Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can

Matter More Than IQ

Submitted by: Murtaza Mansoor

Submission Date: 17th February 2018

Emotional intelligence is person’s ability to control its emotions and use them for
constructive, productive and peaceful purposes. It is somehow the foundation for good
attributes that a great leader should possess to build strong and successful interpersonal
relationships with different personalities.

This book is intended for all those people that are willing to conduct an inner inquiry, to
realize their everlasting emotional intelligence that would provide them with the ability to
communicate with greater ease, make more intuitive decisions, and inspire others to walk
down the right track.

The intriguing title of “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman claims the book as
ground-breaking. It also suggests that the book shall redefine what it means to be smart. The
sub-title starts the controversy by informing that emotional intelligence is more important
than the IQ scoring. The introductory chapter “Aristotle Challenge” begins with a quotation
from Aristotle on aggressive emotions. The challenge is offered to those who consider that
intelligence alone is sufficient to make their life successful. The hereditary theories of
intelligence are criticized.

In this influential book, Daniel Goleman’s purpose is to introduce millions of readers across
the globe with the term emotional intelligence (EQ). Daniel Goleman says that he first
stumbled upon the concept of Emotional Intelligence in 1990 when he was a science reporter
for the New York Times. Before 1990 the prominence of IQ as the major determinant of
success was out of question. But things were just beginning to shift. “Emotional Intelligence”
was a term coined as an umbrella catch-all for an array of different findings that were slowly
putting IQ more in perspective.

At first, the people used to wrap their head around emotional intelligence. Later on, however,
they’ve realized that it is a mixture of psychological elements, which appear in every
person’s mind and features that Goleman declared are responsible for at least 80% of life
success. The important thing to note is that self-respect is a concept that needs to be
developed continually, and the most vital period for improving those processes is the
childhood.

Self-awareness and self-help according to Goleman can be gradually developed, yet the
elderly people may require a little extra time to learn and apply them. This book was at first
looked with a bit of skepticism, but later on, when Goleman explained the whole case of
emotional intelligence, including its sound biological basis it started to make sense to people.

Humans as the only beings in the world capable of thinking can try and look for their
“emotional intelligence, ” but emotional intelligence is not a thing to look for, it is a part of
you, an integral part of your inner-self.

In the 21st-century scientists have started various research projects and exploring expeditions
to understand the deeper meaning of the human’s nature and consciousness. According to
these studies, the experts realized and explained that human intelligence has two integral
parts (EQ & IQ) and personality is not only determined by genetics but also from external
factors.

This theory raises two critical questions.

First, what should a person do to become more aware of itself? Second, what is the difference
between an intelligent and less intelligent individual, and how to distinguish them?

The answers to these questions can only be answered by a person who understands the term –
emotional intelligence and its attributes.

As Goleman emphasizes, the problem is not the emotions per se, but their appropriate use in
given situations. He quotes Aristotle: 'Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be
angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in
the right way - this is not easy.' Aristotle's challenge becomes all the more important in a
technologically advanced world, because the meaning of 'civilization' ceases to be
technological, defaulting back to the nature of man and the quest for self-control.

In making the link between emotional life and ethics, Goleman notes that if a person cannot
control their impulsiveness, damage will be done to their deepest sense of self; control of
impulse "...is the base of will and character" he says. Compassion, that other benchmark of
character, is enabled by the ability to appreciate what others are feeling and thinking. These
two elements are basic to emotional intelligence, and therefore basic attributes of the moral
person.

Other major qualities of emotional intelligence are persistence and the ability to motivate
oneself. These are not emotions per se but require self-control and the ability to put negative
emotions and experiences into context. Goleman validates 'the power of positive thinking' as
a scientifically proven approach to achieving success, and says an optimistic outlook is a key
clinical predictor of actual performance, borrowing from research done by Martin Seligman

One fascinating chapter 'When smart is dumb', puts IQ in its place amongst several other
types of intelligence. As everyone who has worked in an office environment will know, you
may be producing the most exciting product around, but it will still be a miserable place to
work if it is also an arena for the clash of egos. Business success is the result of passion for a
vision or a product. Though big egos are often associated with such success, better companies
are notable for their ability to create harmony and excitement by focusing on the product or
the vision, not the organization. These ideas are further spelled out in the spin-off Working
With Emotional Intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence has its roots in the concept 'emotional literacy', and in the final part of
the book Goleman expounds on the need for EQ skills to become part of school curricula.
With facts and figures he has no trouble convincing us of the high costs - monetary and
societal well-being - of not teaching children how to deal with their emotions constructively
and resolve conflict.

Key Lessons from “Emotional Intelligence”:

 Self-Awareness: Understand your inner phenomena that occur simultaneously

 Should you or should you not manage your emotions?
 Emotions are not bad, Learn to motivate yourself

Self-Awareness: Understand the inner phenomena that occur simultaneously

People often hide their feelings and emotions. To become aware of that fact, that you are
something far more significant than one more ego in the world, you need to understand that
emotional self-awareness is an absolute and unexplainable state that witnesses all other
phenomena including emotions. Awareness is a neutral state of being, it understands itself,
and your ego-state-that is constructed of thoughts, feelings, and most importantly subtle
emotions.
Should you or should you not control your emotions?

In ancient times the Greeks started questioning the universe, the existence, and the essence of
human nature. Greek philosophers saw people that tried to master their emotions and fail and
those that succeed.

The difference among them was that those who succeeded didn’t limit themselves to intellect
intelligence. Instead, they used their intuition to master emotional storms and problematic
situations. That mastery opened a lot of discussions: Is it a life worth living without passion?
Would it be boring? It is up to you to discover.

Emotions are not bad, Learn to motivate yourself

Some companies even hire experience motivators, to ignite that fire burning inside every
employee to improve their productivity. A significant portion of the famous and renowned
athletes, celebrities, and entrepreneurs are distinguished by their habits and abilities to stick
with exhausting and formidable practice and do it on a continuous basis -year after year after
year. Goleman doesn’t want you to think that emotions are wrong or unnecessary; he wants
you to learn how to use and control them. In fact, from time to time they are the principal
reason for person’s success because sometimes a rushed decision is the right one.

Final Word

In all honesty, this book is not a rocket science, yet it is not so simple to absorb its essence so
quickly. The first sections are easier to grasp, while the later parts are not as elementary as
the earlier ones. These are the actual chapters that provide the reader with a whole new level
of understanding and wisdom. Yet this Emotional Intelligence a self-help book in the classic
mould. Pointing to the extraordinarily malleable circuitry of the brain, and our ability to
shape the experience of our emotions, one of his great points is that 'temperament is not
destiny'. We are not beholden to our habits of mind and emotion, even if they seem like an
unchangeable part of us. The most alluring implication of Emotional Intelligence is that
greater awareness and control of our emotions on a large scale would mean an evolution of
the species. We believe that hate, rage, jealousy, etc. are 'only human', but when we look at
the finest human beings of this century - the Ghandis, the Martin Luther Kings, the Mother
Teresas - we find such negative emotions were remarkably absent. These people were able to
express anger according to Aristotle's dictum - they could use their emotions instead of
letting their emotions use them. What could be a better definition of civility or humanity?