Emotional Intelligence. It is a term that was popularized by Daniel Goleman, an internationally known psychologist who lectures frequently to professional groups, business audiences and on college campuses. His book, Emotional Intelligence was on The New York Times bestseller list for a year-and-a-half and has sold more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide. The essence of his work is the research that has shown the direct link between effective leadership and a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ). IQ and technical skills matter mainly as “threshold capabilities”, that is, they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions. Intellect is a driver of outstanding performance and cognitive skills, such as big-picture thinking and long-term vision, are equally important. But emotional intelligence plays an increasingly important role at the highest levels of the company where differences in technical skills are less discernable.
Goleman was not the first to write about emotional intelligence and additional research and studies by others have been conducted to test the connection to success and to leadership potential. These include recognizable names such as The Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence, American Express, Federal Express and the United States Air Force, among others.
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? It can be defined as a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way. The key words for this definition are Self-Perception – Self Expression – Interpersonal – Decision Making – Stress Management.
Unlike IQ, Emotional Intelligence is not a static factor. To the contrary, one’s emotional intelligence changes over time and can be developed in targeted areas.
What is your EQ? To get an objective measure of your level of emotional well-being and understand how this contributes to your interpersonal success and effectiveness, consider taking the EQ-i 2.0® assessment. This psychometric assessment has been scientifically validated to measure EQ and is supported by research by premier organizations.
The EQ-i 2.0® assessment will provide measurements along 16 specific elements of emotional well-being and also provide a comparison to a norm group – to give you some idea of how your approach and behaviors differ from others around you. This tool can then be a springboard to developing actions designed to impact and improve isolated elements.
SSC Coaching is certified to administer and interpret the EQ-i 2.0® assessment. Contact me to learn more about this powerful tool, either for your personal development or for your organization. For organizations, a full suite of report options are available that are geared toward a business-centric audience.
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