What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence gained popularity in the 1995 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence, written by science journalist Daniel Goldman. Goldman defined emotional intelligence as the array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance. So what is emotional intelligence? EI is an awareness of our emotions. It implies that we know how to reflect on our emotions and then choose appropriate behaviors. It also focuses on being aware of the emotions of others. By using the awareness of our emotions and the awareness of the emotions of others, we can then be deliberate about how we interact with others to achieve better results. Having emotional intelligence isn't easy, is something we must be mindful of often and put into practice daily in order to be successful in the workplace. The good news is that we can improve our emotional intelligence over time. These are skills that we can learn, practice, and develop.

Research shows that people with high EI are more successful in their roles. Emotional intelligence is responsible for 58% of professional success regardless of job category. Of all the workplace skills a person can possess, none is more impactful than emotional intelligence. It is the single strongest predictor of performance, and it serves as the foundation for a variety of other critical skills like time management, communication, and customer service. 90% of top performers score high on emotional intelligence. Just 20% of low performers score high on emotional intelligence. The more emotionally intelligent you are, the more likely you will be a top performer. Given this statistic, it is extremely unlikely that anyone with a low emotional intelligence score will become a top performer, unless of course they work hard to develop their emotional intelligence. The author goes on to state, the impact emotional intelligence has within organizations is nothing short of dramatic, and these numbers only begin to scratch the surface of what we know about emotional intelligence and its benefits.

There are four main buckets or domains of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness is the foundation. This is how aware you are of yourself, your emotions, and their impact on others. The ability to tune into what is going on with you emotionally. Self-management. Without self-awareness, one cannot self-manage. This is the ability to reasonably control your emotions instead of your emotions managing you. Social awareness is the ability to read others' emotions through the words they say, how they say it, and the body language associated with what they're saying. Relationship management is about your interpersonal communication skills. It's your ability to get the best out of others, to inspire and influence them to communicate and build bonds with them, and to help them change, grow, develop, and resolve conflict. It's important to notice that the first two domains are about personal competence, and the last two are about your competence with others. Emotional intelligence starts with you.