Introduction
Why do some people appear to have almost unlimited success, in both their personal and professional life? What is it that makes some people stellar performers while others are just plain mediocres? What is it that makes certain men and women outstanding in life? How is it that some people appear to go from success to success consistently? Strangely enough, these star high flyers cut across race, tribe, gender, religious affiliation, educational qualification and social class as well as background culture.
What is it that serves as a common denominator to these people? Observation shows that these category of people, have natural gifts that differ, and come from a wide variety of professions as well as different walks of life. The answer to all these questions, are found in a concept that accurately pinpoints widely unknown facets of the human psyche: Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence is responsible for at least 58% of human job performance. Studies reveal that at least 90% of top performers tend to have high emotional intelligence quotients (EQ). Furthermore, people with high EQs make about $29,000 more annually than their low EQ counterparts. This fact per financial earnings alone, borne out of carefully crafted research findings, reveals that EQ has a much more major impact on human lives, than was previously envisaged in the past.
In order to grasp the enormity of this fact alone, this simple conversion will help put this in proper perspective. In today’s Nigerian society, $29,000 translates to about =N= 10,440,000 (that is Ten Million Four Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira only) @ the current exchange rate of about =N=360 to $1 (Three Hundred and Sixty Naira to One Dollar). Imagine that!!
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ?)
In the past, most people always assumed success could be attributed to a single sole source: Intelligence Quotient (IQ). However, when emotional intelligence came to the fore in the mid-nineties (circa 1995), it proved to be the missing piece of a puzzle that had baffled social scientists and researchers for long.
Empirical data, gleaned from carefully prepared experimental research into human behavioural performance revealed a mysterious anomaly namely that: individuals with average intelligence quotients (IQ) performed better consistently than those with higher IQ scores 70% of the time. Conclusions derived from decades of research studies, carried out under controlled conditions in diverse settings, revealed that emotional intelligence, turned out to be the critical deciding factor that set outliers apart from the rest of the general population. Thus emotional intelligence (EQ) proved to be another kind of “smart”. Emotional intelligence is somewhat intangible.
What then is emotional intelligence? Simply put, in layman terms, emotional intelligence (EQ), is the ability to identify and manage your emotions, as well as the emotions of others. In other words, EQ determines how well you manage your own behaviour, navigate social complexities and make personal decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence involves at least 3 components namely:
- the ability to identify your emotions as well as that of others
- the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks such as problem solving
- the ability to manage (control) your emotions such as being able to calm down when you are upset
Factual evidence based on testing, shows that emotional intelligence (EQ) has a far greater weighing on a person’s potential for success (about 85%) than does intelligence quotient (IQ) which is (about 15%). Success is in a large part, due to how well you manage emotion, both yours and those of others. The relevance these discoveries have brought, cuts across all fields of endeavour and areas of human specializations.
The more competitive a field or environment is, the more emotional intelligence – or the lack of it- is brought to the fore and more into focus. Therefore you must always strive to understand the emotional factors that are at play in every situation around you. These are the real life situations which you will inevitably confront, almost on a daily basis at work, in your marriage at home, in the neighbourhood, with family, friends and close relatives. The unbridled truth is this: outstanding levels of performance and achievement, critical to attaining, and sustaining success cannot be attained, without possessing an equally exceptionally high degree of emotional intelligence.
A good healthy dose of emotional intelligence, can help to keep negativity (in word, thought or in deed) from sabotaging your relationships. It can also, both define and determine, your attitude to the work which you do which in turn leads to greater productivity. The emotional dynamics surrounding your daily life cannot be overemphasized. In other to master emotional challenges you must possess awareness at all levels. Not only must your eyes be open to see (so to speak), they must also look in many directions. Someone very wise once said that the eyes that look are many but those that see are few.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the good news, really is that emotional intelligence, can help you succeed not just in your career, business or field of study, but can also aid and boost your advancement or achievement per life in general. This covers interpersonal relationships which are vital for your wellbeing.