What is EQ and how does it affect our lives?

Running head : Emotional Quotient

Emotional Quotient

[The name of the writer appears here]

[The name of institution appears here]

Introduction

EQ is hard to describe , but it is the granularity and richness of a complex set of behaviors and feelings you get about a person when you talk with him or her that lets you know whether he or she possesses the right set of soft skills . You know it when you see it . Finding people with both IQ and EQ is difficult , and pulling them away from something they

are already passionate about is even more difficult . The people who possess EQ and the capacity for soft skills have a huge advantage (Bar-On , 2000

Some management scholars have used the term emotional intelligence to describe the soft ' skills associated with managing human capital Emotionally intelligent people have a high degree of self-awareness self-regard , and self-actualization . Self-awareness is comfort in one 's own skin . It includes the ability to view one 's own behavior objectively and regulate it in response to the prevailing environment or situation It also involves understanding the impact of one 's behavior on others and being able to see others ' perspectives . In this age of intangible assets , empathy gives leaders the potential to turn adversarial relationships into collaborative alliances , which is vital , since intangible assets are built on multiple streams of relationships Self-regard is simply knowing your strengths and weaknesses and feeling comfortable about both , keeping your head in the game ' Leaders who possess this have a passion for achievement for its own sake and not simply in response to whatever incentives a company might offer . People with high self-regard and self-actualization know when they need help or have made a mistake . On the other hand , they have the capacity to operate without knowing all the answers or pretending to . At times leaders who lack these qualities feel threatened by A ' players - peers and subordinates alike - and as a defense mechanism they may surround themselves with B 's and C 's . Acting from insecurity , they prefer to have yes people ' around them who will artificially bolster their self-esteem while posing no threat . These social skills representing the sum of the foregoing attributes in a directed friendliness ' fashion , enable leaders to succeed by building rapport and cooperation with others , inspiring them to move in the desired direction

Both Goleman and Seligman maintain that optimism , empathy , and the other skills of emotional quotient can be taught and learned . A key selling point of emotional intelligence is that , unlike IQ , which supposedly is genetically given and unchangeable , we can improve our emotional intelligence

Goleman defines emotional intelligence by drawing in part on the model of "personal intelligences " introduced by Howard Gardner . Five primary domains characterize emotional intelligence

1 . Knowing one 's emotions . People with greater certainty about their feelings are better pilots of their lives , having a surer sense of how they really feel about personal decisions from whom to marry to what job to take

2 . Managing emotions...