by Rachel Stockton

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: January 21, 2009

In 1918, during World War I, IQ tests were introduced to army recruits in order for the military to ascertain the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of their men. As a result, the average, American IQ has risen 24 points through the decades. Great news, right?

Sort of. In the 1990s, a book by Daniel Goleman came out: Emotional Intelligence. In this missive, the author asserted that as far as success goes, an ability to handle people and adverse situations is a better indicator of how well a person performs at work; intelligence (IQ) takes a back burner to what used to be referred to as "soft skills."

In these "shaky" economic times, workers are feeling anxiety over job security and wages. Goleman contends in his second book, "Working with Emotional Intelligence" that an ability to handle social situations will increasingly be used in the coming days to determine who will be hired vs. who will be laid off, and who will be passed over, vs. who will be promoted. Academic prowess, it seems, is darn near irrelevant.

Emotional Intelligence: What is it?

In their book "The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook: Everything You Need to Know to Put Your Emotional Intelligence to Work", Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves give some real life examples of poor emotional intelligence in the workplace. One such example revolves around the circumstances surrounding the Challenger disaster in 1986. A team of engineers within NASA warned executives about the dangers of launching during cold weather. When the executives ignored their words of caution, the team passively accepted their decision. According to Bradberry and Greaves, the team, as an entity, did not have the "emotional intelligence skills to rise above the policy and rescue the ill fated mission."

While most instances devoid of E.I. aren't nearly as disturbingly disastrous, they can be quite detrimental to one's career path. Goleman warns that most employees are being critiqued on their ability to handle situations which call for diplomacy and emotional calm, even though they don't realize it. Those who are socially savvy are the ones who are the serious contenders for promotion; gone are the days when intellect was the only thing that truly mattered.

Nurturing Your Emotional Intelligence

In a nutshell, emotional intelligence has to do with both personal and social competencies; both of which can be enhanced. One critical component of both is self-awareness. Yes, that means "getting in touch with yourself"; it's impossible to self-regulate your emotions without knowing what they are to begin with. Experts say that enhancing self awareness can be as easy as learning to meditate and listen to your intuition.

Another way to up your emotional intelligence is to practice "responding" to certain situations, rather than merely reacting. Some people don't think until the words fall out of their mouths; this kind of indiscretion can be the kiss of death, as far as professional success goes.

Empathy is another skill that can be developed with practice; it's also crucial to improving E.I. Remember, empathy doesn't mean you have to agree with another person, it just means putting yourself in his or her shoes to try and gain an understand of their particular perspective. To be empathic is to project an aura of understanding and a belief that other people matter.

The good news is that unlike an IQ rating, a person's EQ can improve, although it takes time and a concerted effort to make strides in that area. Clearly, in order to reach career potential, employees must be able to control their own emotions, while being intuitively aware of the emotions of others.

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