WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OR EQ?

EQ is too rich a subject to provide you with an in - depth insight into what it is, and why it is so important in a few sentences or a page. Rather, this insight will unfold and deepen as you progress along your own My EQ journey. Here is a small taste though of what EQ is and how it affects productivity.

EQ in Action

Dave is a highly conscientious manager and believes everything should be done by the book. He is unaware of this and also unaware of how his rigid adherence to rules and tendency to micromanage stifles his team. Team members complain that their initiative is stifled and that they are treated like children. This causes frustration and poor morale in his team. The low motivation of his staff affects their performance. Staff turnover in his department is also high.

Jean is also a highly conscientious manager and her default is to do everything by the book. She has however been made aware of this, and the counterproductive impact it has on her team. Being self - aware she is able to catch herself when she takes her adherence to rules to extremes and has learned when to be tough on complying with rules, and when to be flexible about them. This ensures that her team is both disciplined, but also free  to use their initiative. This has a positive impact on the morale of her team, which in turn impacts positively on their performance.

The above examples give a small but important insight into what EQ is all about. In a nutshell, EQ is about self - regulation (being aware of our emotions and impulses and being able to regulate them);  and about how we regulate our relationships with people (being aware of our emotions towards people, their emotions, and regulating our behavior towards them). This self - awareness enables us to respond intelligently to a multitude of job situations, rather than react to them or deal with them habitually in ways that may be counterproductive.  

So, what does this have to do with business bottom line and competitiveness? Please complete the following assignment to gain a brief insight intohow EQ affects businesses in monetary terms.

Activity 1

In the EQ in Action section above, you read about how Dave's tendency to be overly conscientious and rigid (low EQ behavior) results in high staff turnover in his department. Please click on the link below and read the article:

The Cost of Employee Turnover

Are you beginning to see the link between EQ and business bottom line?

The Three Journeys

You completed a personality test which assessed you on 16 personality dimensions. Each of them have a bearing on EQ. We have grouped these 16 dimensions into three journeys:

  1. Self Regulation
  2. Working with People
  3. Managing Tasks

In Journey 1 you will be addressing six personality dimensions that pertain to Self - Regulation. These dimensions will tell us whether you are:

  • More Stress Sensitive or more Stress Resilient 
  • More Opportunistic or more Conscientious 
  • More Self - Confident or more Self - Critical
  • More Self - Disciplined or Less Self - Disciplined
  • More Composed or more Driven
  • More Reactive or more Proactive

In Journey 2 you will deal with 6 personality dimensions that pertain to how you work with people. In your assessment we looked at how you relate to people and whether you are:

  • More Aloof or more Warm
  • More Accommodating or more Assertive
  • More Shy or more Bold
  • More Trusting or more Critical
  • More Interpersonally Aware or More Interpersonally Unaware
  • More Group Dependent or More Self - Sufficient

In Journey 3 you will deal with 4 personality dimensions that pertain to how you deal with tasks. Although not strictly part of commonly accepted definitions of EQ, we have added this third area, because we believe this also impacts on Leadership and Organisational Effectiveness. In your assessment we looked at your task management on these4 dimensions, indicating whether you are:

  • More Optimistic or more Pessimistic
  • More Logical or more Intuitive
  • More Practical or more Creative
  • More Conservative or more Innovative

How each of these dimensions impact on EQ and Leadership will unfold and become clearer to you as you continue with My EQ.

Let us look now at what research tells us about why EQ is so important to effective leadership and organisational performance. Please  go to the page entitled "The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence". 

Next Page The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence