John D. Mayer, co-formulator of the Theory of Emotional Intelligence with Peter Salovey, defines Emotional Intelligence as…the ability to accurately perceive your own and others' emotions; to understand the signals that emotions send about relationships; and to manage your own and others' emotions.

Interest in emotional intelligence, popularized by Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ (1995), has resulted in an explosion of research, books, assessments and applications, particularly for leaders.

Background

Psychologist Reuven BarOn is considered a pioneer in EI (1985). His research into which factors determine a person's ability to be effective in life revealed that IQ was not necessarily a predictor of success. He identified a series of factors that seemed to influence success and coined the term "emotional quotient" (EQ). To assess those factors, he developed a tool, the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (BarOn EQ-i®), which has been tested and validated on over 85,000 people.

High Performing Systems, Inc., uses the BarOn EQ-i instrument. To date, BarOn has gathered more scientifically validated data about emotional intelligence than anyone in this field.

Implications for Leadership – Read More