Emotional intelligence (otherwise known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. Source.
Emotional intelligence has been defined, by Peter Salovey and John Mayer, as "the ability to monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour”. Source.
According to Daniel Goleman , an American psychologist who helped to popularise emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it: Source.
IQ, or intelligence quotient, is score derived from one of several standardised tests designed to assess an individual's intelligence.
IQ is used to determine academic abilities and identify individuals with off-the-chart intelligence or mental challenges. Source.
EQ is different in that it is much more about ones ability to engage with, and understand other human beings, as well as themselves. It’s how well they can work in a team, and within their own mind.
IQ is about ones ability to learn conceptual ideas, apply information skills and filter irrelevant information. EQ on the other hands is about how one feels, perceives, and assesses emotions in themselves and in others. It’s about understanding what drives those emotions / feelings, and what they mean.
EQ is important as it allows us to navigate life with an understanding of ourselves and those around us. It allows for us to take a step back and witness emotions as they appear and not be consumed by them, allowing for more thoughtful decisions to be made, and actions to be taken.
It’s much more useful to FEEL an emotion than to BE an emotion. EQ is our ability to distinguish between being consumed by the emotion and witnessing it.