Aristotle father of the field of logic, and a
student of Plato once said...
‘Anyone can become angry ...that is easy. But to be angry
with the right person to the right degree at the right time for the right
purpose and in the right way, that is not easy’
...our best intentions can be undermined by
our inability to subdue destructive and self-defeating emotional impulses. An
individual’s inability to rein over their emotional impulses and ‘read’
another’s inner emotional states (feelings) can ruin their personal,
professional, relational, financial, physical, and social aspects of their
lives. But an understanding of the mechanics of emotion, some knowledge on the complex
world of feelings and clarity on the previously unexplored continent of
emotional states can help us know how to channel feelings in intelligent ways. Ignorance
of how to handle emotions makes individuals lose their temper as easily and
unintentionally as they would lose a pen. But, with emerging subject matter on Emotional Intelligence (EQ), it is
possible to be poised during perplexing moments, to choose relaxation over rage
and to shake off our sullen shells and have joyful moments when being gloomy
would be understood.
It was Daniel Goleman, previously a New York Times
Reporter, and Harvard educated-PhD in Psychology, who first introduced the
term, Emotional Intelligence to the
larger global population. He defines Emotional
Intelligence as the “the capacity for
recognizing our own feelings and those of others for motivating ourselves, and
for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.”Ever since the publication of his book; ‘Emotional Intelligence, Why it matters more than IQ’,(1995),
Emotional intelligence has become so popular that some schools, especially in
the west, have adapted it as part of the curriculum to help children improve
their self-awareness and confidence, manage disruptive emotional states, be
empathetic, improve academic performance and in behaviour modification.
Coming at a time when success in life was thought to
unquestionably depend on one’s IQ, EQ
provided an alternative way of thinking
about excellence in life. The phrase, emotional
intelligence has since found its way in the most unlikely places as in
cartoon scripts (Dilbert and Zippy the
Pinhead). Its recognition surpassing what Daniel Goleman envisioned, He
says that students in high schools, business students in college, and religious
leaders, from Judaism to Christianity, all seem to have suddenly gotten
interest in EQ or EI as it is also frequently abbreviated. IQ, as depicted is the photo to the right is only but a tip of the iceberg, the real mountain is below the sea!
This concept has not been left out by the businesses
and corporate world. Managers and business people have learned that the
enormous challenges facing their human resource can be remedied by the EQ concept,
if they are to compete in the ever evolving global market. For example,
building good relationships with peers, subordinates, superiors and clients is
vital for business and corporate development. This is best achieved through
developing EQ within the human resource.
According to
the Harvard Business review, high levels of Emotional Intelligence
positively impacts the areas of
leadership, and should therefore incorporated as part of employee development
(a form of adult education). According to this review, EI is hailed as “a
ground-breaking, paradigm-shattering idea, one of the most influential business
ideas of the decade”
Helping people learn Emotional Intelligence is therefore
crucial. Low levels of EI have been associated with under performance, substance
abuse, and failures in relationships. These correlations pointed to
possibilities in this concept to be used in personal development. Compounded
with Social intelligence, it become Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills or
abilities, which now forms part of a comprehensive curriculum in some schools
in early elementary years. Helping students accurately label and recognize
their emotions, and how those emotions lead, and inform their actions. In this respect,
at elementary years, kids are helped to develop the ability to identify
nonverbal clues on the feelings of another person, and at Junior high, develop
the capability to identify what creates stress for them, and what motivates
peak performance for them. This has been found t be so critical that in 2002, a
worldwide initiative was started by UNESCO to promote SEL across 140 countries.
(UNESCO statement of ten basic
principles for implementing SEL to the ministries of education in 140 countries)
The SEL
program among children was found to help prevent bullying, drug abuse, violence
and other forms of delinquency in among school going children, and acted also
as a performance improvement strategy. SEL skills therefore pay off not only in
increased empathy, good behavior, but also in improved performance.
In the
corporate world, companies are now looking through the lens of EI when recruiting,
retaining, promoting or engaging in capacity development for their personnel,
and team building. Talent Smart have shown that 90% of peak performers have a
high EI, while 80% of low performers posses a low EI.
Further, EI ‘helps
in formation, development, maintenance, and enhancement of close personal
relationships. And unlike IQ which remains almost constant over lifetime, EQ
improves and keeps on evolving as we ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE and GROW
According to the Ability Model of EI, Salovey
and Mayer’s have over a long period of study revised the definition of EI to "The ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to
facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate emotions to promote
personal growth,” and later evolved into "the
capacity to reason about emotions, and of emotions, to enhance thinking. It
includes the abilities to accurately perceive emotions, to access and generate
emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional
knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and
intellectual growth."
According to this definition, it is important to have the four abilities
to,-
Perceive emotions, - identify one’s own emotions, and also identify emotions in
pictures, voices, faces, or cultural representations. It is this ability that
is key in emotional intelligence as it helps in processing all other contents
of the emotions
Using Emotions, - effective thinking, decision making and problem solving
requires one to be able to control emotions in a manner that they make such cognitive
process possible.
Understanding Emotions, - One needs to cultivate the ability to grasp the complicated
relationships among emotions. This involves one’s ability to comprehend and
monitor the ways in which emotions evolve, and therefore be sensitive to the
slight variations.
Managing Emotions, - Regulating emotions is two way. We regulate our emotions and those
of others to achieved intended ojectives.
According to the Mixed Model introduced
by Goleman, EI is portrayed as a wide array of skills and competences that
drive optimum performance.
The main constructs of this model are:-
v Self-awareness
v Self-regulation
v Social Skills
v Empathy
v Motivation
