more likely to see themselves more accurately and also more welcoming to receiving
feedback. This can create a culture of honesty and integrity within a company. Take a manager who may not
have bought in to a directive by top management, instead of sulking and risking the spread of unhappiness
amongst his subordinate, a self-aware manager will instead be frank and honest with his opinion. He/she may
voice out to the management “ I am finding difficulty understanding the reason behind such a decision” This
will initiate the process of solving the manager’s unhappiness through meetings with the management or
tweaking of the system.
Another important aspect of self-awareness is the ability to pinpoint ones personal values. This is crucial as it
allows the employee to align their values to the company’s. It also allows the employee the conviction to make
decisions and reject projects that may violate one’s own values. This once again creates a culture of honesty
and integrity within the company. It also leads to greater motivation and long term commitment and satisfaction
from the employee.
A crucial part of self-awareness is also the ability for self-deprecating humour. An employee with high self-
awareness is usually able to look back at pass mistakes and have a good laugh. This exhibits humility and the
person’s ability to accurately see one’s strength and weakness. An employee who is able to accurately analyse
ones strength and weakness is also more likely to accurately assess the resources within a company.
Self Regulation
In addition to being aware of your own emotions and the impact you have on others,
emotional intelligence requires you to be able to regulate and manage your emotions. This
doesn't mean putting emotions on lock-down and hiding your true feelings — it simply
means waiting for the right time, place, and avenue to express your emotions. Self-
regulation is all about expressing your emotions appropriately.
Those who are skilled in self-regulation tend to be flexible and adapt well to change. They
are also good at managing conflict and diffusing tense or difficult situations.
Goleman also suggests that those with strong self-regulation skills are high in
conscientiousness. They are thoughtful of how they influence others and take responsibility
for their own actions.
Self-Regulation, the ability to rationally control one’s behavior in spite of the emotions one may be feeling.
Many a time, dishonest employees do not conduct elaborate plans into their illicit actions. These actions are
often seen in a situation of opportunity, where it may be conveniently easy to make self-centered decisions at
the expense of the company. Such impulses are seen in employees who exhibit low level of self-regulation.
Often, a leader who takes time to consider the situations may be seen as cold and distant by his employees.
On the flip side, a leader with a fiery temperament may be seen as charismatic and powerful. This common
misconception is brought about by a need for immediate action. A leader who takes his time to consider the
situation is more likely build trust and fairness within the organization.
In today’s VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) environment, it is essential that a leader is able
to self-regulate their actions and not make rash decisions. It is also beneficial that an individual is able to roll
along with the changes, suspend judgment and ultimately derive the meaning and reason behind each change
phenomenon.
Social Skills
Being able to interact well with others is another important aspect of emotional
intelligence. True emotional understanding involves more than just understanding your
own emotions and the feelings of others - you also need to be able to put this information
to work in your daily interactions and communications.
An individual who is highly skilled socially usually has a huge network available to them. This is not to say that
they are constantly socialising. They realise the significant limitations of a single individual and instead build
connections such that they have an available network to tap into for all situations.
Realistically, a leader’s job is to empower people such that work can be done through these channels. As
such, leaders network broadly and widely and without judgement. Social skill can thus be seen as a crucial
cog in the application of the above components to elevate EQ.
Empathy
Empathy, or the ability to understand how others are feeling, is absolutely critical to
emotional intelligence. But this involves more than just being able to recognize the
emotional states of others.
It also involves your responses to people based on this information. When you sense that
someone is feeling sad or hopeless, for example, it will likely influence how you respond
to that individual. You might treat them with extra care and concern or you might make an
effort to buoy their spirits.
Being empathetic also allows people to understand the power dynamics that often influence
social relationships, especially in workplace settings. Those competent in this area are able
to sense who possess power in different relationships, understand how these forces
influence feelings and behaviors, and accurately interpret different situations that hinge on
such power dynamics.
Not to confuse empathy with sympathy, empathy is the ability to read non-verbal cues that emanate from our
social interactions. Compare a situation in which a company is undergoing a period of recession. A manager
who is worried by prospect of being retrenched may neglect the same feelings shared by his subordinates.
This can create an air of paranoid and fear within the organization. Yet, imagine a manager who shares the
worries of his employees and consciously act on reassuring everyone. This in turn will create an environment
of trust and comradery over a period of time.
In another example where a manager has to fire a number of employees, a less empathetic manager may
make a gloomy speech about the state of the company and the reasons for the retrenchment, where another
manager may make a different speech, one about hope and opportunities. The underlying intention may be
the same, but the overall outcome is starkly different.
Even more importantly, in an ever globalizing economy, it is empathy that will allow us to communicate beyond
language and culture. The biological reactions to emotions are involuntary and organic across borders. With
a high degree of empathy, we are in a better position to collaborate with international partners despite cultural
barriers.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation also plays a key role in emotional intelligence. People who are
emotionally intelligent are motivated by things beyond mere external rewards like fame,
money, recognition, and acclaim.
Instead, they have a passion to fulfill their own inner needs and goals. They seek things
that lead to internal rewards, experience flow from being totally in tune with an activity,
and pursue peak experiences.
Those who are competent in this area tend to be action-oriented. They set goals, have a
high need for achievement, and are always looking for ways to do better. They also tend to
be very committed and are good at taking the initiative when a task is put forth before them.
Motivation is highly discussed, and can be seen as the passion to work beyond the compensation of money
or status. It is the intrinsic value that builds a cycle of humility and constant self-reflection that will lead to
personal growth and development.
A highly motivated individual has been shown to more optimistic and well-equipped to face setbacks, making
them more resilient in today’s corporate landscape. It is not surprising that motivation is a significant predicator
for success. Motivated individuals constantly push the bar for success and surround themselves with like-
minded individuals, creating a culture of collective potential, a force to reckon with in any situation.
This isn’t to say that IQ and technical abilities are not important attributes of a leader. If anything, IQ and
technical abilities can be seen as the substance that give us form and shape in the corporate arena. EQ can
be seen as the glue and lubricant that allows us to flow and glide and interact seamlessly with our dynamic
environment.
Political Skill
It is well accepted in the literature that organizations are political arenas. According to Pfeffer, success
in organizations requires political skill. Similarly, Mintzberg argued that political skill is essential for
an effective use of influence behavior in organizations through persuasion, negotiation, and
manipulation. Ferris, OP scholars, define political skill as “the ability to effectively understand others
at work and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal
and/or organizational objectives”. According to these scholars, political skill includes four dimensions:
social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. Previous
research has argued that high political skill is related to career success, job effectiveness and work
performance. Empirical evidence has supported this line of thinking, with political skill being found to
positively relate to income levels, hierarchical position, reputation and performance. Political skill was
also found to be positively related to job performance and team performance in organizational leaders.
Pfeffer has advocated the use of a political perspective to understand general career success. In
relation to Pfeffer, other scholars have highlighted the lack of research focusing on influence
behavior and career success, both objective and subjective. One influence behavior, political skill,
is suggested to be an important predictor of subjective career success.
Political skill is defined as “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such
knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational
objectives”. This understanding of the workplace suggests that individuals who are highly
politically skilled have an increased likelihood of behaving in ways that are appropriate for a given
context. Furthermore, it can be concluded that politically skilled individuals are able to effectively
understand social cues and generate situation-specific behaviors. Because political skill affords an
individual with the ability to understand behavior and perceive control as a result, scholars have
noted that political skill instills a sense of personal security and self-confidence in employees.
Employees who are politically skilled excel in interpersonal interaction and thrive in social
situations. Typically, those exhibiting high levels of political skill are perceived as charming,
engaging, trustworthy, and sincere. Such an interpersonal style is viewed as clever leveraging of
social capital. This is due to the synergies produced by the manipulation of discrete behaviors that
result in an exponential increase in the quality of the interpersonal dynamic.
Such interpersonal acumen may be especially important as employees rise in the organizational
hierarchy because the variability of employees on such aspects as intelligence, past work
experience, and performance is reduced. As a result, other, more subjective criteria are used in
differentiating employees for promotion decisions. Highly politically skilled employees possess the
ability to capitalize on this subjectivity. Whereas a record of high job performance can be important,
one’s career is the compilation of connected positions, jobs, and experiences that defines one’s
“work identity over an extended period of time”. As such, progression through one’s career is
impacted by being positively noticed and positioned in a way to take advantage of various
opportunities that arise. Employees who are highly politically skilled possess the ability to behave
as constituents expect, which aids them in creating a positive image of themselves in the workplace.
Employee Retention
Employee retention is the organizational goal of keeping talented
employees and reducing turnover by fostering a positive work
atmosphere to promote engagement, showing appreciation to
employees, and providing competitive pay and benefits and healthy work-
life balance. Employers are particularly interested in retaining employees
during periods of low unemployment and heightened competition for
talent. To retain employees, organizations use human resources
technology for recruiting, onboarding, engaging and recognizing workers
and offer more work flexibility and modern benefits like physical and
financial wellness programs.
Employee retention strategies
High rates of employee turnover can harm organizations' ability to carry out their
mission because of impairments to continuity, loss of institutional knowledge,
and high costs of replacing departing workers. Diminished productivity
and competitive advantage are among the biggest losses caused by employees
leaving an organization.
Employee departures can also lower morale and spur more employees to leave
the organization. Employee retention is also important to team building and
cohesion in the workplace, so workers can come to trust and depend on each
other.
Another negative effect of turnover is the impact on customers, who can notice
that they are dealing with a continual flow of different people.
Employee engagement and employee experience are seen as among the most
important strategies in retaining valued employees and maintaining a positive
employer-employee relationship.
Population/Sampling/Target audience.
The population we are targeting is the Pakistani market and specifically software houses
and IT companies of Islamabad. My research sample is 200 employees of IT sector in
Islamabad.
Reference list.
1. Ahearn, K.K., Ferris, G.R., Hochwarter, W.A., Douglas, C. and Ammeter, A.P. (2004),
“Leader
political skill and team performance”, Journal of Management, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 309-327.
2. Arvey, R.D., Bouchard, T.J., Segal, N.L. and Abraham, L.M. (1989), “Job satisfaction:
environmental and genetic components”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 74 No. 2,
pp. 187-192.
3. Ashkanasy, N.M. and Daus, C.S. (2005), “Rumors of the death of emotional intelligence
in organizational behavior are vastly exaggerated”, Journal of Organizational Behavior,
Vol. 26, pp. 441-452.
4. Bar-On, R. (1997), Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Technical Manual, Multihealth
Systems, Toronto.
5. Bing, M.N., Davison, H.K., Minor, I., Novicevic, M.M. and Frink, D.D. (2011), “The
prediction of
task and contextual performance by political skill: a meta-analysis and moderator test”,
Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 79, pp. 563-577.