Of particular interest to me is the work of psychologist Daniel Goleman on emotional intelligence. I often equate the principle of emotional intelligence with intuition. Having taught students with mild disability for years I discovered that  students with good social skills excelled in and out of the classroom. Those with a higher emotional quotient were able to work more effectively with teachers and gain support from their peers, leading to better grades on their projects and tests.

Most people will claim regular intuitive moments in their lifetime. Parents are especially good at knowing what their children are up. We sense when our children need us, are in danger or are perhaps are naughty. We can chalk this up to coincidence, perception or intuition. There is no “enchanting” involved in intuition; it is a sense everyone instinctively owns. We are all emotionally intelligent; described as a person’s ability to understand their own emotions and the emotions of others and act affectively based on this understanding.

Emotional quotient is the intuitive sense that makes good sales people better; trial lawyers terrific, police officers on target and business owners savvy. In other words it is a good “people skill”. When we develop this skill we are more aware of others needs and we feel more confident.  The words for measuring this intuitive sense are called “Emotional Intelligence”. This is a heavily researched topic. The book by the same title has made the educational rounds in the hot hands of school administrators and advisors. In 1995, psychologist Daniel Goleman wrote his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Since the break out of the term, “Emotional Intelligence”, activities and games have been designed to assist people in building this skill, seminars are taught regularly and businesses have taken to testing their potential employee to measure their probable success based on their EQ.

So how do you measure on the EQ scale? Are you a genius or do you range on the mentally challenged side? The Internet offers an abundant number of sites where one can measure EQ. Check your EQ by asking yourself the following questions:

• When first meeting a person do you concern yourself with yourself or with the person you are meeting? If you are focusing on them this is good.
• What are you focused on, their face or the feeling that you get when they approach?  Typically we use both impressions to make and assessment.
• If you are aware of a shift in how you feel, does the feeling have anything to do with you? Most often not, just note it and let your intuition guide you as to the best method of handling yourself with this person.

A person of high EQ will read a situation effectively and have a successful interaction with the other person. We do this 100 times a day, naturally when we connect with other people it easy to do, as it is a system of perception and reception.

Do you know someone that can get along with anyone? That person has learned to relate affectively usually by reading the emotional situation and intuitively knowing how to act around another individual. They will have a higher success rate when dealing with people because they are not self absorbed and are not looking for a personal win at all costs in a situation. They are comfortable with themselves and feel confident that their intuition or EQ will lead them and when they trust that lead they generally are happy and so are others around them.

Is it intuition or Emotional intelligence? Perhaps they are one and the same?

Related articles

• The Most Important Quality for Entrepreneurial Success (younggogetter.com)
• Stephen Covey on Developing Emotional Intelligence (sourcesofinsight.com)
• Four Reasons You Should Care About Emotional Intelligence (zestnzen.wordpress.com)