Organisational behaviour

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor your own and other people’s emotions

The capacity to monitor your own and others' emotions is known as emotional intelligence. This allows you to distinguish between distinct emotions and accurately identify them, allowing you to better control your thinking and behavior and boost your personal effectiveness.

When to use it

● To assist you in your role as a manager or a group leader.
● To choose who to hire or promote.
●To evaluate and improve the leadership quality across an organization.

Origins

Emotional intelligence is a concept that has been around for decades. Its roots can be traced back to Edward Thorndike's studies in the 1930s, when he coined the term "social intelligence," or the capacity to get along with people. Howard Gardner, an educational psychologist, demonstrated that there are different types of intelligence in the 1970s, bolstering the argument that less academically educated intellect is significant. Wayne Payne, a researcher, coined the term "emotional intelligence" in his doctoral dissertation in 1985.

Three distinct approaches to emotional intelligence have arisen since then. Peter Salovey and John Mayer's ability model focuses on a person's ability to process emotional information and use it to navigate the social environment. K.V. Petrides' trait model focuses on an individual's self-perceived attributes, treating emotional intelligence as a collection of human features. The third and most prominent technique, proposed by author Daniel Goleman, combines the abilities and attributes of the previous two approaches.

What it is

Human intelligence comes in many forms: some people excel at math, some excel at language, and still others excel at music or have good hand-eye coordination. One sort of intelligence is emotional intelligence. It's difficult to quantify, but it's critical in the workplace, particularly for executives. It is claimed that one of the characteristics of excellent leaders is their ability to sense how others are feeling and change their message and engagement style accordingly. Another key aspect of emotional intelligence is that great leaders are keenly aware of their own strengths and flaws.

The popular model of emotional intelligence proposed by Daniel Goleman focuses on five elements:

● Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and comprehend one's own moods, feelings, and desires, as well as how they affect others.
● Self-control: The ability to control impulsive and moody behavior, defer judgment, and think before acting.
● Internal motivation is defined as a desire to work for reasons other than money or status.
● Empathy is the ability to grasp another person's emotional makeup.
● Social skills: The ability to manage relationships and form networks, as well as locate common ground and establish rapport.

How to use it

Emotional intelligence can be applied in both informal and formal settings.

The informal method is to consider Goleman's five characteristics as desirable qualities that you or others should possess. Do you consider yourself to be self-aware? Do you have strong social and empathic skills? This type of informal examination can reveal useful information about things you should change or the type of training course you should attend.

The official diagnostic surveys created by academics are the formal method. 'In terms to evaluating emotional intelligence - I am a huge believer that [ability testing] is the only suitable way to apply,' says John Mayer, one of the concept's creators.

There are a variety of surveys to choose from. Reuven Bar-On created the EQ-I self-report test to assess competences such as awareness, stress tolerance, problem solving, and happiness. Test-takers are asked to complete tasks based on their ability to perceive, identify, and understand emotions on the 'Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale.' The 'Emotional Competence Inventory' is based on coworker judgments on a variety of emotion-related competencies.

Top practical tip

Emotional intelligence is notoriously difficult to assess. We all want to believe we're emotionally clever, but we're not! So the most important practical recommendation is to acquire diverse perspectives. You can do this in a variety of ways, including anonymous feedback and group-based coaching sessions in which people give each other honest criticism.

Top pitfalls

The issue with an idea like emotional intelligence is that it sounds so appealing that everyone wants it. However, changing your personal working style and how you interact with others takes time. The most common mistake is to believe that getting examined and learning how emotionally intelligent you are is the final goal. In fact, this is only the beginning, because the true work of change begins after that. You usually can't accomplish this on your own; you'll need the help of a supportive supervisor, colleague, or personal coach.

Misusing emotional intelligence to manipulate others is another problem. If you have an excellent awareness of how your personal style impacts others, for example, you might be able to persuade them to do something they didn't intend to do. There's a small line between being clever and being manipulative, and it's crucial not to cross it.