Emotional Intelligence

I learned about Emotional Intelligence yesterday from a couple of Winthrop University faculty colleagues--Barbara Burgess-Wilkerson and Chlotia Garrison.

Barbara and Chlotia teach in the College of Business Administration.

They noted at a professional conference that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and regulate the emotions of others.

You can be smart about journalism or history or government or science or chemistry or whatever, but if your EIq (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) is not sufficiently high, you won't be successful.

I had heard about IQ but never EIq before their presentation yesterday.

EI skills and competencies include: self awareness, accurate self assessment, self confidence, adaptability, innovativeness, self motivation, conscientiousness, commitment, self control, trustworthiness, achievement drive and optimism.

Here's our challenge as professors: How to infuse the teaching of EI competencies into our classes?

An aside, as they spoke, I wondered to myself: How can I become more emotionally intelligent?

What's your EIq?

Mine needs work.