Intelligent v/s Emotional Quotient

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

A good indicator of success in the past has been the level of one’s intelligence. It was assumed that the relationship between one’s IQ and one’s success would be positively correlated. In other words, “smarter” individuals were bound to triumph over those less intelligent. But recent research and success stories prove otherwise. Research shows that emotional intelligence may actually be significantly more important than cognitive ability and technical expertise combined. In fact, some studies indicate that is more than twice as important as standard IQ abilities. EabPlities. IQ will get you through school, but EQ gets you through life.

To be successful and survive in today’s society, individuals need to have the necessary communication and organizational skills to make sound decisions and interact with each other. An individual’s success at work is 80 percent dependent on emotional quotient and only 20 percent dependent on intelligence quotient. This is because EQ components are useful in assisting employees with decision-making in areas like teamwork, inclusion, productivity, and communication.

Furthermore, good listening habits and skills such as self-awareness and control, empathy and social expertness are integral components of EQ. When managers are asked to rank their top performing employees, high IQ is not usually the deciding factor, but instead how the person performed regarding the answering of e-mails, how good they are at collaborating and networking with colleagues, and their popularity with others in order to achieve the cooperation required to attain goals. This is just one example of the benefits of high EQ regarding communication skills, time management, teamwork, leadership skills and business acumen.

For a vast majority of people, the level of their emotional mastery will have an equal or even more significant impact than IQ on their level of achievement and sense of fulfillment in life. This does not diminish the importance of IQ it simply augments the importance of emotional intelligence and all of the other soft skills.