Knowing the Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Pursuing Success

Growing up, I always questioned the reason some of the smartest people I knew were so clueless as to how to relate to their peers. Some of them made it a point to make their intellectual superiority known by disclaiming their IQ and their grades in school. Others chose only to associate with those who were on their intellectual level. Their conversations always turned into a 'battle of the wits' with one person attempting to outsmart the others. Many of these individuals prided themselves in the fact that their academic and intellectual abilities would help them land the job of their dreams, financial prosperity, and an overall better quality of life. Today, I know that a person's IQ score does not measure an individual's ability to attain happiness or success in their life and in their career.

Many researchers have found that the actual measurement of a person's ability to achieve happiness and success in their life and career is based on their 'Emotional Intelligence' (EQ). EQ is the individual's ability to identify, understand, manage, apply, and direct their emotions or the emotions of others. Some researchers theorize that IQ only makes up an estimated 10-25% of what is necessary to attain overall success. They believe that 75% or more of what is required to achieve happiness and success in personal development, job performance, productivity, and success, is a person's EQ. Social scientists believe that EQ is critical to individual and professional success because people need to have the ability to read and interpret the signals of others to respond appropriately. Those who achieve this are able to attract others through their capacity to relate personally and professionally to others. They are capable of forming healthier relationships that lead to a more satisfying life.

Many people believe that they are emotionally intelligent for various reasons; however, if these individuals are unable to understand, negotiate, and empathize with others, then they may have a low level of emotional intelligence. These individuals may believe their level of EQ is satisfactory based on their self-awareness of their emotional well-being. They are missing an important element of EQ that includes the ability to recognize and empathize with the emotional states of others. Knowledge of the emotional state of others is just as important as understanding personal temperaments because:

1. Communication is enhanced between parties.

2. Able to relieve external and internal stress that creates emotional triggers.

3. Develop the ability to overcome personal and

professional challenges involving others.

4. Develop the capacity to empathize with others

which provide depth to new and existing

relationships.

5. Communication and Empathy enables the

ability to diffuse conflict.

Those who base their self-confidence on their intellectual abilities often demonstrate low EQ. Those individuals who brag on their IQ scores or cause others to feel inferior based on their academic, intellectual abilities do not know that they are actually demonstrating that they have low EQ. Their self-centeredness causes them to be unable to empathize or connect with the feelings they evoke in others. They may believe that people are responding out of jealousy when in fact they are responding to their insensitive nature.

It is important for everyone to focus on the development of their EQ to develop those interpersonal skills that will boost their chances of success in their academic, personal, and professional development. EQ is necessary for the development of social skills that is needed to understand, empathize, and inspire others to work well with others in a team setting. Those with high EQ demonstrate their ability to influence others, communicate effectively, lead others, and collaborate and cooperate with others effectively.

Other benefits of developing EQ for personal and professional success would be the ability to promote personal effectiveness. Emotional maturity enables people to be able to utilize tools and strategies to manage their emotions while managing the emotions of others. They will also have developed the skills to think critically about issues that arise involving other individuals. Many people do not understand that the difficulty they experience in problem-solving in the personal or professional setting is not based on the level of difficulty of the issue. Their intellectual abilities are not the skills needed to address the complex nature of the problem. It is the perspective, the mindset, the attitude, the emotional state of the individual that impacts the perspective or level difficulty assigned to solving the problem. The person who develops the emotional maturity to address their emotional state, utilizes their knowledge of what makes people tick to work harmoniously with others; boosting their personal and professional relationships overall.

These qualities are essential to being a good leader in the individual and professional realm. Leadership is not contingent upon the intellectual abilities of the leader. It is contingent on the leadership's ability to understand, empathize, and respond to the people they are leading. Those with emotional maturity will know what strategies to use to influence, persuade, motivate, and inspire their team.They will also know what is needed to enhance the satisfaction of their team to motivate them to perform. This type of leader will create an environment that is conducive to building stronger personal and professional relationships.

Overall, emotional intelligence is a concept that should be discussed and promoted among youth and adults to promote the need to relate to others on an emotional and intellectual level personally and professionally. The focus on developing academic, intellectual abilities during youth instead of promoting an equal amount of importance on emotional intelligence is an issue that should be addressed early in their development.Youth should learn the importance of developing healthy relationships and pro-social skills at a young age.Youth who learn this lesson will guarantee their personal and professional aptitude in their adulthood.

For more on how 'Emotional Intelligence' impacts your ability to be achieve personal and professional success, check out: Daring You to Be YOU!: Personal Development Begins From Within.

Reference:

Palmer, S. (2015). Emotional intelligence: Harness your emotions,

boost your critical thinking, and build exceptional relationships.

(Kindle DX version). Retrieved from Amazon.com.

Whitman, P. (2015). Emotional intelligence: Develop absolute

control over your emotions and your lie for everlasting success. (Kindle DX version). Retrieved from Amazon.com.

#EmotionalIntellgence #Success #AttitudeAwareness #IQ