• home
  • about
    • emotional intelligence at work
    • GradStart (graduate performance at work)
    • Jeremy Marchant
    • this website
  • how we help
    • people
    • teams
    • businesses
    • other organisations
  • what’s the problem?
  • blog and diversions
    • Jeremy Marchant’s blog
    • newsletters
    • quotations
    • music
    • diverting videos
  • contact
emotional intelligence at work
jeremy@emotionalintelligenceatwork.com | 01453 764 615
Intelligence at Work Linkedin Link Intelligence at Work Twitter Link Intelligence at Work Youtube Link
  • essential
    • relationships at work
    • leadership
    • communication
    • emotional intelligence
  • people
    • leadership
    • personal growth
    • managing people
    • successful teams
    • conflict resolution
    • employability
  • business
    • networking and advocacy
    • business growth and change
    • customer service
    • employability
  • stories
    • work stories
    • more stories
  • short pieces
  • long reads
  • videos
    • Jeremy Marchant’s videos
    • Jeremy Marchant’s videos
    • emotionally intelligent videos

A short piece about emotional intelligence

162744_2728

IQ, or ‘conventional’ intelligence, is too narrow a concept with which to understand how and why people can be successful.  IQ (‘intelligence quotient’)—which is essentially an attempt to measure cognitive ability—has been the traditional measure of intelligence, yet ignores essential personality, character, emotional and behavioural chacteristics.  We know that a high IQ rating does not automatically guarantee success.

Emotional intelligence (EI) rose to prominence with the publication, in 1995, of Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional intelligence:  why it can matter more than IQ.

He integrated work carried out by previous theorists and researchers Peter Salovey and John Mayer, and Konstantin Vasily Petrides.

In the context of emotional intelligence, Goleman talks of domains of competences.  These are divided into personal competences and social competences.

Personal competences

These are:

Self awareness—“knowing one’s internal states, preferences, resources and intuitions”

Self regulation—“managing one’s internal states [particularly feelings], impulses and resources”

Motivation—“emotional tendencies that guide or facilitate reaching goals”.

Social competences

These are

Empathy—“awareness of others’ feelings, needs and concerns”

Social skills—“adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others”.

There are two important points, both of which need making because of the blurring of these oncepots by other writers and practitioners.

1  Goleman refers to competences, he does not refer to “skills”, still less to “soft skills”.  Skills are behaviours which can be taught.  The competences Goleman describes are not behaviours:  awareness, knowing, “managing one’s internal states”, for example, are not behaviours.

2  Many writers add that social competences included managing other people’s emotions.  This strikes me as wishful thinking.  It’s not possible.  It is not possible for anyone to make anyone else feel, believe or do anything.  How someone is is always their choice.  What people can do is be adept at “inducing desirable responses in others”.

All quotations are from Daniel Goleman’s book Working with emotional intelligence, which develops these themes at length.

© 2015 Jeremy Marchant Limited . by Jeremy Marchant . added 1 may 2015 . image:  Free images

Further reading

  • In with the newIn with the new
  • Fun and gamesFun and games
  • Getting clients by networking and advocacyGetting clients by networking and advocacy
  • “We are struggling to grow the business…”“We are struggling to grow the business…”
  • One off specialOne off special
  • On being stuckOn being stuck
  • Autumn leavesAutumn leaves
  • Forty-loveForty-love
  • Expecting a responseExpecting a response
  • Cast your voteCast your vote