We all know really smart business women (and men) who, regardless of how brilliant they appear to be, are not successful. These smart people just cannot seem to get out of their own way! So clearly, if all it takes is a high I.Q. to be successful in business, something else is going on here. Business success requires much more than just intellectual intelligence. In fact, according to Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence” (E.I.), your I.Q. is responsible for only 25% of your success in business and life. The other skill you need for success, and it is present 75% of the time, is what Daniel Goleman has identified as one’s Emotional Intelligence. So what exactly is Emotional Intelligence?
Succinctly, Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) is the ability to relate to others – to make a significant and meaningful connection with people. Emotional Intelligence is at the very core of my work as a relationship expert because emotional intelligence is the ability to create relationships. The ability to relate to others is at the very heart of success. Think about this for a moment. Don’t we all prefer to hire a person whom we like? Don’t we all prefer to work with someone we like? And don’t we like to surround ourselves with people that other people like, both professionally and personally? Any successful salesperson lives by the “know, like and trust” motto. In other words, any successful salesperson will have a very high Emotional Intelligence (E.I.). These successful sales people seem to be able to create relationships with others who will choose to buy from them, other than their competitors because, if the truth be told, the buyer just plain likes them better.
Here is the really fabulous news about Emotional Intelligence. Unlike our Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.), which is a relatively fixed number throughout our lifetime, our Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) is a number which can change exponentially over time. In other words, we can learn very specific relationship skills that will dramatically increase our Emotional Intelligence. The ability to increase our emotional intelligence is as critical to our business success, as is the ability to evolve and learn new and very specific business skills throughout the course of our careers.
So the next time you find yourself struggling in business, and you truly believe you have the business acumen to succeed, re-direct your energies and take a long, hard look at your Emotional Intelligence and see what relationship skills you may be lacking. In the final analysis, it is the ability to create, nurture and sustain relationships that is at the heart of success in business and life.
The Place For Relationship Tools For Success In Business and Life,
Dr. Patty Ann
www.relationshiptoolbox.com
www.relationshiptoolbox.com/blog
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