EQ is becoming mainstream.  In this information age, with endless information available at our finger tips, how things get done has changed. 

Today it is much easier to know what has to happen in order to get projects done (what is the scope and what is the plan).  The main challenge today is to get people together and know how to carry out the plan (effectively/efficiently) and be able to adapt to sudden changes and risks.

Thus EQ has become more important than IQ since EQ is key to being able to lead and manage people.  Also, studies are more and more common that scientifically back this.

A challenge is to find a simple definition and framework to understand what is EQ. A good company to follow Learning in action technologies defines the core elements of EQ as:
1) aware of, then able to name and manage one's own emotions,
2) aware of, then able to name and understand others' emotions, and
3) able to relate to others in effective ways, both personally and professionally in a wide range of contexts and roles.

We all possess emotional capacity and it can be traced to the root of almost everything we do.  Similar to how we have physical limitations and capabilities, we also have the same for EQ.  With a plan and practice, we have the ability to improve on our EQ capacities

Three main emotional capacities include:
  • Self Reflection,
  • Self Soothing and
  • Empathy

These capacities provide the abilities to adjust to change, maintain commitments to people, find satisfaction in relationships, and create balance in our emotional lives. The presence or absence of these capacities can have a profound affect on the workplace.

Goleman's initial published research stated that 67% of all competencies deemed essential for high performance were related to EQ, that EQ mattered twice as much as IQ and technical knowledge to high performance, and EQ was the only "advantage" at the highest levels of leadership (Daniel Goleman, 1998)

More recently, Gary Cherniss, Ph.D., also summarized a host of published studies. The following highlights included in Cherniss’ work (Cherniss, 2002) provide empirical evidence to support the link between EQ and successful financial performance.
  • Experienced partners in a multinational consulting firm were assessed on EI competencies. Partners who scored above the median on 9 or more of the 20 competencies assessed delivered $1.2 million more profit from their accounts than did other partners, a 139% incremental gain.
  • An analysis of more than 300 top-level executives from fifteen global companies showed that six emotional competencies distinguished stars from the average: Influence, Team Leadership, Organizational Awareness, Self-confidence, Achievement Drive, and Leadership.
  • In jobs of medium complexity (sales clerks, mechanics), a top performer is 12 times more productive than those at the bottom and 85% more productive than an average performer. In the most complex jobs (insurance salespeople, account managers), a top performer is 127% more productive than an average performer.
  • Competency research in over 200 companies and organizations worldwide suggests that about one-third of this difference is due to technical skill and cognitive ability, while two-thirds is due to emotional competence. In top leadership positions, over four-fifths of the difference is due to emotional competence.
  • In a large beverage firm executives,who were selected based on emotional competence, were far more likely to perform in the top third of all executives. 87% of these leaders were in the top third for performance bonus awards.
  • For 515 senior executives analyzed by the search firm Egon Zehnder International, those who were primarily strong in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those who were strongest in either relevant previous experience or IQ. Executives high in emotional intelligence led 74% of successful operations and 24% of the failures.