EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

We all have different personalities, different wants and needs, and different ways of showing our emotions. Navigating through this all takes tact and cleverness - especially if we hope to succeed in life. This is where emotional intelligence becomes important.Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what they're telling you, and realize how your emotions affect people around you. Emotional intelligence also involves your perception of others: when you understand how they feel, this allows you to manage relationships more effectively.People with high emotional intelligence are usually successful in most things they do. Why? Because they're the ones that others want on their team. When people with high EI send an email, it gets answered. When they need help, they get it. Because they make others feel good, they go through life much more easily than people who are easily angered or upset.

Major components of emotional intelligence:

Knowing our own emotions

Managing our own emotions,

Motivating ourselves,

Recognizing the emotions of others, and

Handling relationships

Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence

Our emotional intelligence determines our potential for learning the practical skills based on the five elements: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy, and adeptness in relationships.

1. Self-Awareness: People with high emotional intelligence are usually very self-aware. They understand their emotions, and because of this, they don't let their feelings rule them. They're confident – because they trust their intuition and don't let their emotions get out of control.They're also willing to take an honest look at themselves. They know their strengths and weaknesses, and they work on these areas so they can perform better. Many people believe that this self-awareness is the most important part of emotional intelligence.

2. Self-Regulation: This is the ability to control emotions and impulses. People who self-regulate typically don't allow themselves to become too angry or jealous, and they don't make impulsive, careless decisions. They think before they act. Characteristics of self-regulation are thoughtfulness, comfort with change, integrity, and the ability to say no. 

3. Motivation: People with a high degree of emotional intelligence are usually motivated. They're willing to defer immediate results for long-term success. They're highly productive, love a challenge, and are very effective in whatever they do.

4. Empathy: This is perhaps the second-most important element of emotional intelligence. Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs, and viewpoints of those around you. People with empathy are good at recognizing the feelings of others, even when those feelings may not be obvious. As a result, empathetic people are usually excellent at managing relationships, listening, and relating to others. They avoid stereotyping and judging too quickly, and they live their lives in a very open, honest way.

5. Social Skills: It's usually easy to talk to and like people with good social skills, another sign of high emotional intelligence. Those with strong social skills are typically team players. Rather than focus on their own success first, they help others develop and shine. They can manage disputes, are excellent communicators, and are masters at building and maintaining relationships.

As you've probably determined, emotional intelligence can be a key to success in your life – especially in your career. The ability to manage people and relationships is very important in all leaders, so developing and using your emotional intelligence can be a good way to show others the leader inside of you.

How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

The good news is that emotional intelligence CAN be taught and developed. Many books and tests are available to help you determine your current EI, and identify where you may need to do some work.

To develop emotional intelligence, individuals can follow the techniques given below:

• Take responsibility for your emotions.

• Instead of evaluating other people’s motives and actions, watch your own emotions and feelings.

• Identify your mood swings. Relax when there is a rush of emotions and get going when you are feeling low.

• Respect other’s feelings and try to incorporate their view point in decision making.

• Acknowledge your negative feelings and try to reduce them.

Always give clear explanations to people working with you. Develop organisational culture that supports learning. Make use of persuasion rather than punishment to get the desired results.

You can also use these tips: Observe how you react to people. Do you rush to judgment before you know all of the

facts? Do you stereotype? Look honestly at how you think and interact with other people. Try to put yourself in their place, and be more open and accepting of their perspectives and needs.

Look at your work environment. Do you seek attention for your accomplishments? Humility can be a wonderful quality, and it doesn't mean that you're shy or lack self-confidence. When you practice humility, you say that you know what you did, and you can be quietly confident about it. Give others a chance to shine - put the focus on them, and don't worry too much about getting praise for yourself. 

Do a self-evaluation. What are your weaknesses? Are you willing to accept that you're not perfect and that you could work on some areas to make yourself a better person? Have the courage to look at yourself honestly - it can change your life. 

Examine how you react to stressful situations. Do you become upset every time there's a delay or something doesn't happen the way you want? Do you blame others or become angry at them, even when it's not their fault? The ability to stay calm and in control in difficult situations is highly valued - in the business world and outside it. Keep your emotions under control when things go wrong.

Take responsibility for your actions. If you hurt someone's feelings, apologize directly – don't ignore what you did or avoid the person. People are usually more willing to forgive and forget if you make an honest attempt to make things right.

Examine how your actions will affect others – before you take those actions. If your decision will impact others, put yourself in their place. How will they feel if you do this? Would you want that experience? If you must take the action, how can you help others deal with the effects?

Case Study:

Increasing Emotional IntelligenceFour colleagues from Belgium (Delphine Nelis, Jordi Quoidbach, Moira Mikolajczak & Michel Hansenne) collaborated on an interesting intervention study. They enlisted the participation of 37 psychology students (average age 20.5 years), and assigned them randomly to one of two conditions: 1) Training group (15 men, 4 women) who received a 4-week program designed to increase their EI (and they completed a battery of questionnaires), and 2) Control group (15 women, 3 men) who simply completed the questionnaires. The questionnaire package was administered 3 times: 1) prior to the 1st

session, 2) at the end of the 4th session for the training group, and 3) 6 months later (post-training follow-up). The questionnaires included measures of emotion regulation, regulation of others' emotions, emotion identification and emotional understanding.

The EI training intervention consisted of 4 sessions of 2.5 hours each over 4 weeks with participants divided into two smaller groups (10 and 9 participants, respectively). The training was based on Mayer and Salovey's model of EI, with an emphasis on: 1) perception, appraisal and expression of emotion; 2) emotional facilitation of thinking; 3) understanding and analyzing emotions; 4) reflective regulation of emotion. During the program, particular emphasis was placed on techniques to enhance emotional regulation and emotional understanding. These sessions were based on short lectures, role plays, discussions and readings. Participants also completed a daily dairy of emotional experience that they analyzed in light of the theory explained in class as part of their learning.

ResultsThere were no differences between groups prior to Session 1 on any of the measures. In the authors' words: "The major finding of the study is that the training group (but not the control group) scored significantly higher on trait emotional intelligence after the training . . . the training led to a significant improvement in emotion identification and emotion management (self and others' emotions) . . . A major finding of this study is that all positive changes remain significant 6 months after the intervention . . ."

"Taken together, our results suggest that some emotional abilities and habits may be effectively improved, even using a relative short training". The authors also acknowledge a number of significant limitations in their study, however their results are interesting and provocative nonetheless.

Advantages of emotional intelligence

What we need first to understand is that emotional intelligence has been used for hundreds or even thousands of years but we were not aware of it or it wasnt defined, few people recognized its real importance. Since child we were told that successful people had special talents and skills and that they worked really hard to achieve their goals.

Emotional intelligence has more practical and really profound impact in a person that learns it and practices.

Emotional intelligence makes you understand and perceive your own emotions, control them and use them in the more beneficial way for you. Also Emotional Intelligence make you influence, inspire and feel other peoples emotions.

People who cant control their emotions, say and do incongruent and damaging things and can hurt relationships and partners for years to come. We all have some things in common and some differences.

One of the advantages of emotional intelligence is that you will learn how to deal in difficult situations then taking the decision that will benefit both parts.

If you can learn to perceive other peoples emotions and control yours, you are in advantage, thus making easy to resolve a conflict and not expand on it.

BRAIN POWER :

Do you often hear people saying that their memories are becoming worse and worse as they grow up?How do you feel about this problem? Is it really that our memories are deteriorating? Is there anything we can do to treat this problem?

Every one of us has the ability to recall our brain and the potential to stretch our mind ,this is what is called as BRAIN POWER

• If we don't use our brain, our brain is going to get rusty .

• Therefore we need to use it and challenge it everyday in your life .

“Emotional Intelligence is born largely in the neurotransmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses and drives”

HOW ARE OUR EMOTIONS CONNECTED WITH OUR BRAIN?

• Eyes that open wide in amazement• A tightening of the forehead that accompanies intense anger;

• Whatever the emotions we are experiencing, they are often times written into our faces.

• Indeed most of emotions are associated with very distinctive facial expressions,

• Emotions takes place the way your brain reacts to situations.

Ways to Better Brainpower -

Breath deep. More air in means more oxygen in the blood and therefore in the brain. Breath through your nose and you'll notice that you use your diaphragm more, drawing air deeper into your lungs. Several deep breaths can also help to relax you, which is conducive to clearer thinking.

Meditate. A simple meditation you can do right now is just closing your eyes and paying attention to your breath. Tensing up your muscles and then relaxing them to start may help. When your mind wanders, just bring your attention back to your breath. Five or ten minutes of this will usually relax you, clear your mind, and leave you more ready for any mental task.

Sit up straight. Posture affects your thinking process. Prove it to yourself by doing math in your head while slouching, looking at the floor and letting your mouth hang open. Then do the mental math while sitting up straight, keeping your mouth closed and looking forward or slightly upwards. You'll notice that it's easier to think with the latter posture.

Good thinking habits. Just use a problem solving technique for several weeks and it will become a habit. Redesign everything you see for a while, and that will become a habit. You can develop many good thinking habits with some effort, and then be more resourceful effortlessly from that point on. Use the power of habit.

Use dead time. This is time that is otherwise wasted or just under-utilized. Driving time, time spent in waiting rooms, or even time spent raking your yard can be included in this. With a tape player and a trip to a public library, you can start to use this time to listen to books-on-tape. You may spend 200 hours a year in your car. What could you learn in that time?

Learn a language. Learning a new language has been shown to halt the age-related decline in brain function. It also introduces your mind to new concepts and new ways of looking at things (in English we are afraid, whereas in Spanish we have fear). It is one of the best brain exercises.

Mindfulness exercises. Concentration and clear thinking are more or less automatic once you remove distractions. Learn to stop and watch your busy mind. As you notice things that are subtly bothering you, deal with them. This might mean making a phone call you need to make, or putting things on a list so you can forget them for now. With practice, this becomes easier, and your thinking becomes more powerful.

Write. Writing is good for your mind in a number of ways. It is a way to tell your memory what is important, so you'll recall things more easily in the future. It is a way to clarify your thinking. It is a way to exercise your creativity and analytical ability. Diaries, idea-journals, poetry, note-taking and story-writing are all ways to use writing to boost your brain power.Develop your intuition. Intuition can be an important part of brainpower. Einstein and others have relied heavily on their intuitive hunches. See Chapter 25 for tips on how to develop your intuition.

Avoid foods that cause subtle allergies. These can include wheat, corn, peanuts and dairy products. Watch yourself to see if you have a problem with any of these. They cause digestive problems and brain fog in some people.

Sleep better. As long as you get a certain amount of sleep - probably a minimum of five hours - the quality seems to be more important than the quantity. Also, short naps in the afternoon seem to work well to recharge the brain for some people.

Speed reading. Contrary to what many believe, your comprehension of material often goes up when you learn to speed-read. You get to learn a lot more in less time, and it is definitely a good brain exercise.

Exercise. Long term exercise can boost brainpower, which isn't surprising. Anything that affects physical health in a positive way probably helps the brain too. Recent research, though, shows that cognitive function is improved immediately after just ten minutes of aerobic exercise. If you need a brain recharge, you might want to walk up and down the stairs a few times.

Imaginary friends. Talking to and getting advice from characters in your mind can be a great way to access the information in your subconscious mind. Imagine a conversation with a person who has a lot of knowledge in the area you want advice in.

Develop your creativity. Creativity gives power to your thinking. Raw computation can be done by computers now, but humans provide the creative thought that shapes our world. See Chapter 24 for tips on developing your creativity.

Learn more efficiently. When you decide to learn something, take notes from the start. Leave each "learning session" with a question or two in mind, to create anticipation and curiosity. Take short breaks, so there will be more beginnings and endings to your studies (Things learned at the beginning or ending of a class or session are remembered better).

Use techniques for clear thinking. Cluttered rooms and offices can contribute to cluttered thinking. Organize a space for mental work. Sigh, stretch, and take a deep breath before you start on a tough mental job. Plan some distraction-free time for brainstorming.

Talk. Talking is only good for the brain if you are actually exercising it, of course. Try explaining something that you don't understand very well to a friend, though, and you'll notice that the process of explaining will help you clarify your understanding.

Do something you enjoy. This is a way to both lower stress and rev up your brain. The key is to do something active. Watching TV doesn't count. Whether it is playing Scrabble or building birdhouses, when you are actively engaged in an activity that you enjoy, you worry less about things and you start to think better.

Adjust your beliefs. Believe you are smarter, and you'll become smarter. For this, affirmations may work, but even better is evidence. Make a note of your successes. Tell yourself, "Hey, that was really creative," when you do something creative. When you have a good idea, make a note of it. Gather the evidence for your own intelligence and you'll start to experience more of it.

Brain exercises. Do math in your mind while driving. Think of a new use for everything you see. Regular use of the brain has been shown to generate new neuronal growth, and even halt the decline of mental function that often comes with age.

Learn new things. This is another way to exercise the brain. It can also be done with little time investment if you use books-on-tapes while driving.

Walk. Exercise has been shown to benefit the brain, and walking is one of the best

exercises for many. It is low impact, and the rhythmic nature of it seems to put you in a state that is very conducive to clear thinking. In fact, carry a tape recorder with you to take notes, and a twenty minute walk can be a great way to solve problems.

Model others. Find others that are creative, intelligent, or very productive. Do what they do, and think what they think. This is a key principle of neuro-linguistic programming. Be careful about taking their advice, though. Successful people often don't really understand why they are successful. Do what they do, not what they say.

Avoid unnecessary arguments. When you defend a position too vigorously, especially when it is just to "win" the argument, you invest our ego into it. This is not conducive to the easy acceptance and use of new information. In other words, you put your mind in a rut, and you dig it deeper with each argument. Debate can be a valuable thing, but when the ego takes over, the mind closes a little. This is not a recipe for better thinking.

Laugh. The release of endorphins caused by laughter lowers stress levels, which is good for long term brain health. Laughter also tends to leave you more open to new ideas and thoughts.

Play. Stimulating the brain causes measurable changes in the structure of the brain. New connections are made and new brain cells are grown. Intellectual play, as well as any playing that involves hand-eye coordination stimulates the brain.

Do puzzles. Crossword puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, and even good riddles are a great way to get brain exercise. You can work on them while waiting for a dentist appointment, or on the bus, if you are short on time.

Sing. When you are alone in your car, try singing about something you are working on. This taps into and exercises your right brain. Have you ever noticed how it is easier to rhyme when you sing than when you just speak or write? This is because the right brain is better at pattern recognition. By doing this brain exercise regularly you can train yourself to tap into the power of the right brain. This will make you a more effective problem-solver. If you doubt the distinction between the hemispheres of the brain, look at how stutterers can stop stuttering as soon as they start singing. Try it.

Self awareness. This may not seem important to brain power, but it is. When you know yourself better, you can avoid the usual effects of ego and emotion in your seemingly "rational" thinking. Or you can at least take it into account. Watch yourself, especially as you explain things or argue.

Motivate yourself. Motivation is as important to mental tasks as it is to any other. Learn a few simple techniques for self motivation. You can start with those in Chapter 8.

Avoid too much stress. Neuropsychiastrist Richard Restak, M.D., form the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Services, sums up the research thus: "Stress causes brain damage." Long term stress has repeated been shown to hurt the brain, not to mention the rest of the body. Learn a few stress reduction techniques if you get stressed out often.

Get educated. Scientists have known for a while that the less educated get

alzheimer's more frequently. Education in any area seems to make the brain stronger.

Ask questions. This is a great way to keep your brain in shape. Just get in the habit of asking questions often, even if it is only in your own mind. Why are taller buildings better? what is the purpose of curbs? Ask anything that comes to mind, and ponder the possible answers.

Temperature. Many people have noted that they think better at certain temperatures. In general, it seems that being slightly cool, but not uncomfortable, is most conducive to good thinking. Try experimenting on yourself to see what temperature works best for you.

Use systems. From the time I was ten years old, 12 x 49 was always (12 x 50) - 12. It's easier to figure in your head this way (588, by the way). I didn't get any credit for my personal algorithms then, but they are selling these shortcuts on late-night TV now, because they work. You can find your own easier ways to do mental math or other mental tasks, or read a good book on them.

Make a brainpower plan. It takes about twenty to thirty days of repetition to establish new habits, many psychologists will tell you. This means that when you create your plan for better brainpower, be sure you plan to use that new problem solving technique, or eat those new brain foods for at least three weeks. You can use many of the brain boosters here and get immediate results, but it is creating new habits that will give you the most brainpower.

Definition of intelligence

Intelligence is:

a ubiquitous individual difference a hypothetical construct reflected in a variety of behaviors which demonstrate a cognitive capacity

for:o thinking and reasoningo learning and adapting

Intelligence Quotient:

IQ scores reflect general capacity for performing intellectual tasks, such as solving verbal and mathematical problems.

IQ is the acronym for intelligent quotient, and refers to a score given for several standardized intelligence tests. The first of these was developed by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. He constructed the IQ test, as it would later be called, to determine which children might need additional help in scholarly pursuits. Today, the IQ test is commonly based on some model of the Stanford Binet Intelligence scale.

Not all intelligence can be measured by an IQ test. In fact, primarily, an IQ test measures mathematical and spatial reasoning, logical ability, and language understanding. Thus a

person who is speaking English as a second language might score poorly on the language comprehension aspects of a test, and an IQ test would not be an adequate measurement of intelligence.

Further an IQ test does not measure things like life experience, wisdom, or personal qualities like being a good friend or a devoted spouse. So it is not a predictor of a person’s quality or worth, though it has occasionally been used as such.

SENTIENCE QUOTIENT :

The sentience quotient concept was introduced by Robert A. Freitas Jr. in the late 1970s. It defines sentience as the relationship between the information processing rate (bit/s) of each individual processing unit (neuron), the weight/size of a single unit and the total number of processing units (expressed as mass).

This is a non-standard usage of the word "sentience" which in standard usage relates to an individual organism's capacity to perceive the world subjectively (The word "sentience" is derived from the Latin "sentire" meaning "to feel" and is closely related to the word "sentiment." Intelligence or cognitive capacity is better denoted by the word "sapience" and not "sentience.")

The potential and total processing capacity of a brain, based on the amount of neurons and the processing rate and mass of a single one, combined with its design (myelin coating and specialized areas and so on) and programming, lays the foundations of the brain level of the individual. Not just in humans, but in all organisms, even artificial ones such as computers (although their "brain" is not based on neurons).

Definition

The sentience quotient (SQ) of an individual is a measure of the efficiency of an individual brain, not its relative intelligence, and is defined as:

where I is the information processing rate (bits/s) and M is the mass of the brain (kg). The lower (astrophysical) limit of SQ is approximately −70, while the upper (quantum) limit is about 50.

Sentience Quotient

Sentience Quotient is a measuring instrument that seeks to determine the degree to which an organism can understand it's environment. The concept does not principally deal with intelligence as a flexible unit; rather, it involves the limitations of one's computational network (brain).

The equation is measured as the "relationship between the information processing rate (bit/s) of each individual processing unit (neuron), the weight/size of a single unit and the total number of processing units (expressed as mass)."

Physiological concepts such as myelin friction; reaction time and sensory perception are considered when tallying the Sentience Quotient for human beings. Following this idea, humans have a Sentience Quotient (SQ) of +13.

Some comparative examples of SQ (measured against our human brain) are as follows:

-Plants have an SQ of -2.-Dogs have an SQ of +4-The Cray I supercomputer has an SQ of+9. -Silicon-based super-civilizations could theoretically have an SQ of +23 - 10 orders of magnitude beyond human beings. It's presumed that such a disparity would render useful communication all but impossible.

Using Planck's constant as a by-law, the most advanced "alien" intelligence could have a SQ of +50.

Emotional Intelligence different from Intelligence QuotientEmotional Intelligence is totally separate from IQ in that it was not Intelligence in the normal sense that we have come to know over the years and that it seems that Emotional Intelligence is very important to success in life.

“Emotional Intelligence the more chance of being really good at your job and moving up the organization”. “People with better motivation and social skills basically make better managers”. You can’t improve what you can’t measure, so the fact that the factors have been identified and are now measurable means you can tell what someone’s EQ level is and work on its improvement.EQ was the Emotional Quotient that is the measure of one EQ (as IQ is for Intelligence). 

There are countless of very intelligence people and even geniuses that invented great things, great music, but never achieved success the way we perceive it. For example there

has been great minds and inventors that were never famous or that never earned much money although they were very intelligent (IQ).

We are used to know that IQ measures our Intelligent Quotient and that determines how intelligent we are and capable of achieving success. However, that is wrong the IQ doesnt mean anything when it comes to success, most people that have achieved great success doest not have a great IQ or special talent, some call it persistence, thinking out of the box, special skills but the truth is that a huge factor is working with emotional intelligence.

It is increasingly recognised that IQ may account for about 20 per cent of an individual’s success in life. The remaining 80 per cent depends largely on his emotional intelligence. A person with an IQ level of 180 is not worth it, if he can’t relate to anyone in the organisation and can’t manage himself and others working with him effectively.

Psychologists have found that the Emotional intelligence or EQ is a major factor or even more important factor than IQ. Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive and recognize ones emotions and other peoples emotions. It make sound simple but the results are big.

On the other hand there are people that have not invented or do not have great knowledge on anything or they might even be slow, but they have a high emotional intelligence and they persist to achieve they goals, the result is great financial success and recognized by many. That is the case of many politicians and business entrepreneurs.

Conflict Management Using Emotional Intelligence 

Lack of emotional intelligence is one the leading cause of conflict.  Researchers in EI express the view that a lack of emotional intelligence is one of the leading causes of conflict in our society. It is is difficult to argue with this logic. At the root of all conflict is a lack of sensitivity on the part of one or both parties.

Sensitivity is directly related to one's emotional intelligence. Many employees today are familiar with work place stress and work place conflict. If you're like many people, there have been days where you dreaded going to work, as you knew you would have to deal with a difficult co-worker, or even worse, a difficult boss. Regardless, emotional intelligence can greatly alleviate conflict when it is used.

One of the biggest things that people will encounter in their place of work is an arrogant or intimidating attitude. While this problem may sometimes come from co-workers, it

may also come from managers as well. Dealing with co-workers is relatively simple, but dealing with managers can be a lot harder.

The first step in using EI to handle work place conflict is to avoid becoming upset at all costs. You can be upset, but don't show it to the people you're having problems with. Showing your emotions to those who are bothering you is like bleeding and falling into the water with a shark, you will give them exactly what they want. By staying calm, and remaining rational, you will make better decisions.

When you encounter conflict, whether in your personal life or your professional one, the first thing you should do is remain calm and reason with the person you're conflicting with. Take the time to try to discuss the root cause of the problem.

There is a possibility that you may be inadvertently doing something that upsets the other party, but you may not be aware of it. This is where sensitivity comes into play. By taking the time to get to the root of the problem, you can come up with a solution that works for both of you. But if you refuse to sit down and talk with them, you will never get to the root of the problem, and things will become worse. Once you find the root of the problem, you can find a solution.

Retaining Competitive Edge

Conflict causes companies to lose their competitive edge. Conflict is an issue that must be taken seriously by company leaders and upper management. It can mean the difference between a successful company and one that will never be. If managers or co-workers are allowed to operate with an arrogant attitude, this will weaken the morale of the department, and eventually this will lead to a decline in company performance and sales.

Conflict is best thought of as being like a cancer. It starts off small and slow but eventually grows larger and more rapid. These problems must be eliminated before they are allowed to have an effect on the entire company. Yes, I know this is a lot easier than it sounds. The typical big business has at least 500 employees, and being able to manage conflict among all of them is formidable.

However, it is not necessary for company leaders to pay attention to every single employee that works in their organization. Instead, an emphasis must be placed on hiring superior managers, mangers who are versed in emotional intelligence and who are able to use this within their departments.

An effective manager will be able to mitigate problems long before they have a larger impact on the company, and employees who don't change their ways can be terminated. When it comes to using EI to resolve conflict within organizations, managers are more important in my opinion than employees. Each manager must be responsible for their department, and everything that goes on in it.

Resolving Conflict

Managers must be vigilant in resolving conflict. If a company is comprised of emotionally intelligent managers who are able to inspire their teams and reduce or eliminate conflict, then this company will be very successful over the long term. However, if managers are employed who are incompetent, or who do not have a great deal of emotional intelligence themselves, then their departments will suffer.

Conflict among employees is a reality, there is no way around this and companies must be prepared for it. However, managers must be skilled when it comes to handling this conflict quickly and efficiently. Teams must work together harmoniously, like bees, functioning toward the greater good of the organization. 

Emotional Intelligence at work :

Emotions play a vital role in many aspects of leadership. They are the pathway to more effective decision-making, stronger interpersonal relationships, resilience in the face of stress, as well as enhanced creativity. Its important to understand that emotional intelligence is the vital ability that you have to develop if you want to solve personal, business and social issues in a more effective way. According to a number of researches, the person’s success at work is 80% dependent on emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a concept that captures a broad collection of individual skills and dispositions, most often referred to as soft skills or inter and intra-personal skills, that are outside the traditional areas of specific knowledge, general intelligence, or technical and professional skills.

We probably all know people, either at work or in our personal lives, who are really good listeners. No matter what kind of situation we're in, they always seem to know just what to say - and how to say it - so that we're not offended or upset. They're caring and considerate, and even if we don't find a solution to our problem, we usually leave feeling more hopeful and optimistic.

We probably also know people who are masters at managing their emotions. They don't get angry in stressful situations. Instead, they have the ability to look at a problem and calmly find a

solution. They're excellent decision makers, and they know when to trust their intuition. Regardless of their strengths, however, they're usually willing to look at themselves honestly. They take criticism well, and they know when to use it to improve their performance.People like this have a high degree of emotional intelligence, or EI. They know themselves very well, and they're also able to sense the emotional needs of others.Would you like to be more like this?As more and more people accept that emotional intelligence is just as important to professional success as technical ability, organizations are increasingly using EI when they hire and promote.

Think about it, why does a leader is followed by the masses, there could be many external reasons but the main ability in a very successful leader is to recognize his followers emotions, problems and how they react to them.

From HR perspective, emotional intelligence is a significant factor that is potentially useful in understanding and predicting employees’ individual performance at work. Although measuring EQ is a challenging task, this information could significantly increase the effectiveness of HR activities.

The benefits of high Emotional Intelligence have been well catalogued. Emotional Intelligence accounts for more than 85% of exceptional achievement. While technical skills can be necessary for productivity, these are insufficient to explain the differences between high and mediocre achievers. High performers show emotional intelligence as task complexity increases. 

For example, one large cosmetics company recently revised their hiring process for salespeople to choose candidates based on emotional intelligence. The result? Salespeople hired with the new system have sold, on average, $91,000 more than salespeople selected under the old system. There has also been significantly lower staff turnover among the group chosen for their emotional intelligence.So, what exactly is emotional intelligence, and what can you do to improve yours?

The best leaders have found effective ways to handle their own and others emotions. Understanding the powerful role emotions play in the workplace sets great leaders apart from the rest. Also leaders emotional resonance sets the tone in the group effecting the outlook of all those around him. Having and developing high emotional Intelligence is therefore also key in the area of leadership.

You can improve your EQ (Emotional Quotient) through training. You can improve your Organizations EQ through training also - improving their ability to achieve what they need to achieve.

Emotional intelligence in relationships with partners and in the family can make your life so much better. 99% of the conflicts are home are for misunderstandings and lack of care from others emotions and feelings, when people start to understand their partner emotions on different situations they can make agreements and have a more happier life.

Role of emotional intelligence in business

Many organizations are recognizing the important role of emotional intelligence in business. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand ones emotions and inspire, influence and understand other peoples emotions.

The more self aware you are the more you control you actions and is no different in business. In business you have to deal with social teams, friends, high profile people, leaders, a boss and more. The best way to be effective in taking quick and effective decisions is to use our emotional intelligence.

We are born with EI but its not a talent that just a few have, you can develop it and learn it, that is great news. As we know, it has been proven that most successful people in business are not much different than anybody else, they dont have better IQs or more talents, they just have a very sharp emotional intelligence that help them deal with people every day and take very good decisions.

The great news if you have a business, is that you can learn emotional intelligence or you can give a course to your team or employees.

Now, how can we use emotional intelligence in business.

In business we have to deal with pressure and conflicts constantly, if we lack of self awareness we are going to get angry, react and take improper decisions, but if we can deal with pressure and look inside us and understand the different opinions that your team is sharing and what are their emotions, you will control the flow and take the right decisions without falling in to conflict.

For example, sometimes very little things will cause team conflicts that will delay a project because no one can agree. What happens is that somebody might disagree with you, if can explain your reasons correctly you will be ok, but if you completely deny his opinion or just shut him up, he will most likely feel hurt of his proud and start a big discussion on the different opinions.

However if you explain your decision and you try to understand him and explain why you think his opinion is not completely accurate or how you can take some of his points and integrate them in the project, you will have more success and deal with differences . 

EQ Competencies that Correlate to Workplace Success

The following outlines a set of five emotional intelligence competencies that have proven to contribute more to workplace achievement than technical skills, cognitive ability, and standard personality traits combined.

A. Social Competencies—Competencies that Determine How We Handle Relationships

Intuition & Empathy. Our awareness of others' feelings, needs, and concerns. This competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons.

o Understanding others: an intuitive sense of others' feelings and perspectives, and showing an active interest in their concerns and interests

o Customer service orientation: the ability to anticipate, recognize, and meet customers' needs

o People development: ability to sense what others need in order to grow, develop, and master their strengths

o Leveraging diversity: cultivating opportunities through diverse people

Political Acumen and Social Skills. Our adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others. This competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons.

o Influencing: using effective tactics and techniques for persuasion and desired results

o Communication: sending clear and convincing messages that are understood by others

o Leadership: inspiring and guiding groups of peopleo Change catalyst: initiating and/or managing change in the

workplaceo Conflict resolution: negotiating and resolving disagreements

with peopleo Building bonds: nurturing instrumental relationships for

business successo Collaboration and cooperation: working with coworkers and

business partners toward shared goalso Team capabilities: creating group synergy in pursuing

collective goals

B. Personal Competencies—Competencies that Determine How We Manage Ourselves

Self Awareness. Knowing one's internal states, preferences, resources, and intuitions. This competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons.

o Emotional awareness: recognizing one's emotions and their effects and impact on those around us

o Accurate self-assessment: knowing one's strengths and limitso Self-confidence: sureness about one's self-worth and

capabilities

Self Regulation. Managing one's internal states, impulses, and resources. This competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons.

o Self-control: managing disruptive emotions and impulseso Trustworthiness: maintaining standards of honesty and

integrityo Conscientiousness: taking responsibility and being

accountable for personal performanceo Adaptability: flexibility in handling change

* Innovation: being comfortable with an openness to novel ideas, approaches, and new information

Self Expectations and Motivation Emotional tendencies that guide or facilitate reaching goals. This competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons.

o Achievement drive: striving to improve or meet a standard of excellence we impose on ourselves

o Commitment: aligning with the goals of the group or organization

o Initiative: readiness to act on opportunities without having to be told

o Optimism: persistence in pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks

Some argue that EQ is more important in the work place than IQ.   In the work place, there are constant interactions which are occurring among the people who work there. While some of these interactions are positive, others are negative.

In the past, companies and educational institutions paid an undue amount of attention to one's IQ, or their general intelligence quotient. While IQ is important to some extent, few corporations take the time to measure one's emotional intelligence.

EI is equal or greater in importance to IQ simply because people who work for organizations must be expected to get along with the people they work with. If they are managers, they must be effective in working with and managing the employees.

Effective management has become a critical issue in the 21st century. One reason for this is because we live in a day and age where more corporations are downsizing in order to compete on the international playing field.

The United States, once one of the most powerful manufacturing countries in the world, is now being transformed in an economy that is service based, and what this means is that interpersonal relationships must be emphasized above all else.

Relationships must be maintained between upper managers and lower managers, as well as lower managers and employees. There are a number of skills which have become crucial for the work place.

Critical 21st Century Work Place Skills

Some of the skills that managers and employees will need to thrive in the current environment includes communicating with each other and discussing topics openly, listening to the issues that are expressed by other parties, being able to effectively manage conflict, and inspiring each other to operate at a higher level.

Equally important is an organization's ability to deal with and handle change, which today and always is inevitable. It is also crucial for organizations to be able to share and work towards goals.

As you can imagine, emotional intelligence is directly connected to one's ability to do all the things listed above in this paragraph. It is EQ, not IQ, that is most important.

Some critics have attacked the concept of EQ, saying that "it doesn't exist or that it is not relevant in our society." This people are clearly wrong, and do not have a basic

understanding of human psychology. If you can understand the fact that humans tend to be emotional, than EQ makes perfect sense.

Cold hard analytical logic has its place, but it should never be emphasized over the emotional aspect of human interactions. Why is it that some of the greatest (and most infamous) leaders in history have all been people who were able to tap into the emotions of their followers? The answer is that these individuals were blessed with a high EQ. However, the good news is that it can be developed, even if you don't have it naturally.