A completely revised and updated Business Case for EQ is now available for free download.
The new Business Case for Emotional Intelligence lays out a compelling array of research projects linking EQ and EQ skills to business success. But what about you? How do you define success, and does emotional intelligence have anything to do with it?
Experiment:
Think of 3-6 people you know that you consider successful. Maybe they are not “100% successful,” but each has some part of success well dialed.
- What are the key elements of success? What qualifies someone to be on your list?
- For each person, list their key strengths: Beyond luck and circumstance, what knowledge, attitudes, or skills sets this person apart? How many of these are linked to emotional intelligence? Without using names, post your answer to this question in the comments, below!
- What parts of list #1 do you aspire to? What parts of list #2 will help you get there?
This article appeared as a VitalSigns for EQ – one of Six Seconds’ great newsletters.
Concentration, hard worker, dedication to family, intelligent, electronic engenier.
To me being successful is very subjective. I consider myself successful when one person, a group or a community regardless of race, tribe or kind lived better because of what I have said or do for them.
Everything we do is not just for or about ourselves but it will have a link or effect (good or bad) on others. People that I consider successful are those who are selfless and pretty much a connector of people and opportunities.
1. Those who I see as having achieved success have these things in common: vision, motivation, self-awareness, awareness of the immediate and the larger context, focused discipline, perseverance, emotional control. And, the ability to laugh!
2. The ‘essential ingredients’ of EQ, appear to be related to many of these factors.
(a) Self Awareness (including dispassionate understanding of one’s strengths and limitations) and Other Awareness (including understanding where others are coming from and the requirements of the context) are mentioned directly answer to question #1.
(b) Vision is influenced by a clear understanding of the immediate and long-term context (Other Awareness)
(c)Discipline, perseverance and the ability to manage one’s emotions are related to Self-Management
(d) A sense of humor is a bit trickier. A case can be made that, when we take better care of ourselves, (Self-Management) we are all more apt to have a better sense of humor. But it also seems that this quality is ‘variably distributed’ across the species.
Thanks for asking the intriguing question!