Emotional Intelligence: A Novel Art of Success

What is emotional intelligence?

What is emotional intelligence (henceforward EI)? A question that used to spring into my head whenever I read about the 21^st learner but I have never been able to understand it from books and articles. The majority of written-down definitions and clarifications show that emotional quotient (henceforward EQ) is a panacea that can solve all these digital age issues. I thought that it was out of foolishness to think of it in such conceiving ways but time revealed new stories.

Emotional intelligence “refers to the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationship” (Goleman 1999, p 317). It assists the individual in becoming a self-aware person who is able of regulating his/her own feelings and emotional outbursts, in addition to motivating oneself and others, putting different empathy glasses and managing one’s personal and professional relationships. As a basic skill for success in life and leadership, this competence was known. Being emotionally intelligent suggests that this person can excel academically and professionally in which s/he possesses the abilities to make erudite decisions; work with people from different cultures; demystify obscurity that may occur while working with others; easily examine the nature of problems and consummately dissolve them, etc.

Narrowing down the scope to our educational context, EI is not a viral concept that students and teachers are well aware of. I have been one of those learners who were not wonted with this revolutionary and pivotal notion. It was like a serendipity, everything happened during a presentation where I discovered my lack of knowledge in this area of interest. Books tried in a teacherly manner to elucidate for me how to be emotionally intelligent ad nauseam but in vain. It is said that one cannot learn a thing without experiencing it. I truly believe in that as after realising the importance of EQ in this aeon, my way of presenting, living, working individually and collaboratively changed.

So, how can we develop and ameliorate our emotional intelligence?

Group work, collaboration, team tasks and anything that involves sharing, cooperating and communicating. Reading a bunch of books and articles would not transform you into an emotionally intelligent individual. It is just like language books: “Learn French in 7 days”, have you learned it, I am sure it is a NO. Parallelly, “EI in 8 Steps” “How to Become emotionally Intelligent with 7 Ingredients”. All these are just illusionary commercial titles. One can only develop his/her EI through experience and practice. Being a learner gave me the chance to work in groups several times and through all these years I could observe my self-progress after taking into consideration the importance of this emotionally based-competency. I can say that before I was just a nazi, ticky, arrogant, and workaholic student who wanted to flourish and blossom like a flower, careless of what would happen to the other members of the group. Anger and undemocratic decisions were also the lineaments of my attitudes towards others. I considered group work as the worst thing that can happen to an individual during his/her academic career. However, joining the emotional intelligence essentiality believers made me a new person who views collaborative tasks as a chance to practice and develop not only EI but other competencies. It is important to realise that EI can help group members develop shared collaborative aims and achievements. Being in this type of tasks, it is just like being on the battlefield where the fighter should show all his skills in order to win and become known among people and other fighters. The more battles he wins, the more skilled and renowned he becomes. The same goes for EI, the more one works in groups and collaborate with others, the more emotionally intelligent and competent he becomes. 

As final words, in addition to collaborative activities, presentations, workshops, talks, watching videos and even reading books can help sometimes but I am sure that being in a live-situation is the best way for enhancing and developing one’s EI. EI is prerequisite competency as the 21^st century is a new world of challenges that demands from everyone to become a deft and jack of all trades.