Emotional intelligence: concepts, measurement, and applications

Emotional Intelligence

The importance and popularity of Daniel Goleman's book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, is indicative of the changing workplace over the last century. Whereas the industrial age focused only on the cognitive aspect of intelligence, or IQ, today's business environment recognizes the importance of emotional regulation in the workplace. Effectively regulating one's emotions in a social and workplace setting has come to be known and conceptualized as "emotional intelligence" or EQ.

As Goleman notes, the workplace is changing rapidly from one where academic and technical knowledge is emphasized; personal and social competence have become as importance in performing effectively at work. Indeed, these are important qualities in not only excellent work, but also leadership skills. I find it particularly important to recognize that managers often decide whom to hire and whom to retain on the strength of EQ rather than IQ.

The reasons for this are interesting. Creating a favorable work atmosphere often requires effective communication. Effective communication can only be achieved among persons who are both personally and socially competent. A favorable work atmosphere is also important in terms of productivity. The most productive members of a company are those who communicate their ideas in an effective manner, and who can regulate themselves and their emotions effectively.

This is however not always easy, nor is it something that is learned in school. A somewhat scary aspect mentioned by Goleman is the fact that children, while their IQ seems to be rising, are diminishing their EQ abilities. The reasons for this can be ascribed to the increased stress on academic performance concomitantly with peer pressure and a lack of effective communication at home. This reflects upon the general lack of EQ not only in schools, but also in the home.

In fact, EQ is not something that is emphasized in schools. Children are taught academic knowledge, but seldom how to handle themselves in their own specific environments. This results in a vast untapped potential for EQ development. Children are not only very vulnerable in terms of their social environment, home life and peer pressure; they are also extremely receptive to learning. If EQ programs could be implemented at schools, this could have vast repercussions for the workplace as well.

Young people entering the workplace today display a lack of emotional intelligence, even while their IQ is soaring. The good news is however that EQ can be learned. Indeed, workplaces increasingly have programs for this purpose. However, if EQ could be part of the school curriculum in the first place, this would save vast amounts of investment in terms of man hours and money. Furthermore, increased social competence in children can also diminish incidents of juvenile crime and the likelihood of children growing up to become criminals.

For these reasons, Goleman's book is an important first step in achieving greater emotional intelligence in the workplace. Further work can be based upon this, but emphasize how emotional intelligence can be achieved in schools. Having identified a lack of EQ in children as a significant problem in terms of the future workplace, the problem now needs to be addressed on a practical level.

Goleman's book further emphasizes a discrepancy between IQ and EQ not only in terms of children and their schooling, but also in tertiary institutions. In academic institutions IQ is still emphasized as the most important form of intelligence. This exacerbates the problem of bringing people with a relatively low EQ to the workforce. Both schools and tertiary institutions should therefore incorporate programs to prepare their students not only for the intellectual demands of their future work, but also for their own and others' emotional needs.

Goleman's book further emphasizes that no workplace offers the opportunity to function in isolation. Some might argue that, in the modern workplace, where computers in some cases have taken the place of the physical office, people do indeed work in isolation and therefore do not need as great an amount of EQ as those working together in a physical office. This is however not entirely the case. Working in physical isolation does not mean that there is no need for effective communication. Indeed, communication in such a case becomes even more important, as the lack of a physical workplace creates extra reliance upon communication. Workers still have to communicate with supervisors and customers, even if this is only in the virtual environment. Providing services to human customers will then sometimes necessitate a sufficient amount of EQ to handle possible problems.

Goleman's work represents a new awareness of the importance of EQ in the workplace. It furthermore provides the basis for future research not only in workplace intelligence, but also in implementing strategies for increased EQ in children and students at tertiary institutions. His work brings home the importance of personal and social competence in the workplace, and how these can be used to create an optimal integration of intellectual, intra- and interpersonal skills.

The workplace has evolved from the beginning of the 20th century, in which a worker was expected to function as a drone, to a more worker-focused environment from the 1950s and 1960s, where worker intelligence and satisfaction were recognized. Goleman's book represents a further step in this evolution: the recognition that emotional intelligence is a vital factor in improving worker performance. Perhaps the next step can be implementing Goleman's principles in schools and other educational facilities. Preparing children for the workplace by teaching them emotional intelligence can create a future where workers are not only more adept at their work, but in which children also find themselves less anxious and unhappy.

Sources

Goleman, D. (2000). Working with Emotional Intelligence: The New

Yardstick. Publisher: Bantam Books. http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/random051/98018706.html

Goleman, D. (2000). Working with Emotional Intelligence: The Hard Case for Soft Skills. Publisher: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D. (2000). Working with Emotional Intelligence: Self-Control.

Publisher: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D. (2000). Working with Emotional Intelligence: What Moves Us.

Publisher: Bantam Books.

Davies, S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and leadership. CEO Forum Group. http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6226