Career EQ

Made popular in 1996 by Daniel Goleman, the notion of emotional, or non–cognitive intelligence had been recognised as early as 1940 by psychologist David Weschler.

In 1990 Salovey and Mayer coined the term “Emotional Intelligence” and described it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).

In his book “Emotional Intelligence, Why it can Matter more than IQ“ (1996), Daniel Goleman argued that the widely accepted view of intelligence was too narrow, and that emotions play a more significant role in people’s thoughts, decision making and successes than is generally acknowledged.

“Goleman was a science writer for the New York Times, whose beat was brain and behavior research. He had been trained as a psychologist at Harvard where he worked with David McClelland, among others. McClelland was among a growing group of researchers who were becoming concerned with how little traditional tests of cognitive intelligence told us about what it takes to be successful in life.” (Cary Cherniss, Ph.D., Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters, The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organisations website).

In his widely downloaded Harvard Business Review article “Leadership that gets Results” (March-April 2000), Goleman described Emotional Intelligence as “the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively” and outlined 4 fundamental capabilities of Emotional Intelligence and their specific set of competencies:

• Self Awareness
  • emotional self awareness
  • accurate self assessment
  • self confidence
• Self Management
  • self control
  • trustworthiness
  • conscientiousness
  • adaptability
  • achievement orientation
  • initiative
• Social Awareness
  • empathy
  • organisational awareness
  • service orientation
• Social Skill
  • visionary leadership
  • influence
  • developing others
  • communication
  • change catalyst
  • conflict management
  • building bonds
  • teamwork and collaboration

Emotional Intelligence is a key factor contributing to career success. Studies have found that IQ by itself does not serve as a very good predictor of job performance. In fact, one particular study found that “social and emotional abilities were four times more important than IQ in determining professional success and prestige.” (Cherniss).

Whether independently or in collaboration with a skilled Career Coach, I urge those of you who are serious about maximising your career success to actively develop your Emotional Intelligence…or as we like to put it, enhance your Career EQ!

To find out more about what Emotional Intelligence has to do with successful career management, read on to Dr Alicia Karwat’s next post.