Intelligence is a commonly used term. It relates with cognition and academic skills and use of emotion. Basically intelligence means capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity. According to a special classification there are two kinds of intelligence. These are:
- Academic Intelligence and
- Emotional Intelligence
- Academic Intelligence
Academic intelligence means the ability of analysis, evaluation, judgment and recognition,. Academically intelligent people are generally good in performance in classes and above average in exams. They believe that value lies in possessing information and reading books, so they like everything that has the right answers.
- Emotional Intelligence ( EI)
The term emotional intelligence was created by two researchers, Peter Salavoy and John Mayer Emotional and further it was popularized by Dr. Daniel Goleman.
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to manage both own emotions and understand the emotions of people around. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize own emotions, understand what they are telling, and realize how emotions effect other people.
- There are five elements to describe emotional intelligence clearly. The elements are:
- Self-awareness
- Self regulation
- Motivation
- Empathy and
- Social skills
- Why Emotional Intelligence is Important?
Emotional intelligence is a highly required intelligence that makes our professional and personal life smooth, meaningful and successful. Sometimes we find people who have high academic intelligence but could not adjust or cope with personal and professional life. They often switch from one job to other and do not find job satisfaction anywhere. This situation occurs due to lack of emotional intelligence. It is highly important to improve and nurture emotional intelligence for several reasons. The reasons are:
- A high emotional intelligence helps you to :
- Build relationships
- Reduce team stress
- Defuse conflict and
- Improve job satisfaction
- Emotional intelligence is a necessary skill for navigating important relationships in your life.
- When you develop the ability to be aware of your emotions and express them in a healthy way you may have a greater chance of success, both professionally and personally.
- Learning more about EI can help you develop the skills to succeeded in any role that requires interaction with other people
- Emotional Intelligence enhances the potential to increase team productivity and staff retention.
- During recruiting management roles, employers look to hire and promote candidates with a high IQ.
- EI is Important for everyone who wants to be carrier ready.
- Ways to improve Emotional Intelligence
We all know that we have individuality, that’s why the amount of emotional intelligence is not same to everybody. Through heredity and everyday interaction with environment we gain a level of emotional intelligence. Inspire of that we can take special effort for improving EI. The techniques are:
- Be more Self Aware-
- Recognize how others feel
- Practice active listening
- Communicate clearly
- Stay positive
- Empathize
- Be open minded
- Listen to feedback
We can practice these techniques seriously for enhancing and improving our emotional intelligence, because we know the importance and significance of gaining Emotional Intelligence together with Academic intelligence.
Farida Akhtar
Psychologist/Counselor
