Practical Application

“For decades, major emphasis of the education system as well as of the organizations was on IQ rather than EQ. A student who has scored high in the exam is considered to be a good student and others are considered to be poor. The emphasis was merely on the logical, analytical reasoning, verbal skills, math skills. Earlier researcher believed that a good IQ guarantees success in life. But now, despite good IQ level and great analytical skills, employees are failing miserably on the professional front. It was then realized that mere dependence on IQ does not guarantee success in life as it is a narrow concept and does not consider the wide knowledge and abilities of a fertile human mind. Therefore, now researchers are focusing on the emotional aspect which helps an individual to be aware about his/ her emotions as well as the emotions of others. Research has shown that IQ is important to get an entry in the organization but afterwards it is EQ that guarantees success to an individual” (Sherry, 2016). For  example in Sri Lankan business context is one of the largest conglomerates diversified in Health care, Construction, manufacturing, education and trading sectors whose founder is an average educated person but a Leader and a giant in Business world because of his high Emotional intelligence (EI), leadership and interpersonal skills. Hundreds of professionals such as professors, doctors, engineers, architects work for him as an employees today for a pay cheque at the end of the month. In fact, emotional intelligence—the ability to, for instance, understand your effect on others and manage yourself accordingly—accounts for nearly 90 percent of what moves people up the ladder when IQ and technical skills are roughly similar (Goleman, 2004)

Figure 1.0: Emerging skills

(Source : World Economic Forum, 2016)


Reference

Goleman, D. (2004) What makes a Leader?. Harvard Business Review, p.3.

World Economic Forum (2016) The future of jobs, employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution. [online] Geneva:World Economic Forum. Available from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf [Accessed 13 December 2018]