Emotional Intelligence > Emotional Intelligence in Business

The work of Salovey and Mayer would almost certainly never have become known outside of academic psychology except for one key event. The year 1995 saw the publication of the best selling book “Emotional Intelligence” by Dr Daniel Goleman's followed three years later by “Working with Emotional Intelligence” by the same author. Both of these books were enormously influential and marked the beginning of emotional intelligence as something that was recognized by mainstream business theorists and writers.

Dr Goleman asserted that “The criteria for success at work are changing. We are being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well handle ourselves and each other. This yardstick is increasingly applied in choosing who will be hired and who will not, who will be let go and who retained, who past over and who promoted…”

Goleman’s definition of emotional intelligence proposes four broad domains of EQ which consist of 19 competencies:

Self-Awareness

• Emotional self-awareness: Reading one's own emotions and recognizing their impact
• Accurate self-assessment; knowing one's strengths and limits
• Self-confidence; a sound sense of one's self-worth and capabilities

Self-Management

• Emotional self-control: Keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control
• Transparency: Displaying honesty and integrity; trustworthiness
• Adaptability: Flexibility in adapting to changing situations or overcoming obstacles
• Achievement: The drive to improve performance to meet inner standards of excellence
• Initiative: Readiness to act and seize opportunities
• Optimism: Seeing the upside in events

Social Awareness

• Empathy: Sensing others' emotions, understanding their perspective, and taking active interest in their concerns
• Organizational awareness: Reading the currents, decision networks, and politics at the organizational level
• Service: Recognizing and meeting follower, client, or customer needs

Relationship Management

• Inspirational leadership: Guiding and motivating with a compelling vision
• Influence: Wielding a range of tactics for persuasion
• Developing others: Bolstering others' abilities through feedback and guidance
• Change catalyst: Initiating, managing, and leading in a new direction
• Conflict management: Resolving disagreements
• Building bonds: Cultivating and maintaining a web of relationships
• Teamwork and collaboration: Cooperation and team building

There is general agreement that the factors that Goleman and his colleagues have identified are indeed emerging as a key element of workplace success. This is because the way that most organizations work has changed in the last 20 years. There are now fewer levels of management than there were and management styles tend to be less autocratic. In addition, the move towards more knowledge based, team working and customer focused jobs means that individuals generally have more autonomy, even at fairly low levels within organizations.

If we accept that IQ plays a limited role in accounting for why some people are more successful than others, what is the evidence that emotional and social factors are important? In other words, is there a business case for emotional intelligence?