Be Mains Ready

• Define Emotional Intelligence (EI) and mention its components
• Examine its utility at different levels by stating reasons for its importance
• Conclude in an appropriate manner

Answer

Emotional intelligence can be defined as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to distinguish among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.

There are five components of Emotional intelligence as given by Daniel Goleman i.e. Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Internal Motivation, Empathy, Social Skills.

Utility of Emotional Intelligence at different levels

At Individual level

The ability to perform cognitive tasks is augmented by the ability to monitor and by being aware of one’s own emotions. At the professional level, which involves inter-personal or public interface, the service delivery effectiveness is closely related to one’s emotional intelligence. As a public servant, it is imperative to have emotional intelligence for better targeting of policies, maintaining balance in personal and professional life, and decision making stress management. This will strengthen the foundational values for Civil Services i.e. integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.

At work team level

Emotional Intelligence is a strong determinant of performance in team contexts too. The interaction in a team can be smooth and easy or strained and conflict ridden. Emotions work as a binding agent. EI of leaders as well as of the members is a determinant of team cohesiveness that determines performance and productivity.

A person with high EI becomes a force multiplier, he knows how to motivate people, how to manage conflict situations, how to bring opposing parties to the middle ground. E.g.- Gandhi Ji was able to mobilize the common people of India for the freedom struggle by using his emotional intelligence.

At organizational level

Organizational Emotional Intelligence is defined as “emotional capability” to acknowledge, recognize, monitor, distinguish, and attend to its members’ emotions. Accurate social perception allows leaders to gain considerable knowledge of other group members’ attitudes, goals, and interests, which is influenced by identifying, understanding, and addressing members’ unstated needs and creating goals. E.g.- Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata wrote a letter to his employees on the occasion of the anniversary of Tata Group and called them ‘inheritors and custodians of the Trusts' and showed his belief in them for making a sustainable change in society. By doing so he showed a high level of connectedness with the employees and recognised their efforts.

In this way, the importance of emotional intelligence can be seen at different levels which enables an individual, a team or an organization to be more productive and coherent.