July 04, 2009
UTNE READER

Special to Utne Magazine, Nov/Dec '95

November/December 1995
Daniel Goleman 
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You've got the intellectual credentials: You did pretty well in school, maybe have a college diploma or even an advanced degree. You got high scores on your SATs and GREs, or even on that holy grail of the intellect, the IQ test. You may even be in Mensa, the select high-IQ club.

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That's fine when it comes to intelligence of the academic variety. But how bright are you outside the classroom, when it comes to life's stickier moments? There you need other kinds of resourcefulness -- most especially emotional intelligence, a different way of being smart.

High IQ & High E-IQ

Emotional intelligence gives you a competitive edge. Even at Bell Labs, where everyone is smart, studies find that the most valued and productive engineers are those with the traits of emotional intelligence -- not necessarily the highest IQ. Having great intellectual abilities may make you a superb fiscal analyst or legal scholar, but a highly developed emotional intelligence will make you a candidate for CEO or a brilliant trial lawyer.

Empathy and other qualities of the heart make it more likely that your marriage will thrive. Lack of those abilities explains why people of high IQ can be such disastrous pilots of their personal lives.

An analysis of the personality traits that accompany high IQ in men who also lack these emotional competencies portrays, well, the stereotypical nerd: critical and condescending, inhibited and uncomfortable with sensuality, emotionally bland. By contrast, men with the traits that mark emotional intelligence are poised and outgoing, committed to people and causes, sympathetic and caring, with a rich but appropriate emotional life -- they're comfortable with themselves, others, and the social universe they live in.

A high IQ may get you into Mensa, but it won't make you a mensch.

THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TEST HAS BEEN REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE AUTHOR

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6 Comments

  • Dr. K.S.Ramesh 1/23/2009 10:50:54 AM

    In the earlier comment a question was raised so 'How do you work on your EQ?'. EQ can acually be cultivated. The most important thing to remember is 'Know thy self' which is essentially the crux of one of the Hindu scriptures 'Bagavatha Gita'. Self awareness is very important. The way you talk, reply to your colleagues or someone who is not friendly, you must constantly be aware as to what you are speaking or doing. Also, you need to cultivate the habit of not reacting when an unpleasant thing happens. When you react, you stagnate; but when you act you progress. You must bear in mind that self awareness is not introspection. The latter is enclosed. When you are aware, you see the whole process of your thinking and action; and thus control your impulse very easily . And when this happens there is no condemnation.

    K. S. Ramesh Sc.D.,
    Author, teacher and speaker
    www.ksramesh.com

  • senacherib 9/13/2008 5:02:44 PM

    i just want to sign up?

  • Rana 8/15/2008 5:27:31 PM

    I want any new about IQ tests, please quickly.

  • Clare Gage 7/11/2008 8:58:09 AM

    Joanne,
    Read some of Daniel Goleman's work on EQ. He is the 'daddy' of EQ. His work will raise your knowledge and awareness of just what emotional intelligence is and what it can do for you. Many of today's therapists, aka life coaches, hold workshops and seminars on EQ. Because our society has been so intent on measuring how book smart we are, the concept of being emotionally smart is very abstract to us. So, inform yourself first and then use that knowledge to self evaluate, or have a 'coach' help you. You'll discover more about yourself through EQ than any IQ test can ever tell.

  • Joanne Figueroa 6/29/2008 6:40:45 PM

    So how do you work on your EQ?

  • deepika singh 1/9/2008 12:00:00 AM

    the article on EQ is very important.

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