Intelligent Emotions Or Emotional Intelligence?

“75 percent of careers are derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies...”

That cured me of my belief that my technical skills are all I need to be wildly successful in life. Oh well. There’s more.

“... including the inability to handle interpersonal problems; unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict; or inability to adapt to change or elicit trust.” - Center for Creative Leadership

I see. So in short, qualities like leadership, team building, flexibility, humility, integrity are as important as technical or industrial skills, if not more. Ironically, there are innumerable courses for learning industrial skills out there but a precious few to learn emotional skills. That, I believe, is a consequence of people being unaware of the immense importance of Emotional Intelligence.

“If your emotional abilities aren't in hand if you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.” -Daniel Goleman

Oh. This is bigger than you and I could have thought it would be. Now, many of us realize that having a good understanding of our emotions is not an option. In other words, having a high Emotional Intelligence (EI), more commonly known as Emotional Quotient (EQ), is a necessity if one wishes to improve their quality of life.

Is it important to start analyzing your emotions? Sorting out how you feel as opposed to how you are supposed to feel or may be expected to feel about something is no piece of cake. But for better or worse, it needs to be done.

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” -Theodore Roosevelt

See? The guy nailed it. Emotions matter. But what can we do about it?

1. Observe how you react to people: Your impulsiveness is the true you

2. Look at your work environment: What induces productivity, what kills your mood

3. Do a self-evaluation: How do you feel about your feelings?

4. Examine how you react to stressful situations: Sadness, anger, worry; we all have our coping mechanisms

5. Take responsibility for your actions: After all, you are your own person

6. Examine how your actions will affect others – before you take those actions: The good kind of sensitive person

It all boils down to one thing. At the end of the day, it’s emotions that make humans humane. So our highly intelligent and rapidly advancing brains need to intertwine with emotions for us to have a blast.

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.” -Dale Carnegie