Effective leadership is the key to building a successful organization in modern business environment. One of the more current approaches to leadership effectiveness is the theory of Emotional Intelligence (EI). As defined by Linda Keegan, Citibank's Vice President, emotional intelligence " is the underlying premise for all the management training". A prominent researcher in this field, Daniel Goleman, describes EI as "the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships".
EI describes abilities distinct from, but complementary to, academic intelligence or the purely cognitive capacities measured by IQ. Traditionally, the emphasis when evaluating potential performance has been on intellectual; now compelling research indicates that emotional intelligence is twice as important as IQ plus technical skills for outstanding performance. When IQ test scores are correlated with how well people perform in their careers, the highest estimate of how much difference IQ accounts for is about 25%.
Researchers say the study of emotional intelligence began with one simple question: "Why do so many smart people do so many stupid things?" In today's results-driven society, perfecting core job skills and business expertise may be the key, but how employees react to day-to-day situations can have a significant impact on success, according to measurers of emotional aptitude. As a manager of a telecommunications company sums it up, "You don't compete with products alone anymore, but how well you use your people" (Continuous Solutions).
In contrast to academic intelligence, EI can be described as an ability to monitor your own and others" emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide your thinking and actions. Emotional intelligence is a phrase for a different way of being smart.
