Definition of 'Emotional Intelligence'

Definition: Emotional intelligence refers to the capability of a person to manage and control
his or her emotions and possess the ability to control the emotions of others as well. In
other words, they can influence the emotions of other people also.

Description: Emotional intelligence is a very important skill in leadership. It is said to have

five main elements such as - self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social
skills.

Let’s understand each one of them in detail.

What is self-awareness? If you are self-aware of what you are going through, you would be
in a better position to understand others, and affect people around you. It also means you
are aware of your strengths as well as weaknesses. When you experience anger, hold that
moment and think what made you so angry. Keeping a journal always helps.

What is self-regulation? Self-regulation is the next step wherein you think before speaking.
It is an important aspect where you can regulate yourself. This will impact others in a
positive way rather than in negatively. Hold yourself accountable in case you make a
mistake, and try to remain calm in every situation.

What is motivation? When you are motivated to do a series of tasks you will be in a better
position to influence others. Work towards your goals consistently. Show your employees
how the work is done and lead by example. Even if you are faced with a challenge try and
find something good about the situation.

What is empathy? When you are able to put yourself in other’s shoe and think about a
situation, it is known as empathy. Every successful leads should know how to empathise
with others, if you want to earn their respect.

What are social skills? The last aspect is social skills and it is one of the important aspects.
Social skills are all about communicating your point of view to. They are able to build a
rapport with others which makes the relationship more comfortable.

There have other elements in Emotional Intelligence: Self-efficacy, Gratitude, Compassion,

Forgiveness.

1.Self-efficacy is an individual's belief in his or her innate ability to achieve goals. Albert
Bandura defines it as a personal judgement of "how well one can execute courses of action
required to deal with prospective situations". Expectations of self-efficacy determine whether an
individual will be able to exhibit coping behaviour and how long effort will be sustained in the face
of obstacles. Individuals who have high self-efficacy will exert sufficient effort that, if well
executed, leads to successful outcomes, whereas those with low self-efficacy are likely to cease
effort early and fail. Psychologists have studied self-efficacy from several perspectives, noting
various paths in the development of self-efficacy; the dynamics of self-efficacy, and lack thereof,
in many different settings; interactions between self-efficacy and self-concept; and habits of
attribution that contribute to, or detract from, self-efficacy. Kathy Kolbe adds, "Belief in innate
abilities means valuing one's particular set of conative strengths. It also involves determination
and perseverance to overcome obstacles that would interfere with utilizing those innate abilities
to achieve goals."
Self-efficacy affects every area of human endeavour. By determining the beliefs a person holds
regarding his or her power to affect situations, it strongly influences both the power a person
actually has to face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make.
These effects are particularly apparent, and compelling, with regard to behaviours affecting
health.

2. Gratitude :It means thankfulness or gratefulness. This word derives fromthe Latin
word gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’,is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response
shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favours, or other types of generosity, towards the
giver of such gifts.The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several
world religions. It has also been a topic of interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers,
and continues to engage contemporary western philosophers. The systematic study of gratitude
within psychology only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology traditionally
focused more on understanding distress than on understanding positive emotions. The study of
gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the
emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual differences in how frequently people feel
gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.

3. Compassion,

4 Forgiveness.

 Implementation of Emotional Intelligence for the

purpose of Self-development and Organizational
development
An individual experiences varied emotions. Happiness, fear, anger, affection, shame, disgust,
surprise, lust, sadness, elation, love, frustration, anxiety, failure, achievement, etc. are just e
few emotions that affect our day to day activity. Satisfaction with the presentation of good
work, exhilaration on achieving an accolade, the pride in helping a colleague, anger with not
being recognized, frustration with the procrastination of recommendations suggested, anxiety
about meeting deadlines are just a few emotions an individual feels at work. The human brain
is programmed to respond to such emotions. This is when an individual's emotional
intelligence comes into play, which helps them acknowledge their emotional instinct and
guides them in acting in a rational manner

Daniel Goleman in association with the Hay Group identified eighteen components of
emotional intelligence that were grouped into four clusters. The four clusters are namely Self-
Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

Self-Awareness: Self-Awareness is knowing what one feels and how it reflects on

performance. The cluster contains three competencies.
Emotional Awareness: It is important to identify and recognise one's own feelings and know
how they affect one's performance. Self-Awareness is key to realizing one's own strengths
and weaknesses.

Accurate Self-Assessment: Is knowing one's strengths and limits. It is important for

individuals to be aware of their abilities and limitations, seek out feedback and learn from
their mistakes, and know where they need to improve and when to work with others who
have complementary strengths

Self-Confidence: It is a strong sense of one's self-worth and capabilities. Self-confidence is a

positive trait that plays a large role in personal and professional success.

Self-Management: Self-management refers to managing ones' internal states, impulses, and

resources. The Self-Management cluster contains six competencies:

Emotional Self-Control: This involves keeping disruptive emotions and impulses in check.
It is the absence of distress and disruptive feelings. Signs of this competence include being
unfazed in stressful situations or dealing with a hostile person without lashing out in return.
Employees who possess such virtues try to merge personal goals with organisational goal.

Transparency: Is about maintaining integrity and acting congruently with one's values.
Transparent individuals are forthright about their own mistakes and confront others about
their lapses

Adaptability: Flexibility in handling change is known as adaptability. This is one of the most
important components presently. An individual needs to be open to new information and can
let go of old assumptions and so adapt how they operate. This is very important for
innovation and growth.

Achievement: It is the drive in an individual, which strives to improve or meet standards of

excellence. Optimism is a key ingredient of achievement because it can determine one's
reaction to unfavourable events or circumstances; those with high achievement are proactive
and persistent, have an optimistic attitude toward setbacks, and operate from hope of success.

Initiative: It is the readiness to act on opportunities. It involves taking anticipatory action to

avoid problems before they happen or taking advantage of opportunities before they are
visible to anyone else. Individuals who lack Initiative are reactive rather than proactive,
lacking the farsightedness that can make the critical difference between a wise decision and a
poor one.

Conscientious: It includes being careful, self-disciplined, and scrupulous in attending to

responsibilities It also involves persistence in pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks

Social Awareness: Social awareness refers to how people handle relationships and awareness
of others' feelings, needs, and concerns. The Social Awareness cluster contains three
competencies:

Empathy: Empathy is sensing others' feelings and perspectives, and taking an active interest
in their concerns. Empathetic individual sense others emotions through facial expressions and
non-verbal modes. This sensitivity to others is critical for superior job performance whenever
the focus Improving Interpersonal Relationships.

As a result one can develop himself / herself Such a way:-

Communicability of Emotions

In his book 'Emotional Intelligence at Work' (2006), Dr Dalip Singh provides an Indian
framework of emotional intelligence. He states that emotional intelligence is constituted of 3
psychological dimensions- emotional competency, emotional maturity and emotional
sensitivity.

Emotional Competency: It is the capacity of an individual to tactfully respond to emotional

stimuli, have high self-esteem, tackle emotional upsets, manage ego, and therefore be able to
enjoy emotions, relate to others; have emotional self-control and thus succeed as an
individual.

Tackling emotional upsets: Frustration, inferiority complexes, stress, exhaustion, fear,

anger, sadness, conflicts, etc. poses as hindrances. By managing and channelizing these
emotions in a positive manner, is being emotionally competent.

High Self-Esteem: Having high self-esteem can help deal with criticism and challenges.
Optimism is one such way of boosting self esteem. This helps perceive challenges and
criticism as learning opportunities and increases confidence, which results in individual
growth and improvement.

Tactful Response to Emotional Stimuli: This means being creative and practical towards
emotions, which are caused because of the self, and the external environment. An
emotionally intelligent employee will try to manipulate the ongoing environment to his/her
advantage by reacting appropriately.

Handling Egoism: All emotional conduct is bound by self-interest. By being egoistic, one
may have problems in interpersonal relationships. Taking initiative to sort out an issue based
on ego is a sign of emotional competence.

Emotional Maturity: The ability of an individual to evaluate emotions of self and others,
develop others, delay gratification of immediate psychological satisfaction; and be adaptable
and flexible.

Self-Awareness: It involves recognition of emotions and identifying them as strengths and

weaknesses. This enables an individual to help identify emotions in others as well, thus
improving effectiveness of interpersonal relationships.

Developing Others: By recognising the ability of other individuals, one may involve other
peers in projects, etc. and thus produce an enhanced level of activity.

Delaying Gratification: By exhibiting patience and learning to control emotions, one can
delay gratification. This helps in judging how to handle the situation more effectively without
being rash.

Adaptability and Flexibility: Knowing when and how to make decisions are essential
emotional skills. Adapting to the situation in accordance is extremely important. It is also
very important to be flexible during various situations

Emotional Sensitivity: Sensitivity is ability to respond to affective changes in your

interpersonal environment. Emotional sensitivity constitutes understanding the threshold of
emotional arousal, managing the immediate environment and creating a comfortable
environment within a group.
Understanding the Threshold of Emotion Arousal: It is important to understand the
relationship between feelings and action. One must understand the cause behind the emotion.

Empathy: Empathy is the ability to sense the feelings of others. It helps share and accept
another persons feelings. By having empathy one can distinguish between own personal
judgements and reactions and the emotions of others.

Improving Interpersonal Relations: By developing interpersonal relations, a positive

environment is created. To build such an ambience one must inculcate trust, confidence and
reliance. This leads to success in a workplace.

Communicability of Emotions: It is important to communicate emotions. It is vital to

communicate emotions with confidence and self-respect. Negative emotions can convey
pessimism, bitterness suspicion and inferiority therefore, it is important to communicate
emotions positively.

Implementation of Emotional Intelligence in an Organisation

Various studies highlight the importance of emotional intelligence in an organisation.

Employees who have higher levels of emotional intelligence are associated with better
performance. Research conducted by the Centre for Creative Leadership shows that
emotionally intelligent employees have the following traits:

Participative Management: It is important to build relationship skills in organizations and

encourage value interdependency within and between groups. Participative management has
the largest number of meaningful correlations with measures of emotional intelligence.
Employees who are good listeners and consult others for their input before implementing
change are likely to be assessed as good co-operators. They are able to find pleasure in life,
able to foster relationships, control impulses, and understand their own emotions and the
emotions of others.

Putting People at Ease: Emotionally intelligent employees make others relaxed and
comfortable in their presence. Putting people at ease is related to impulse control, which is
the ability to delay gratification. Being able to behaviourally put people at ease has to do with
controlling ones own impulses and emotions. Putting people at ease is related to happiness,
suggesting that an individual's temperament is related to how comfortable people are around
them.

Self-Awareness: Emotionally intelligent employees have an accurate understanding of their

strengths and weaknesses are thus are self-aware individuals. Self-awareness is related to
impulse control and stress tolerance. An emotional outburst is not a characteristic of self-
awareness. Others may draw conclusions about self-awareness from how one deals with
difficult and challenging situations. Anxiousness interprets lack in self-awareness.

Balance between Personal Life and Work: Emotionally intelligent employees know how to
prioritise activities in their personal and professional life such that neither is neglected. Such
employees reflect social responsibility, impulse control, and empathy. They give the
impression that they are balanced, able to contribute to a group, control their impulses, and
understand the emotions of others.

Straightforwardness and Composure: Emotionally intelligent employees are

straightforward and composed and are skilled at remaining calm in a crisis and recovering
from mistakes. This is related to impulse control. It is associated with stress tolerance,
optimism, and social responsibility. Straightforwardness and composure has to do with
controlling inclinations during difficult situations, being liable toward others, and having a
satisfied character.

Building and Mending Relationships: Emotionally intelligent employees have the ability to
develop and maintain working relationships with various internal and external parties. This is
also related to impulse control. This is because poor impulse control highlights the inability
to control hostility and explosive behaviour. Stress tolerance is the key to such a character.

Doing Whatever it Takes: Emotionally intelligent employees are independent and assertive
and will face obstacles, take charge and stand alone when necessary. People who are high on
independence tend to be self-reliant and autonomous. They may ask for inputs but they are
not dependant on it. Assertiveness has to do with expressing feelings, thoughts, and beliefs in
a non-destructive manner. Assertive individuals let others know what they want. This is
related to independence and optimism. Optimism has to do with looking at the brighter side
of life. Doing whatever it takes requires emotional intelligence in order to judge what to go
after and what one wants.
Decisiveness: Emotional Intelligent employees are very decisive in nature. They make quick
and appropriate actions whenever necessary. This is related to independence. It also has to do
with self directed and self controlled thinking.

Confronting Problem Employees: An emotionally intelligent employee will make fair

decisions, while dealing with problematic peers. This is related to assertiveness. Assertive
individuals express their views constructively. This aids in dealing with the situation in an
effective manner.

Change Management: This skill demonstrates the effectiveness of strategies used by

employees to facilitate and initiate change. This is related to social responsibility, as such a
characteristic highlights the ability to introduce change effectively in a social group. This is
also related to interpersonal relationship abilities. The ability of an individual to establish
satisfying relationships helps peers judge the individual's ability to institute change.

An organisation can use the advantage of emotional intelligence as a tool for human resource
strategies. Don Chrusciel (2006) provides the uses of emotional intelligence in various human
resource activities:

Recruitment and Promotions:

The key benefit of an organisation using EI is having staff that is able to regulate their own
emotions while dealing with customers. For those organisations that involve in a lot of
interpersonal interactions, using emotional intelligence as a method of recruitment is
essential. An individual with high IQ and low emotional intelligence may excel in a place
where there is minimum social interaction but for jobs that requires large amounts of
interpersonal interaction, this person has chances of failing as an employee. The ability of an
individual to communicate, motivate and work in a team are essential talents required in an
organisation. Utilisation of EI to indentify skills and assess these skills in individual can aid
in recruitment, hiring and promotional activities of a human resource professional.

The search is to find candidates that have both leadership and team skills and that have the
ability to be either a leader or a follower when required. The task also requires selecting
individuals possessing knowledge, skill and abilities who fit well in the ethos and ethics of
the organisation. EI thus serves as a predictor in speculation of a candidate. Bringing on the
right people once the determination is made for what would be the best for the organization,
EI looks beyond knowledge, skills, and abilities, and delves into the more soft skills, the
emotions. Here, great gains can be made in identifying the qualified candidates beyond their
knowledge, skills and abilities.

Training and Development:

According to Goleman (1998), emotional intelligence determines our potential for learning
practical skills based on its five competencies: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation,
empathy, and adeptness in relationships. Emotional competence reveals how much of
potential is translated into on-the-job capabilities. It results in higher work performance.
Goleman and Kemper support the findings that emotional intelligence can be improved
through appropriate training. There have been various studies to confirm it. It shows that an
individual's emotional intelligence can be benefited from organisational training and
development. It is understandable that excellent service, with positive emotional content, is
most likely to be facilitated by employees who are emotionally self-aware and who
understand others on a more emotional level (emotional intelligence). By developing
emotional intelligence, managers and group leaders have been able to acquire greater self-
understanding, exhibit better health, improve morale and quality of work life, and have been
able to foster and build better working relationships. All of these factors are considered to be
important influences on organizational performance. Organizations come to expect new skills
from employees who find themselves leading teams and projects cross-functionally. New
skills like teamwork and trustworthiness are now vital. New competencies, such as
adaptability, optimism and handling stress are necessary. Training and development
opportunities can be effectively identified and customized to address specific needs.
Combined with information from customer feedback surveys, teams of staff can be set up to
complement each other's strength and weaknesses so that valued customers can be
approached with the right combination of personnel in anticipation of the demand.

Emotional intelligence underlines various aspects of organisations today. Change

management, empowerment, team-work, learning, communication are just a few significant
dynamics. There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence, organisation,
employees and job performance. Organisations are evolving rapidly, and emotional
intelligence can help adapt to the transformations.
Organisational implementation (In Short):

Organizational Awareness: It involves reading a group's emotional currents and power

relationships. It is vital to the behind-the-scenes networking and coalition building that allows
individuals to wield influence, no matter what their professional role.

Service Orientation: Service orientation is about anticipating, recognizing, and meeting

customers' needs. This empathetic strategy talks about a long-term perspective that involves
trading off immediate gains in order to preserve customer relationships.

Relationship Management: Relationship management concerns the skill or adeptness at

inducing desirable responses in others. It includes social skills. The Relationship
Management cluster contains six competencies.

Developing Others: This component involves sensing others' development needs and
bolstering their abilities. It is a talent of not just of excellent coaches and mentors, but also
outstanding leaders. It is not only crucial for front-line managers but also vital for leadership
at top levels.

Inspirational Leadership: This component is about inspiring and guiding individuals and
groups. It draws on a range of personal skills to inspire others, in order to achieve common
goals. Outstanding leadership integrates emotional realities and install them with meaning
and resonance

Change Catalyst: Initiating or managing change is known as change catalyst. Employees

must be able to recognize the need for change, remove barriers, challenge the status quo, and
enlist others in pursuit of new initiatives.

Influence: Influence is wielding effective tactics for persuasion. The influence can be in
forms of persuasion strategies, impression management, dramatic arguments or actions, and
appeals to reason. Employees must sense others' reactions and alter their own responses such
that it diverts interaction in the best direction.

Conflict Management: Conflict management is all about negotiating and resolving

disagreements. Listening and empathizing are crucial to this skill. Difficult situations need to
be dealt with diplomacy, encouraging debate and open discussion, and thus coordinate a
symbiotic situation.

Teamwork & Collaboration: It is about working with others toward shared goals. It
involves creating group synergy in pursuing collective goals. Teamwork itself depends on the
collective EI of its member.