What is Emotional Intelligence?

Made popular by Daniel Goleman in his book ‘Emotional Intelligence’, the term is used to encapsulate a collection of skills and attributes which research has shown to be the ones that make for ‘star’ performance and success in any walk of life. It is also important to note that a great body of evidence is building from the world of medicine, neuroscience, psychology, cognitive development and education, as well as business, which point to the impact EI has on our thoughts, feelings, general health and well being, and our performance, on a day to day basis.

It is now recognized that there are many forms of intelligence that go far beyond the usual narrow definition that sees IQ as being all there is. These intelligences include: Verbal/Linguistic; Mathematical/Logical; Visual/Spatial; Naturalist; Musical; Bodily/Kinesthetic; Intra and Interpersonal. It is these last two that make up what has become known as ‘emotional intelligence’, and many regard them as the most important intelligences to develop because of their impact on performance and achievement. For example, no matter how skilled you might be, say as a sportsperson [usually high in visual/spatial and bodily/kinesthetic intelligence] lack of self belief, poor motivation and persistence can seriously sabotage winning.

Whilst some of us seem to be born with a good helping of EI, the good news is that it can be developed by anybody, at any time of their life, whatever their background or past experience. Emotional Intelligence is broken down by Goleman into these qualities and attributes –

• The ability to understand oneself, to be self aware moment by moment of how you are feeling and what you are thinking and why.
• The ability to manage feelings, to sooth them, transform them, and harness them positively.
• To take responsibility for your thoughts feelings and actions
• To have a positive and optimistic outlook.
• To be motivated and persistent
• To be able to recognize and understand the feelings of others. In other words, to be able to empathies with them, and therefore feel compassion.
• To get on well with others and have healthy relationships

Goleman maintains that over 80% of our success at work is based on our EQ not our IQ, and that if schools focused more time and attention on developing the EQ competencies, behaviour and results would improve and society would become a better place for us all. Interestingly, the very same qualities are cited by most employers when asked what they are looking for when they employ a young person, so for high EQ read high employability prospects. It all sounds compelling, but what does it mean in practice? What does an ‘emotionally intelligent’ child, or teacher, or classroom, actually look like and how do you get there?