How do we measure success? In life and at work?
Thinking back to our formative years at school and university and those people we thought would be most successful in the years to come – what has happened to them since? Why is it that the brightest child in the class or the student with the “first” degree doesn’t go on to have the most successful career, the happiest life? Whilst growing up we are often encouraged to look at success in terms of academic achievement and cognitive intelligence - IQ - and to believe that the more qualifications we have the more successful we will be, but as we grow older we start to understand that whilst our IQ and intelligence levels will allow us to learn quickly, analyse, rationalise and develop the more technical aspects of our role, successful individuals do not rely on those skills alone and are about so much more than that. We understand now that our emotional intelligence, - our EQ - will play a larger part in success than our IQ.
Think about the most successful and inspiring leaders you know – what do you admire them for? Is it their analytical and technical expertise alone or is it their ability to lead, motivate, inspire and bring together great teams of people? Daniel Goleman, in a study for his 1995 ground-breaking book – “Emotional Intelligence and why it can matter more than IQ” - determined that 85% of the competencies required in leadership were EQ qualities rather than IQ ones (and that EQ accounted for 67% of competencies in general workplace roles). Often quoted global inspirational leaders such as Ghandi and Mandela and business giants such as Jack Welch clearly had intellect and IQ but they are best known for that extra “something” - their strong belief and ability to relate to others and inspire and motivate them to act differently is what we remember them for – their EQ.
So what is “Emotional Intelligence”? Dr Reuven Bar-On, an American born Israeli psychologist credited with developing much of our current understanding and measurement of emotional intelligence, defined it is “an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies and skills which influence our ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures” whilst Salovey & Meyer – pioneers credited with coining the term “emotional intelligence” – describe it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate amongst them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action” - in plain speaking it is that elusive common sense and “people skills” – sometimes referred to as “soft skills” that are essential to effective functioning in our personal and business lives.
Crucially, emotional intelligence relates to potential for future performance and whilst components that make up EQ resemble personality factors, they can, unlike personality, change and can be altered – so we can all learn to develop our EQ, at any stage in our working lives. In terms of developing our workforce, much of leadership development over the last 15 years has concentrated on the elements of emotional intelligence such as interpersonal skills, assertiveness, adaptability. We now understand clearly that promoting the best “worker” i.e. the one with the deepest knowledge, greatest expertise and technical ability – will not necessarily give us the best team leader – and many organizations have had to deal with the resulting performance issues that such promotions have created. By concentrating development on self- awareness of our style, impact of that style on others, inter- personal relationships and creating tools to deal with change in ourselves, others and the workplace we can create a more effective workforce and leadership team. Studies carried out on employee engagement and retention show that it is not salary and benefits that keep individuals in roles but rather elements such as “my opinion seems to matter”; “I have recently received praise or recognition for my work”, “communication between leadership and employees has improved” ; “I have the opportunity to what I do best every day” *
Reassuringly for many of us, our emotional intelligence continues to grow throughout much of our working life; studies have determined that EQ peaks around 49-50 years of age, confirming the phrase “older and wiser” to be true for most of us!
Key to the development of EQ is our ability to measure it. Both Bar-on (Bar-On EQ-i) and Salovey- Meyer (MSCEIT) have developed tools to assess our current levels of emotional intelligence and give practical development plans and ideas for improving it. Whilst both measure slightly different elements of our emotional intelligence, both concentrate on our ability to understand self, our relationship with others, our ability to adapt and problem solve, and our view on life and how we allow it to impact us. By better understanding ourselves and how others see us we can learn to create more meaningful and sustainable relationships at home and at work and realise the successful life that most of us would wish for.
Whilst confirming the belief of “older and wiser” however, studies have debunked and disproved another long held myth - that women are more emotionally intelligent than men. In Bar- On’s studies, results show that overall levels of EQ are the same in men and women although individual elements differ significantly, with women scoring higher in elements of empathy and interpersonal relationships (traits traditionally associated closely with emotional intelligence) and men scoring higher in self-regard and stress tolerance (other key EI traits).
All of us have the capacity to develop our EQ further – and as a result create more satisfying, productive and successful relationships and careers. If you would like to find out more about Emotional Intelligence and how it can be developed within your organization, or would like to measure and develop individual EQ of your teams contact Fiona Marshall – fiona@leadershipfactory.co.uk
* (Gallup 1999 for Marcus Buckingham “First Break all the rules” & The Jackson Organisation – “The Carrot Principle”)