Choose Emotional Intelligence to Go Far

If you regularly take in new knowledge and apply it to your work, you have an important skill. If you are aware and able to empathetically interpret the emotions of others around you, you have a superpower.

Another way to state this is: High IQ can make you employable; high EQ will take you far in your career.

IQ is short for intelligent quotient. It refers to your ability to problem solve and use reason. EQ is short for emotional quotient, but I prefer the alternative definition: emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence defines how well you are in touch with your emotions and the emotions of others. People with high EQ have high self-awareness, self-control, and empathy. They also possess something else essential for success in life and business. Their social skills make them effective communicators.

Emotionally intelligent people are effective communicators

Nobody taught me it is important to pay attention to the emotions of others while I communicated with them. I had to learn through trial and error.

Early in my career, I gave my first major presentation to a room full of people. I did not have PowerPoint. My presentation was spread across a stack of 'foils' – sheets of film. I placed each foil on the overhead projector (remember those?), spoke to the projected image, then replaced the foil with the next one in the pile.

I thought my presentation was a success. I projected every foil, dispensed my knowledge to the audience, and felt good about how intelligent I appeared to everyone.

With time, I came to understand how wrong I was!

A presentation is simply another form of communication. A successful presentation is not one where you get through all your foils (or slides) and share a lot of info. It's about connecting with your audience.

The only way you can know your message is landing is if you read the audience as you present. Is there a connection or does the audience want you to finish up because you're boring them senseless? If you're losing them, change your approach. This applies to a virtual audience too.

A question I ask myself before I present – can I deliver my presentation without slides? If I know what the story is, I can, and my presentation will be better for it.

This applies to other business settings where we must communicate with others – performance reviews, mentoring sessions, all hands meetings, etc. Do we “talk at” people and bombard them with a lot of information to show how intelligent we are? If we’re tuned into the emotions of others, we will be more concerned with engaging and motivating them rather than delivering a rehearsed script.

Your IQ, if it’s high, probably helped you succeed academically. Which is great. However, in business (and life), we also need EQ. I’m convinced it’s often times better to have more EQ than IQ.

Emotionally intelligent people are effective leaders

If you feel your IQ is not as “high” as your peers, but your EQ is finely tuned, you will have an edge over them. Your ability to understand people and your own emotions, will enable you to go into a room and tell what's going on by body language. You’re leadership material.

Develop your EQ and you will go far in your career. The world needs more emotionally intelligent leaders. The positive effect such leaders have on the people who report to them is undeniable.

EQ might come easier for some, but anyone can develop it. Treat it like a muscle that must be exercised. Practice self-awareness as you interact with others and be a good listener.

Choose the path of emotional intelligence and you will find yourself surrounded by a motivated team working towards a common goal, regardless of the challenges they face.

About the Author

Renée Ure is Chief Operating Officer for the Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG). She leads a Global Team responsible for internal operations and efficiency, cost, expense, transformation, supply chain & procurement with a mission to become the most trusted smart infrastructure partner for Lenovo’s customers. Start a conversation with Renée here or on Twitter.