Tanishka - Week #10 - The Power of Emotional Intelligence
In the academically rigorous environment we live in here in the Bay Area, intellectual intelligence is valued more than ever. However, something that is equally, maybe even more important, is the power of emotional intelligence over you and the others around you.
Academic intelligence is thoroughly vital to the classroom and the success of your future endeavors; something equally as true to securing your future is your mastery of being emotionally intelligent. You never want to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, or say something when it is too late to take it back. Emotional intelligence is crucial to relationships, friendships, and the stressful and sometimes harsh environments of the workplace. This type of intelligence constitutes a wide range of characteristics, including managing your own stress, diffusing conflicts, and overcoming challenges. Networking and connections is essential to securing job opportunities and makes the process much easier through your work career, and making smart choices as well as being confident about yourself is a big factor in determining who gets the job and who doesn’t.
In fact, most people with a high IQ also contain a high EI. Stated clearly by Harvard Business School, emotional intelligence is one of the “most sought-after interpersonal skills in the workplace.” In the article “Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership” by Lauren Landry, although academic intelligence can be for certain subjects and professions, EI is needed for every and any type of field. For leadership positions in particular, technical skills are the “‘entry-level requirements for executive positions,”’ but EI is now also a “‘must have.”’ Harvard Business School entitles the four components of emotional intelligence, specifically self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. In stressful situations, your reaction to the situation could matter more than what is actually happening; keeping your emotions under control and assuring others based on their emotions are the characteristics of a true leader.
There are also many ways to enhance your emotional intelligence, including paying attention to your emotions, journaling and being present in your feelings, and practicing active listening in collaborative environments.
In all, emotional intelligence is vital to your leadership skills and your career as well, and is debatable to be as important as technical skills.
The 4 Components of Emotional Intelligence, https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership, Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
Your comparison of the importance of technical skills and emotional intelligence in leadership admissions reminded me of an article or post I read about the process of holistic admissions! I can’t remember where I found it (if I do, I’ll try to link it later), but from what I remember, it said that good grades, test scores, etc. are only base prerequisites for college admissions, as they can be used to determine which students can handle the academic rigor of that college. However, since most students already meet those prerequisites, the deciding factor in most admissions processes is their individual personality and traits that make them unique. Likewise, the deciding factor in job interviews for most leadership positions is not technical skill, but rather sociability and how well one works with others. I’m going to try to keep this post in mind when writing my college admissions essays next year.
ReplyDeleteHey Tanishka, your blog is so interesting! While academic intelligence is definitely important for furthering our academic journey and getting into a good college, I completely agree that the mastery of being emotionally intelligent is equally as important. Being able to manage your own stress, diffuse conflicts, and deal with overcoming challenges is crucial in life, and can only be done with a certain level of emotional intelligence. No matter how smart a person is academically, having the skills to do things like networking and establishing connections is essential for important stepping stones in our lives later on, such as securing a job. The article you linked in your blog was also a very interesting read! Thank you for writing this blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Tanishka. Your argument for why emotional intelligence is just as important if not even more important than regular intelligence is very convincing. Although I was aware of the concept of emotional intelligence and its importance in life, I usually associated its importance with that of public and work settings. But I like how you connected its importance to school currently, specifically to something as relevant as college admissions. It makes sense that having charisma and other positive personality traits would make you more appealing to colleges, but I was not aware that colleges like Harvard Business School had a whole breakdown of what parts of emotional intelligence they desired. While I understand how self-management, relationship management, and social awareness can be ascertained by the colleges through looking for broader things like leadership skills and experience; I am not sure as to how self-awareness can be demonstrated to colleges, unless there is an essay question that asks for faults. But I do imagine that self-awareness is important for ourselves, and can therefore improve our chances by improving ourselves. Overall, I appreciate the research you put into this, and I like how you gave some possible ways to help our emotional intelligence towards the end.
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