Irish Times
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Health Supplement 9 November 2004
It’s not IQ but E(motional) Q that matters.
Carmel Wynne
During the 1980s
psychologist Dr. Reuven Bar-On researched why some people possess greater
emotional wellbeing than others. He studied how people with modest
gifts were often more successful than those who were intellectually
superior.
At that time psychiatrist
Howard E. Book observed that a person could have a brilliant mind yet not
achieve anything approaching his potential. In his work as an
organisational consultant he found that most of the issues confronting the
firms that sought his advice had nothing to do with strategic planning,
accounting or balance sheets.
A lack of people skills,
the failure to be aware of how abrasive behaviour alienated colleagues was
a common issue. At his son’s summer camp Book heard Dr. Steven J. Stein,
whose company specialised in psychological tests, describe how Dr. Reuven
Bar-On had found a valid scientific instrument that defined and measured
emotional quotients.
When Daniel Goleman’s book ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter
More than I.Q.’ was published in 1995 it confirmed what they already
suspected. IQ was not as important as previously believed.
They adopted the phrase ‘Emotional Intelligence’ to explain why some
people who are academically brilliant fail to achieve their potential.
IQ is a measure of a
person’s cognitive intelligence. It peaks when a person is around
seventeen and remains constant throughout adulthood. Studies show that it
has about a 1% impact on successful achievement.
Emotional intelligence is
not fixed and accounts for 27% of success. Dr.Bar-On and other
researchers worldwide have built up a voluminous databank to uncover
incontrovertible links between emotional intelligence and proven success
in peoples’ personal lives.
It is now widely accepted
that self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence.
Recognising feelings, building a vocabulary for expressing them and
understanding the links between thoughts, feelings and reactions are
better predictors of success in life than IQ.
Goleman found that
self-awareness reflects the ability of a person to recognise strengths and
to see him or herself in a positive but realistic light. The goal of
emotional self-awareness is not to analyse emotions. It’s to have the
acuity to have an emotional understanding of what one is doing, for what
purpose and how it is affecting oneself and others.
Highly functioning
achievers understand their own and other peoples’ feelings. When the
ability to take another person’s emotions into account is lacking
communication suffers. The work environment becomes stressful and
productivity goes down.
Bullying in the workplace
is a serious health issue that companies are forced to address. A bully
usually lacks self-awareness, is poor at recognising emotional feelings
and fails to recognise how others perceive and respond to his or her
behaviour.
The unaware woman who
acts in an intimidating manner when her intention was to appear decisive
may not recognise that she comes across as a bully. The man who shouts at
his staff and talks in an angry and aggressive manner may believe he is
being assertive. His staff perceive him as him loud and aggressive.
The intellectually
brilliant executive who lacks self-awareness has a diminished ability to
motivate his team or to address problems effectively. Unaccustomed to
paying attention to feelings he misses the internal signals that indicate
he is getting stressed and alienating others.
Peter Drucker author of
‘Management for the 21st Century’ stresses that self-awareness
and the capacity to build mutually satisfying relationships provides the
backbone of strong management and effective leadership.
Many businesses recognise this and provide training and coaching that
improves self-awareness, teaches interpersonal skills, adaptability and
stress management among other life skills.
In any relationship with family or colleagues it’s in your own best
interest to become aware of what is working well for you and to change
what is not working.
A busy executive had to
attend several meetings in a day. He was usually late, rushed in red
faced, perspiring and out of breath. He appeared flustered and
disorganised.
With life skills coaching
he learned to slow down before he entered the room. This simple strategy
made him look relaxed and created a different impression. He looked and
felt confident.
The goal of self-awareness is to develop life skills that unlock your
potential for successful living.
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