Emotional Intelligence Why it Can Matter More than IQ - Book Report/Review Example

Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ A. Introduction and brief overview Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand our own feelings as well as understand the feelings of others, in such a way that we can be able to manage our emotions well and create productive relationships with others (Goleman, 285). Thus, the most important components of understating our emotions and the emotions of others is through first gaining self-awareness, which in turn creates the ability of a person to be able to undertake an accurate self-assessment (Goleman, 47). When an individual is able to understand themselves fully, and to the extent that the individual can undertake a comprehensive analysis of the self, then the individual develops a sense of self-confidence, which in turn serves to define the manner in which the individual will interact with others (Goleman, 115). Starting with self-awareness, an individual can then manage to gain social awareness, which comes in the form of understanding the social needs of the others, through such values as empathy, which allows an individual to put him/herself in the situation of others, and thus understand them without judging them prematurely (Goleman, 259). Therefore, through the process of applying intelligence to guide people’s emotions, it is possible for people to improve not only their personal lives, but also the lives of others in a significant way, owing to the fact that emotions are habits like any other form of habits, which when uncontrolled can result in undermining the best intentions of humans (Goleman, 67). The process of understanding ourselves fully starts with unlearning some of the emotions and habits that were customary to our lives, and then replacing them with new emotions, so that a new mental and emotional outlook can be created. Emotional intelligence is not abstract, but the existence of a real force that can determine both personal and professional success, while at the same time being a human aspect that can be improved in order to give the desired results. B. Application to organizational behavior concepts/theories The book “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ” by Daniel Goleman, presents a hypothetical proposition that Emotional intelligence, unlike the Intelligence Quotient, can be learnt through a process of life experience, holding that Emotional Intelligence is a component of self-control, persistence, zeal and the ability to motivate oneself (p. xi-xii). Thus, the theory advanced by the book holds that despite the fact that Intelligence Quotient determines the success of individuals academically, it is the Emotional Intelligence that makes even people who are of a low Intelligence Quotient to excel equally well in life (Goleman, 36). According to the book, it is the need to work as a team that has made it possible for organizations to continue excelling, owing to the fact that; through team collaboration, it is possible to improve on the management of organizations and make such organizations less autocratic thus giving the employees more autonomy (Page xv). It is the autonomy and the less autocratic nature of these organizations that has made the individuals with a high level of social skills to excel equally as their counterparts with a high academic ability, through the application of their high level of Emotional Intelligence, where their academically excellent counterparts are applying the high-level Intelligence Quotient (Goleman, 124). This proposition has been collaborated by a study by (Karimi, et al.), where its findings indicated that the moderating role of Emotional Intelligence played a fundamental role in helping the Australian health workers to avoid job-stress (177). The relevance of this study is that it serves to underline the theoretical proposition of the book, through offering that Emotional Intelligence is not an innate characteristic, but a learnt behavioral concept that can be applied to address various problems associated with human interactions. Thus, through Emotional Intelligence application, it is possible for an individual to improve their lives, while at the same time excelling in their provisions. Further, emotional intelligence was found as a key factor that promoted the retention of jobs by the Australian nurses (Karimi, et al., 181). Further, the theoretical proposition by the book, offering that Emotional Intelligence is not a single-direction component of human behavior, has been affirmed by the study undertaken by (Pan, et al.), whose findings proposed that Emotional Intelligence is a multi-faceted human construct that entails the ability to perceive, to assess, control and then use in enhancing human abilities (p.7). The study offered that emotional perception and emotional control are the two major components of the social interaction, which enables individuals to remain more stable in their lives, such that the people can manage to excel both in their personal as well as in their professional lives. The theoretical proposition of the book, to the effect that Emotional Intelligence can be learnt through life experiences has also been supported by a study by (Hammerly, Harmon and Schwaitzberg), which sought to collect 360-degree feedback to improve the physicians Emotional Intelligence, where the findings of the study provided that Emotional Intelligence was a significant factor in improving two major physicians competencies, namely professionalism and interpersonal communication skills (p.357). Thus, through the process of life experiences associated with the clinical interaction of the physicians and the patients, the emotional control capabilities of the physicians has improved, which has served to improve their levels of professionalism. In this respect, the delivery of clinical and health services by the physicians has greatly improved, due to the fact that Emotional Intelligence was found to play a key role in enhancing both the leadership and the teamwork skills of the physicians, which in turn impacted on the way in which the physicians were able to deliver services to the patients (Hammerly, Harmon and Schwaitzberg, 361). The financial and organization skills of the physicians are the other life skills that were attributed to the Emotional Intelligence of the physicians, by increasing their capacity to organize both their work and their finances (Hammerly, Harmon and Schwaitzberg, 359). In this respect, the theoretical proposition of the book that Emotional Intelligence is a learnt behavioral component that promotes both the individual and professional lives, has been affirmed by this study. This is because, the study has shown that the clinical physicians learnt the components of Emotional Intelligence in the course of their professional lives, and in turn the Emotional Intelligence served to improve their performance both professionally and at a personal level. C. Impact of the book in the workplace (or everyday life) and its practical value? The impact of the book in everyday life is that it will enhance my sensitivity to my emotional behavior and increase the ability to control my emotional habits, with the aim of incorporating and understanding the emotions of others. Through learning how to control my emotions, then I can develop the ability to interact with others more positively, based on understanding and incorporating the emotional needs of the others into my emotional behavior, as a way of building empathy and furthering my communication skills. D. Conclusion The book, “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ” by Daniel Goleman is a useful book no t only for academic purposes, but also as a core source of practical skills to enrich one’s life. The most important aspect of the book is that it has been able to demonstrate that emotional intelligence is a concept that exists, while at the same time being able to indicate that it can be learnt through life experiences. In this respect, I would highly recommend this book to others, so that they can be able to understand the concept of Emotional Intelligence as a useful aspect for both personal and professional development. This way, they can define their own ways of applying the concept in their own lives. Works Cited Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books, 1994. Print. Hammerly, Milton E., Larry Harmon, and Steven D. Schwaitzberg. "Good To Great: Using 360-Degree Feedback To Improve Physician Emotional Intelligence." Journal Of Healthcare Management 59.5 (2014): 354-365. Print. Karimi, Leila, et al. "Emotional Rescue: The Role Of Emotional Intelligence And Emotional Labour On Well-Being And Job-Stress Among Community Nurses." Journal Of Advanced Nursing 70.1 (2014): 176-186. Print. Pan, Weigang, et al. "Identifying The Core Components Of Emotional Intelligence: Evidence From Amplitude Of Low-Frequency Fluctuations During Resting State." Plos ONE 9.10 (2014): 1-8. Print. Read More