Emotional Intelligence….”EQ” What is it? Why is it important?

Emotional Intelligence….”EQ” What is it? Why is it important?

We are dealing with people’s emotions all the time, and often we are not even aware of this. Maybe it starts with a perky person who hands you your morning coffee in a drive through, or the bubbly receptionist welcoming you to the office. Both of their smiling faces signal their joy to be handing you a latte or forwarding your calls. But how do we recognize their emotions so automatically?

Our general intelligence such as the brain power that fuels logic, puzzles and math problems, has an emotional counterpart, which researchers have named emotional intelligence; often referred to as "EQ". A person’s EQ isn’t necessarily measured with a standardized score, but various models help place us on a general spectrum for such skills as recognizing fear over surprise, or pride over contempt.

Research suggests worldwide stress is increasing. EQ is what helps us avoid the misunderstandings that lead to this anxiety, and we might need it more than ever in these challenging and testing times.

Awareness isn’t enough. It’s not enough to be “intelligent,” we need to use our awareness and intelligence, to put emotional intelligence into action. Our responsibility is our response – ability.

People with high EQ generally find that they have an extra dose of curiosity, which adds to improved responsiveness. An increase in emotional intelligence is correlated with big increases in quality of life, in effectiveness, and in decision-making. The principles are the same as general intelligence, and we may inherit some portion of our EQ from emotionally intelligent parents, but it’s also like a muscle and it is a skill set that can be learned and strengthened.

People with high EQ are self-aware, self-managing, and self-directing. They do more than just engage in introspection or trying to understand how they behave (self-awareness) to change those behaviors in their own lives (self-management). They also adapt to the people they’re interacting with (self-direction). In everyday awareness people with higher EQ are on the same emotional wavelength. As if by magic, they are active listeners, some are even second level listeners and are able to instantly tailor their emotional engagement to their conversation partner. They show up, hold a space and they are always fully engaged in the present moment.

Developing our emotional intelligence helps us to create positive change in our personal lives, helps us to improve the quality of our relationships with others, and these changes will lead to higher levels of emotional intelligence with our families and friends. This higher level of EQ will expand further, creating improved social emotional intelligence in our schools, our communities, countries and I feel increasing EQ on an even wider scale can and will contribute to a deeper understanding between nations improving the world around us. .......love and light Christina