Professional Documents
Culture Documents
How Important Is Emotional Intelligence To Success in Business
How Important Is Emotional Intelligence To Success in Business
How Important Is Emotional Intelligence To Success in Business
How
w Importtant Is Em
motional Intelligence to S
Success iin Busine
ess?
Manny psycholoogists and experts in hu
uman behavviour believve that a person’s emootional intelligence
quo
otient (EQ) m
may be morre importan nt to succes s than the p
person’s inttelligence q uotient (IQ).
There are manyy valid defin
nitions of emotional inntelligence. We like to tthink aboutt it as the fo
our quadran
nts
of a two‐by‐two matrix. OOn one axis, we have “SSelf” and “OOthers.” On the other aaxis, we havve
“Unnderstand” aand “Influence.” We’ll consider eaach quadran nt below.
1. U
Understand yourself
Arisstotle said th
hat self‐kno
owledge is tthe beginninng of
wisddom. It’s truue. You havve to begin b
by understaanding
whaat is going oon in your own head. D Do you undeerstand
whaat is driving your emotiions? If youu are upset, blue,
angry or happyy, do you kn now why?
Thiss may soundd easy, but for many, itt’s not. To cchange
your world, you u have to begin by und derstandingg why
you are feelingg the way yoou’re feelingg ‐‐ you havve to
und
derstand you urself.
2. In
nfluence yo
ourself
wn behaviouur, as appropriate. It’s yyour ability to be a selff‐starter. Arre
Thiss is your ability to modify your ow
you intrinsicallyy motivatedd or do you require exttrinsic motivvation? Succcessful peoople are able to set
perssonal goals,, map out a plan to achhieve their ggoals and im
mplement the plan ‐‐ thhey are able e to influence
theiir own behaaviour posittively.
3. U
Understand others
Undderstandingg others is all about em
mpathy ‐‐ yo ur ability to o comprehend what ot hers are feeeling and w
why
and to know ho ow your wo ords and acttions will bee received b by those aro
ound you. W
Without empathy, you’ll
alienate peoplee and neverr know whyy. It is very ddifficult to succeed without underrstanding otthers.
nfluence others
4. In
Thiss is your ability to motivate people
e effectivelyy. Your succcess and efffectiveness will be dire
ectly related
d to
your ability to gget people to do what you want tthem to do. This isn’t m manipulationn. Manipulaation is
influ
uencing oth hers in a way that bene
efits you, buut may be bad for them m. Motivatinng others always createes a
win‐win. Succeessful people are able tto influencee others in aa way that bbenefits eveeryone.
uite good att assessing tthe first three. They can assess a pperson’s IQ by looking at
Mosst organizattions are qu
the schools theey went to, academic pperformancee, standard dized test scores, etc. Inn fact, prosp
pective
empployers can administerr a pre‐employment tesst to determ mine cognitive capabiliity in an are ea relevant tto
1 |P a g e
PPL 1924 Industrial Psychology- Department of Public Policy
the job, and some do. Resumes lay out a prospective employee’s prior experience. Employers use prior
accomplishments and reference checks to determine the level of effort that an employee is likely to exert.
Although companies often do a good job of assessing the first three elements, rarely do they effectively
assess emotional intelligence. It is not surprising that the one element of success for which companies do
not effectively screen is the one that differentiates performance.
Job candidates have to be strong on the other three dimensions to receive an offer. However, emotional
intelligence is most often not measured effectively. Therefore, candidates may be weak on this dimension
and still get the job. Unfortunately, this weakness will likely prevent success.
Although many ignore it, emotional intelligence is critical to a person’s success in business. The good news
is that it can be measured and it can be improved.
Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248329
2 |P a g e