Question

What does it mean to be intelligent? What part is intellect, and what part is emotion?

Aristotle's Challenge: "Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not easy." Nicomachean Ethics

You can take the last part of this quote as a definition of emotional intelligence: "to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way" -- that is emotional intelligence. How to hold back your emotional impulses. How to read another person's feelings. How to handle relationships smoothly. People skills, as opposed to skills with things and ideas. And you can learn it.

Even if you argue that IQ is genetic, that it can't be changed, you can change how well you deal with things emotionally. You can learn how to do better with your emotions, and with other people. Emotional intelligence is your passion for anything, your self-control, your tact, your persistence, your motivation—basically, your ability to work your emotion into whatever will help you get to where you want.

Why would you want to be more emotionally intelligent?

1. It helps you.  It's for your own personal, individual benefit. You get a better chance in life if you can act and interact with emotional intelligence.
2. It helps us.  Our society, our world, desperately needs people to behave with emotional intelligence.  As a culture - American culture, or even as a world society - are we doing okay?  In the book you’ll start reading right away, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman talks about the fabric of society unraveling - and he brings it down to how people are using, or misusing, their emotions with one another.

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This week's discussion has 3 parts:

1. Write in detail about one of these three options:

• Identify a time when a better use of emotional intelligence could have averted a catastrophe—but didn’t. Describe the experience.
• Identify a time when your own better use of emotional intelligence would have made your life better. Describe the experience.
• Identify an important decision which MUST use emotion to be made properly. Explain why.

2. Using Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence (quote and properly reference, please), discuss how and why emotional intelligence is crucial for human well-being. Your initial post should be at least 150 words long.

Answer 1

Identify an important decision which MUST use emotion to be made properly. Explain why.

Scenario:

Janet is an employee working at ABC corporation for five years now. She is consistent, confident, and skillful at getting things done. She has been recognized twice in these five years for her services and offered a higher position once. I the appraisal cycle for the year 2019, Janet comes under a new manager. He is unaware of Janet's work tendencies. She drops in late to office and leaves early but works from home to compensate for these. She takes these liberties to balance her family life, and it has worked well in the past. Her past managers have been ok with it because the quality of her work is unquestionable. The current manager has not mentioned a word about his expectations on timing. He rates her low and lets her know that she has been rated average and should expect average appraisal. When the rating arrives, Janet is amused to notice that she has been rated low.

How emotional intelligence affects Janet's response:

On using emotional intelligence effectively:

Janet takes it up with her manager. She talks to him detailing how she was not informed of his expectations and how the rating has upset her, given her work performance. He cites company policy about timings. She informs him of the work style she has followed in the five years she has been in ABC Corporation. There is a discussion happening and not an argument. The manager informs Janet that a senior manager should be present while having the conversation, Janet agrees. During the conversation with the senior manager, it is concluded that the new manager should have given timely updates about his expectations from Janet. And Janet is appreciated for working through this professionally and asked to work towards the manager's expectations.

On not using emotional intelligence:

Janet takes it up with her manager. She is upset with his rating and informs him so. He cites her work timings as the reason. Janet insists on how she has bee working this way for years now and how none of her previous managers had a problem with it. The manager informs Janet that it is not his concern. She is free to leave his team if she cannot keep up with his expectations. Janet feels insulted and quits citing disrespect.

Conclusion:

Emotional intelligence helps learn how to understand and interact with people without taking things personally. Janet could navigate a bad performance review by being assertive about her emotion. While in the lack of emotional intelligence, there is only emotion and no intelligence in deciding.

2. Using Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence (quote and properly reference, please), discuss how and why emotional intelligence is crucial for human well-being. Your initial post should be at least 150 words long.

"Our emotional intelligence determines our potential for learning practical skills that are based on its five elements: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy, and adeptness in relationships." (Goleman, 1998).

As mentioned by Goleman, it is crucial for human beings because not just one but all of our interactions with other humans are impacted by emotional intelligence. Our understanding of human nature will help us maximize the benefits of our relationships with fellow humans. Since it is a learned capability and not an inherent one, every one of us has the possibility of enhancing our EQ. We are not born with it but develop into it. It helps foster better relationships, create new ones, and maintain existing ones to be fruitful and profitable in the true sense. Emotional intelligence helps to make better decisions and avoid unnecessary conflicts. It helps manage conflicts in ways helpful to all parties involved. Better awareness of the self and social interactions helps improve the quality of such interactions. Emotional intelligence is important to humans because we depend on other humans throughout life, be it in a personal or social setting. [WC:156]

Citations:

• Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence.
• Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the Importance of Emotional Intelligence, Harvard