Test Your Emotional Quotient

We have mentioned in an earlier post (EI, the ultimate success factor) that Emotional Intelligence is the most crucial factor of success in today’s world. Here is a simple test to see where you stand in Emotional Quotient. I do not claim originality for most of the questions.  It has been adopted from the researchers in EI (with a few of my own original ones.) Look for the rating at the bottom once you complete answering the questionnaire.

Answer the following questions (tick the correct answer)

1. I am confident about myself, my abilities and talents  (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)

2.  I am a good judge of others and myself (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)

 3.  In my circle of friends, I know how each one feels about the others  (1.Strongly Agree  2.  Agree, 3. Disagree, 4 strongly disagree.) 

4. When I am upset, I can know why I am upset. ( 1. Strongly Agree  2.  Agree, 3. Disagree, 4 strongly disagree.)

5. If I make a mistake, I often criticize and find fault with myself and my abilities. (1. Often, sometimes, rarely, almost never)

 6.  I am comfortable in a highly emotional situation (Strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)

7. I do not like confrontations as I Become very anxious. I try to avoid it.  (Strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree)

8.  I am usually aloof and have very few intimate friends (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)

7. I have a habit of overreacting to minor problems. (Strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)

8. When given an unpleasant task, (1.make a plan to complete it on time, 2. Try to do it fast and get it over, 3. Put it off until last 4. Never do it.)

9. If there is a heated argument in a meeting (1. Try for a short break 2. Stop responding to the other, 3. Apologize to end the problem, 4. Start insulting the other)

10. When I make a decision, (I rely on my instinct and judgment, 2. rely on others’ directions, 3. Go for the easy option 4. Use random method or guesswork)

11. Your instructor gives poor grade for project work you took a long time (you feel the instructor is stupid or unjust, 2.  Criticize your work 3. Persuade the instructor to give you more 4. Find out the mistakes and try to improve in future)

12. One of your friends had a big failure. (1.spend time with him, let him express his feelings while you offer support 2. You remain in his house but avoid discussing about it.3. Ask him to go out and forget about it. 4. Leave him to himself

13. One of your co-workers has nasty habit. (1. You tell him about it . 2. Complain to the superior.3. Talk about it to others. 4. Suffer the problem silently)

14. You lose your temper with your family, colleagues and others (1.Often  2.Sometimes, 3.Occasionallly. 4. Never)

15. You think and feel about your failures (1.Often 2.sometimes. 3 occasionally 4. Never

Rating:

For questions 1-6,& 9-10 Give 3 marks for 1, 2marks for 2, 1 mark for 3 and o mark for 4.

For questions  7-8 and 11-15, give 0 mark for 1, 1 mark for 2, 2 marks for 3, 3 marks for 4

If you score 35-40 or more your Emotional Quotient is high. If the score is below 20 it is low.  Note those you lack and correct yourself and do the test after say 1 year to see your improvement. 

Why Brilliant guys fail at the workplace?

Having a brilliant academic background is great but it may not be helpful if one plans to work in the real world with real people with all their foibles and faults. You need the ability to work in a team to succeed.   If a brilliant guy has poor social relations skills and cannot cope with stress, he fails.

They are highly qualified but not competent. They may mechanically execute a task but lack that something needed to work in a team. Or, they may be technically sound but are not able to neither control their emotions nor understand their team members properly.

Their work output may be superlative too. But they are not easy to get along with and they keep upsetting others. They may fail to solve problems and understand others’ thinking patterns. They may not easily adapt to situations nor change behavior as and when required. They may not be optimistic in the face of adversity.

This is a classic case of IQ vs EQ.. With the challenges of today, I feel being a good EI person will only take you further.  

Is the Academic world designed, almost everywhere, to remove imagination, and creativity from the students? Why aren’t they exposed to different social settings and taught ways to cope with stress?   

Communication and attitude affect the performance of high IQ people in the corporate world. They are poor communicators and they have a poor attitude, often arrogant. In the corporate world we need to work as a team and communicate effectively our views and hear alternative views; we need to be open. Bookish knowledge is not practical knowledge. This is one of the main drawbacks for those who come from countries like India and they often fail in the organizational or corporate environment. One small project work in the end of the year is all that they do to get practical knowledge and it is highly insufficient.   

 A good percentage of students learn for the sake of learning and they put very little effort into a course. They study to get high grades; once the exams are over they forget everything. They have not appropriated the knowledge imparted.  

When we are dealing with people let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion. The universities do not equip students to tackle emotions. Brilliance measured by tests alone may not succeed in the workplace. 

What are you now?

Many thinkers stress that we make what we are. That we are totally free to grow and develop.
But do we have the same opportunities, the same  IQ, and emotional level?
Does one's early childhood affect one's growth?
French philosopher Rousseau said all are free and equal. Are we that equal?
There are many born blind, crippled, deaf, mute and feeble minded or with the propensities for sicknesses and mental disorders including madness.
A child born in a nation like USA, UK,Germany Norway, Sweden or Australia have millions of times better inopportuneness to develop and grow than one from Somalia, Ethiopia , Bangladesh or India. The latter may not even survive childhood. They will not go to school and will be malnourished and sick.
One's biology, the structure of the grey matter (both inherited)  and early childhood experiences  do affect one's responses and behaviour. Success very much depends on one's EQ and EI which, in turn, are nurtured in the early days of one's life.  If  parents do not love you or if they fight all the time leaving you to fend for yourself, you will not develop like another one who is loved,, accepted and given proper care.  The home environment has a say in determining how you grow, keep your relationships, interact with others and meet life's challenges. Parents and home make your personality, complexes (inferiority, superiority or any other), security or insecurity, emotional stability or instability and decide the patterns of social interaction. The inherited biology (of the grey matter) and home environment draw a clear blue print for your life. As there are billions of permutations and combinations in what one gets though the genes and the types of homes, each individual has a totally different potency to develop and grow or fail.
In an ideal condition, one gets a good physique, an above average or high IQ, good biology and brain structure coupled with well settled, loving parents in a good social set-up. Contrast this with a poor child born with a low IQ in a slum to quarrelling parents!
Think about yourself and see how your lineage and home environment have influenced your life.
Why are most people average or failures? The majority have a poor  IQ, EQ, and SI(social intelligence) and they lack the material means to thrive.  

How many have the persistence like Edison, Colonel Sanders, Henri Ford  or the will of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi or Martin Luther King?
How many can overcome failures like Abraham Lincoln,? How many of us can challenge adversities like Helen Keller?
How many will dare like Mark Ingles (a double amputee who scaled Mount Everest)?
How many of us has the IQ of Albert Einstein?
How many can sing like Jim Reeves or Michael Jackson?
How many can paint like Picasso or Michael Angelo?
How many has the bodily adornments of Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears or Brad Pitt?
The great ones seems to be more born than made.
We need not be envious of those who are lucky (they did not ask for it) or lie down licking our wounds. The world is not bothered whether you were born poor or rich, with high or low IQ, in a home of love or strife. It wants you to win; it goes with the winners only. No arguments please. No questions entertained. That is how the game of life is played.
Who wants to know your history? The world does not want to know where you plan to reach.What are you now? That is all what counts. If you don't want to come up that is your problem. There might be some  limits for you but you can, by sheer work, reach at least the top of that limit.