What is Emotional Intelligence and its Importance

Emotional intelligence (AKA EI or EQ for “emotional quotient”) is the ability to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use emotions to communicate with and relate to others effectively and constructively.

This ability to express and control emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others.

Some experts suggest that emotional intelligence is more important than IQ for success in life.

Many people think of intelligence in terms of cognitive abilities, such as those that make up their IQ. These include the ability to:

• use logic to solve problems
• pick up new skills easily
• use a large vocabulary
• memorize and retain information

Since the 1990s, though, psychologists have increasingly noted the importance of EI. Research suggests it may be more important than IQ for predicting a person’s efficiency at work.

While being book-smart might help you pass tests, emotional intelligence prepares you for the real world by being aware of the feelings of others as well as your own feelings.

Emotional intelligence – or for short EQ – helps you handle emotions, connect with people, make good choices, and stay calm when life gets complicated.

Emotional intelligence is one of the factors that allows people to navigate complex social situations with ease or maintain composure under pressure. Research has shown that our success in life is 80% EQ and only 20% IQ. And the best part is that emotional intelligence is a skill you can build.

Emotional intelligence is about being smart with feelings — your own and others peoples’. It’s understanding why you might be happy one minute and frustrated the next, or why your friend is looking a bit down even though they’re saying everything’s fine.

Life is all about emotions and how we handle them. And emotional intelligence is what helps you read and understand all the emotional data you’re receiving and sending. It helps us work together with our loved ones, colleagues, and wider society in good times and bad. So, learning how to understand emotions is a skill that we can always stand to improve.

When you’re emotionally intelligent (have a high EQ), you’re better able to:

• Figure out your own emotions
• Control your emotions
• Understand the emotions of others
• Respond appropriately to other people’s emotions

In practical terms, Emotional Intelligence means being aware that emotions can drive our behaviour and impact people (positively and negatively), and learning how to manage those emotions – both our own and others.

Managing emotions is especially important in situations when we are under pressure. For example, when we are…

• Giving and receiving feedback
• Meeting tight deadlines
• Dealing with challenging relationships
• Not having enough resources
• Navigating change
• Working through setbacks and failure