Emotional Intelligence Is the Other Kind of Smart

Emotional Intelligence Is the Other Kind of Smart

When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses in 1995, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.

Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results, and it  is made up of personal competence and social competence.

Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and manage your behavior and tendencies.

Social competence is your ability to understand other people’s moods, behavior, and motives in order to improve the quality of your relationships.

Emotional intelligence taps into a fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from your intellect. There is no known connection between IQ and EQ; you simply can’t predict emotional intelligence based on how smart someone is. Intelligence is your ability to learn, and it’s the same at age 15 as it is at age 50. Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with practice.

Is Emotional Intelligence Linked to Performance? YES!

How much of an impact does emotional intelligence have on your professional success? The short answer is: A LOT! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. The tests of the emotional intelligence alongside 33 other important workplace skills,  found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance, explaining a full 78% of success in all types of jobs.

Your emotional intelligence impacts most everything you say and do each day.

90% of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence. On the flip side, just 20% of bottom performers are high in emotional intelligence. You can be a top performer without emotional intelligence, but the chances are slim.

And, of course, people with a high degree of EQ make more money than people with a low degree of EQ. These findings hold true for people in all industries, at all levels, in every region of the world. That means that performance and pay are tied closely to emotional intelligence!