Everyone in the world tries to improve their Intelligence. Intelligence is often used synonymous to knowledge. However, there are very few efforts made in building emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, use, understand and manage emotions in a positive way. It has been proven through research that higher emotional intelligence helps individuals to communicate better, reduce stress and anxiety, empathize with others, maintain relationships and overcome challenges they face in life.
The term Emotional Intelligence was first used by psychologists Mayer and Salovey in 1990s. Emotional Intelligence is important because it can help individuals live a happy life. People are becoming more and more involved in work life and are often in a stressful environment. emotional intelligence helps to think logically, work as a team, deal with change and manage stress. This enables individuals to pursue business objectives efficiently.
Enhancing emotional intelligence helps improve both professional and personal life. It is also related to physical health of individuals. Emotional intelligence helps a person to deal with hypertension, prolonged stress, depression, anger and anxiety which have bad effects on human body.
Regardless of the Intelligence Quotient of individuals, people with high emotional intelligence tend to be more productive and efficient than people with low emotional intelligence. While intelligence quotient tells about academic excellence, emotional intelligence in individuals shows leadership qualities and higher management skills.
The four basic components of Emotional Intelligence are:
- Self Awareness: It means being conscious of your own emotions and feelings. People who are self aware are able to guide their life more smoothly, interact efficiently and understand better.
- Self Management: It means being able to have a control over emotions and feelings and not letting it affect what they do. Being able to manage personal emotions and feelings does not mean suppressing the same but understanding situations, think clearly and work productively.
- Social Awareness: It means understanding different social situations and reacting accordingly and effectively to achieve best possible results. This is a way to also influence others and improving interaction with people.
- Relationship Management: It is being able to connect with others, influence others, work as a team and respond to emotions of others. This is important in resolving conflicts, working with others for a common goal and negotiating with others.
It is an important skill set for the future. The World Economic Forum has ranked Emotional Intelligence as one of the top 10 skills needed for the fourth industrial revolution in 2020 and beyond. It has become a key differentiator in achieving excellence in individual and organizational engagement, product innovation, and customer experience. Emotional intelligence is not about how much you know but how you do things and manage efficiently.
