Inteligencia Emocional

Emotional Intell igence
By Deborah Mackin

n the workplace, success seems to hinge on our intelligence, logical capabilities, and job-related skills, rather than on anything we do with our emotions. Or does it? New research in the 90s confirmed that there is an emotional brain: a place called the limbic system where our emotions originate. It is separated from the rational brain (theneocortex) but the two are connected and develop together. This means that our power to reason and our feelings are intended to be used together. Because of the brain’s design, all information goes into our emotional center first and then to our thinking center. Emotions come before thought and behavior. What scientists discovered is that we need our emotions; our feelings fire up the motor in us thatdrives energy and creativity. If we block or ignore emotions in the workplace, we stifle motivation.

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We are being judged by a new yardstick. It’s not how smart you are but how you are smart! The technical skills or the business expertise that so often propelled people to the top are not the abilities that make you effective in inspiring people, in guiding people, in coaching, developingand motivating people.

As a result of these findings, it’s become important to understand what we’re feeling, what others are feeling, how to manage our own feelings and how to manage relationships with others. This is the core of Emotional Intelligence: a term used to describe the complex ability to regulate our impulses, empathize with others and be resilient in the face of difficulties.Therefore, emotional intelligence is a product of the amount of communication between the rational and emotional centers of the brain. This article will examine the history, data and components of Emotional Intelligence.

—Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence

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The History of EQ
Charles Darwin was the first to recognize the value of emotions. He noted that the emotional system energizesbehavior needed to stay alive. Emotions cannot be stopped, they happen instinctually and immediately in response to situations and people. In the 1920s E.I. Thorndike identified “social intelligence” as the ability to act

©2006 New Directions Consulting, Inc.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence
wisely in human relations. In 1988, Reuven Bar-On coined the term emotionalintelligence in his doctoral dissertation. In 1990, John Mayer and Peter Salovey did groundbreaking research on emotional intelligence, pointing to the importance of knowing yourself as well as understanding others. In 1995, Daniel Goleman introduced the important of EQ in the workplace, noting that IQ is a less powerful predictor of outstanding leadership than EQ.

Data Findings
The highest estimateof how much difference IQ (intellectual quotient) accounts for in how well people perform in their careers is no higher than 10% and perhaps as low as 4% (Sternberg, 1997). IQ is considered a threshold competence, a minimum capability that all must have. Once you’re in a group of similar IQs, IQ will no longer distinguish you in the group. EQ (emotional intelligence) data suggests that older groupsscore significantly higher than younger groups in most EQ scales. Respondents in their late 40s obtained the highest mean scores. On the North American sample, females appear to have stronger interpersonal skills than males, but males have higher intrapersonal capacity, are better at managing emotions, and are more adaptable. Women are more aware of emotions, demonstrate more empathy towardsothers, and are more socially responsible. Men have better self-regard, are more self-reliant, cope better with stress, and are more optimistic than women in the studies conducted. No significant differences in emotional intelligence were found between various ethnic groups in North America. Higher-level employees are more likely to have inflated views of their emotional intelligence and less...