How to Avoid Career Suicide?

What is emotional intelligence (EI)? Experts have defined emotional intelligence as the ability of a person to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions as well as the emotions of others. In other words, being aware of the powerful effects of our emotions and to use this awareness to guide our behavior and impact and influence other people. Psychologists have been studying EI from as early as 1960s. However, this term and concept was made popular and accessible by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence – Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1995). People with high EI have the ability to respond quickly, solve the problem, and take good decisions even when they are under pressure. They are known to be good listeners and are able to help others with their problems. They know themselves well, trust their intuition, and handle criticism well as they believe it will help them with personal progress. This shows that EI is the basis for a lot of crucial skills we use every day. Hence, EI is a valuable ‘intangible’ skill to have in any situation and works as a ‘differentiating’ factor, providing you a much-needed edge in career growth. Even if you feel you don’t have these skills, experts have concluded that these are not inborn talents but abilities that can be learnt, practiced, and developed. The terms emotional intelligence (EI) and emotional quotient (EQ) have been used interchangeably for the past thirty years. In the industry, the term EQ is used in parallel with IQ as a measure or assessment of a person’s emotional development, i.e., EI. There are many tests to measure EQ like Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i2.0), EQ-360. However, having a standard test for EQ is proving more challenging than IQ, and there is a lot of research still under way on this subject.