EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Goleman (1995) has defined emotional intelligence as: ‘The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and that of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves as well as others.’ The four components of emotional intelligence are:

1. Self-management – the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods and regulate your own behaviour coupled with a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. The six competencies associated with this component are self-control, trustworthiness and integrity, initiative, adaptability – comfort with ambiguity, openness to change and strong desire to achieve. 

2. Self-awareness – the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions and drives as well as their effect on others. This is linked to three competencies: self-confidence, realistic self-assessment and emotional self-awareness. 

3. Social awareness– the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions. This is linked to six competencies: empathy, expertise in building and retaining talent, organizational awareness, cross-cultural sensitivity, valuing diversity and service to clients and customers. 

4. Social skills – proficiency in managing relationships and building networks to get the desired result from others and reach personal goals, and the ability to find common ground and build rapport. The five competencies associated with this component are: leadership, effectiveness in leading change, conflict management, influence/communication, and expertise in building and leading teams.

According to Goleman it is not enough to have a high IQ (intelligence quotient); emotional intelligence is also required. 

In 1998 Goleman defined emotional intelligence in a way that encompasses many of the areas covered by typical competency frameworks. Miller et al (2001) found that one-third of employers covered by their survey had consciously included emotional intelligence-type factors such as interpersonal skills in their frameworks. 

Dulewicz and Higgs (1999) have produced a detailed analysis of how the emotional intelligence elements of self-awareness, emotional management, empathy, relationships, communication and personal style correspond to competencies such as sensitivity, flexibility, adaptability, resilience, impact, listening, leadership, persuasiveness, motivating others, energy, decisiveness and achievement motivation. They conclude that there are distinct associations between competency modes and elements of emotional intelligence. 

As noted by Miller et al (2001), a quarter of the employers they surveyed have provided or funded training that is based on emotional intelligence. The most common areas are in leadership skills, people management skills and teamworking. The application of emotional intelligence concepts to management development is dealt with in Chapter 40.