Emotional Intelligence

Campus to Career

March 12, 2014

Celine O’Neill

Beginnings of Emotional Intelligence

• Early 1900s - movement to measure cognitive intelligence (IQ) as predicting success.

• People excelled despite having average intelligence.

• 1980’s - Emotional Intelligence (EQ) received current name.

• Studies linked EQ to personal achievement, happiness, and professional success.

EQ vs IQ

• EQ taps into an aspect of behavior that is distinct from intellect.

• While IQ is not flexible, EQ can be developed

EQ vs Personality

• Personality is a result of hard-wired preferences, e.g. introversion vs. extroversion

• Personality traits appear early in life, and they are consistent

EQ Skills

• There are four EQ skills:

• Personal Competence: Self-Awareness and Self-Management skills

• Social Competence: Social Awareness and Relationship Management skills

Personal Competence

• Self-awareness is your ability to understand your emotions in the moment and not let your feelings rule you

• Self-management is your ability to use your awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your behavior.

Social Competence

• Social awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people

• Relationship management is your ability to use your awareness of both your own emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully

EQ and Health

• Unaddressed emotions strain the mind and body.

• Link between EQ and susceptibility to disease. Stress, anxiety and depression suppress the immune system which is tied to your emotional state.

EQ and Professional Excellence

• EQ accounts for 60% of success in many types of jobs

• It is the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence.

• 90% of high performers are also high in EQ

EQ not a Single Ability nor is it Universally Helpful

• We can have strengths in one part of EQ

• It links well to jobs that require extensive attention to emotion

• New evidence shows that when people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulation

How to Improve Your EQ

• Observe how you react to people

• Do a self-evaluation

• Examine how you react to stressful situations

• Take responsibility for your actions

• Examine how your actions will affect others before you take those actions

Resources

• The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book, Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, 2003

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves and Patrick M. Lencioni , 2009

• Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, 1995

• “The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence,” The Atlantic, Adam Grant, 2014