What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?

EQ is the ability to sense, understand and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions to facilitate high levels of collaboration and productivity (Cooper).

We are a product of our daily experiences. Each experience yields a set of emotions which ultimately drives our behavior. Dr. Justice firmly believes that emotions precede behavior – when one is happy, one smiles. It is not the other way around - one does not smile and become happy.  Therefore, focus on improving behavior, as well-intentioned as it may be, can be all for naught if not coupled with a focus on improving EQ. 

In April, 2003, The Harvard Business Review reported:

In hard times, the soft stuff often goes away. But emotional intelligence, it turns out, isn’t so soft. If emotional obliviousness jeopardizes your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be compassionate in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career. Emotional intelligence isn’t a luxury tool you can dispense with in tough times. It’s a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success.

Smart decision-making requires more than intellect measured by traditional IQ.  The good news is that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can be learned and measured.  This learning, however, occurs over an extended period of time – not in a simple one or two day seminar.  EQmentor can actually test and measure the increase of a person’s EQ over time, which yields quantifiable results! EQmentor’s unique parameters allow for point-of-need learning – the most critical requirement in adult learning.

The history of Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

• EQ has been studied since the 1930’s
• EQ was more widely introduced to corporate America in 1995 by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence
• Harvard Business Review published an EQ article in 1998 – one of its most read articles in the history of the publication
• Learning about EQ in books, seminars, and training courses has yielded minimal success. The only proven way to enhance one’s EQ is to (i) learn from someone who has walked your path and (ii) learn over a committed and extended period of time. For thousands of years, skills were learned only through an apprenticeship model where for example, a young carpenter honed his skills from years of working with a seasoned carpenter. And the learning was much more than making chairs and tables – it was about dealing with people too … it was about EQ!