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| Weekly Whims of a Wild Type |
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| April 13, 2006 |
Is Your EQ an EI? Empathy and Emotional Intelligence in Business
By Sonja Albrecht
EQSQ.com Guest Columnist
One of my stranger job interviews began with a question I hadn't thought to address in the cover letter: If I were an office supply, which one would I be? A paperclip, I said, the helpful little Microsoft Word icon popping to mind. Little did I know that my answer would land me the job.
Emotional Intelligence for the Corporate WorldThe office supply test is a rudimentary example of corporate emotional intelligence (EI) assessments, which measure EI as a predictor of work performance. Corporate recruiters have included EI tests ever since Harvard psychology PhD Daniel Goleman published his provocatively-titled bestseller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ for Character, Health and Lifelong Achievement.Maintaining an EQ SQ BalanceSo if you rank high on the EQ side of the EQ SQ test, does that spell corporate success? Will you score big in the interview? Well, maybe. A high EQ suggests that you're at home in the unpredictable realm of human relationships, where the rules of the game aren't spelled out and gut instincts count for a lot. But a strong SQ score could be just as promising for your career. While it helps to be able to interpret and react to the subtle or not-so subtle emotions in your business relationships, it's also important to grasp how everything fits together and coordinate it all to make sure that things run smoothly.A low EQ won't doom your marriage or your shot at that VP promotion. It might, however, suggest that you'd be better off fixing cars than chaperoning a group of sixth graders on a field trip. But beware of the interviewer who asks whether you "can sense the pulse of a group or relationship and state unspoken feelings." There is a right answer here, and that answer is yes.Know ThyselfTaking the EQ SQ tests at all speaks well of your emotional intelligence. You're taking a step toward one of EI's four core emotional competencies: self-awareness. Psychological research team Bradberry and Greaves justifies the importance of self-awareness thus: "Only when somebody is aware of their strengths and weaknesses can they maximize their potential." Here EQ, SQ, and EI are in full agreement. To quote the EQ SQ homepage, "Understanding how your mind works best naturally could enable you to make better study and career choices throughout life."But back to office supplies, emotional intelligence tests help recruiters gauge your abilities and fit for an organization. Had I known that the paperclip signified my ability to lead ("clip") a team (the "papers"), everything would have been clear. The paperclip is a unifier, which fit the kind of personality that this organization wanted. So after taking the EQ and SQ tests, the only questions you'll have left to answer is what career do I want and what kind of stationary item am I?Send this Whim to:
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Sources: Bradberry, T. and Greaves, J. (2005). The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book: How to Put Your EQ to Work. New York: Simon and Schuster. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ for Character, Health and Lifelong Achievement. New York: Bantam Books.
About the author
Sonja Albrecht is an empathizing female with a strange fondness for filling out forms. Despite this, she does not aspire to a career as an accountant.
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