In a work place where people are increasingly accepted to be the competitive edge, any idea which enables them to work with greater synergies is welcome. This gave rise to the concept of emotional intelligence. But is Emotional Intelligence (also known as Emotional Intelligence Quotient – EQ) a useful concept, or a hyped up fad?
As a term, emotional intelligence made its first appearance in 1989 in an article by two American academic psychologists, John D Mayer and Peter Salovey. They surmised that emotional intelligence as ‘the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions’.
But it was not until 1995 that emotional intelligence came to public attention as a result of a book by Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ1. The book became an instant best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic and the EQ movement – some have described it as a bandwagon - took off.
While Intelligence Quotient (IQ) purely measures cognitive capacity, EQ involves emotional centers based in a different part of the brain working in harmony with the intellectual centers. People with good levels of EQ are said to be more able to manage and harness their emotions. They are also better able to understand others’ emotions, to communicate with them, relate to them and influence them. Research has shown that managers with better people skills in the areas of communications, responsiveness, coaching and guidance, get better performance from the people they manage.
Supporters of the concept claim that emotionally intelligent managers are better at resolving workplace conflicts and are better negotiators and leaders. Most managers with MBAs have similar IQs (because to gain an MBA demands a certain level of intelligence), but the distinguishing feature of good managers among MBA-holders is higher levels of EQ. However, there is also a view that not every manager needs to have EQ, though managers should be aware of it in others and value it. To some extent, this may be a fruitless debate; in the same manner that some people have a higher IQ than others, there is a continuum of EQ. Virtually everyone will have some degree of EQ, and the question may then be - how can it be developed and harnessed.
However, there is no doubt that EQ is not a substitute for IQ or technical and professional abilities. Managers need to be professionally competent first.
EQ is an effective way of identifying leadership potential, because the qualities that constitute good leadership such as decisiveness, empowering others and openness to change, all reflect aspects of Emotional Intelligence.
Similarly, research suggests that one important element in teamwork is EQ, because team success depends not so much on intellect as on the quality of interaction between team members.
Can it be learnt? People resist being told that they need to learn how (for example) to control their temper than they are to being told that they need to improve their technical skills. It can take months to unlearn old behaviours and replace them with new ones.
There is a category of people that learn through established learning methods, such as personal development strategies viz. sensitivity, influence and self-awareness. There is another that relates to the more enduring elements of an individual’s personality that are more difficult to learn, like motivation, emotional resilience and conscientiousness. There is no single agreed way of developing EQ.
Some say that approximately 90% of a star performer’s success in leadership is attributable to EQ. However, others are more skeptical; as tests of emotional intelligence rely on self-assessment which are inherently unreliable. Some say “Old wine in new bottles’, and that its significance has been exaggerated. Others might be tempted to say that emotional intelligence is simply a different way of describing attributes which have always been recognized as valuable in managers and leaders: maturity, common sense and empathy.
Nonetheless, the concept of EQ is useful because it draws attention to the following in particular:
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Aspects of management, leadership and teamwork in which competencies owing their origin to emotional states are as important as technical abilities.
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Managing personal emotions, adapting them to circumstances and understanding others’ emotions, is an important aspect of leadership and team work.
However, the hype surrounding EQ – indeed, the very phrase ‘Emotional Intelligence’ - might mean that skeptical line managers could be tempted to dismiss it as ‘just another HR fad’.
BS Rao
The writer of this article is Director, Administration and Facilities at Motif. He is a former Lieutenant Colonel who served in the Indian Army for 20 years. Motif, Inc. is a knowledge based services provider in the space of customer support services, back office transaction processing and research and analytics.
(www.motifinc.com)
