We’ve been discussing emotional intelligence; last week, we discussed The Components of Emotional Intelligence.
I must confess that personally, I have observed a slight improvement in the way I handle my emotions and the way I respond to the emotions of those around me.
Today, we will briefly examine cognitive intelligence, which is measured using the intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional intelligence.
We’ll touch on the differences, similarities and importance of both types of intelligence in leadership.
A Complex World
While we need emotional intelligence to understand our emotions and the emotions of people around us, we need cognitive intelligence to process information intelligently; it’s the ability to learn, reason and solve problems with the information we consume and master.
In a modern and complex world, we need a balance of emotions and intellect to reach great heights and maintain our growth and development.
It’s a necessary mixture of brains and hearts, with modern experts even placing emotional intelligence above cognitive intelligence because of its role in helping us strengthen our bonds with people and understand our emotions and how to channel them to the right things.
You can be brilliant. Genius-level smart with the biggest IQ, yet unable to understand the emotions of those around you, control your own emotions and know how to react and behave under stress.
There are brilliant folks out there who do not know how to interact with people.
They are not equipped with the necessary social skills to understand how people feel and how to respond to their emotions under different circumstances.
They are all about the information and facts and brainy stuff.
Leadership is more about what you know in your heart than what you know in your head.
A leader who maybe doesn’t have a PhD or bogus degrees and certifications and technical skills but has excellent social skills will do better than one who has all the advanced degrees, certifications and skills but doesn’t know a thing about social skills and how to manage emotions.
It’s a game of hearts and heads.
Cognitive Intelligence
“One’s abilities to learn, remember, reason, solve problems, and make sound judgments, particularly as contrasted with emotional intelligence.”
APA Dictionary Of Psychology.
Cognitive intelligence is simply the ability to use information the right way. It’s the yardstick that has been used to test people in academia and standardised mental testing for a long time until not too recently when emotional intelligence became part of the criteria for testing mental strength and fortitude.
Cognitive intelligence is all about your calculative problem-solving skills, storing things in your memory and recalling them when you need them, and reading a book and remembering most parts of it during an exam or test. It’s foundationlly about your mental capacity as an individual.
When considering cognitive intelligence, we want to look at;
- Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Quick learning and information retention abilities.
- Abstract reasoning and pattern recognition skills.
- Logical decision-making skills.
- Critical thinking and evaluation of complex ideas.
It’s more about quantitative and mental aptitude. On the other hand, Emotional intelligence is all about being smart with emotions.
Cognitive Intelligence Vs Emotional Intelligence
Let’s compare cognitive and emotional intelligence and see how they differ and how they relate.
Key Differences
Cognitive intelligence is primarily about how we process and handle information, our ability to solve complex problems, and the skill to learn new concepts and ideas. It’s about logic, reasoning and analysis. You can call it “Head Skills or Head Smart.”
Emotional intelligence is all about managing and handling emotions. It’s about how we handle our emotions and those of people around us. Call it “Heart Skills or Heart Smart.”
With cognitive intelligence, you can create plans and strategies and come up with brilliant ideas, but it’s emotional intelligence you need to help communicate those ideas to your team, motivate them to execute and help them steer through difficulties and challenges.
They both have their unique application in the world of leadership and our everyday life.
Key Similarities
The similarities between emotional and intelligence quotients are that both refer to a form of human intelligence that can be expressed, nurtured and developed.
They are both vital to building a long-lasting influence on our leadership lives and daily lives.
Which Is Better?
It’s more about balance.
If all you focus on is cognitive intelligence and how to logically navigate your way through life, you’ll come to a point where you’ll discover that you need more than just aptitude or logic to survive.
You’ll find that your emotions are potent and can actually determine success in virtually all significant aspects of your life.
You’ll be amazed to discover that you need people to work with you to get your ideas and plans out there and that to effectively work with these people, you must understand that they also have emotions that affect how they operate and for you to successfully interact with them you’ve to know how to respond to them when they are angry, sad, unhappy, excited, motivated or depressed.
So, these two work hand in hand.
There must be a healthy and balanced mix of emotional and cognitive intelligence to give leadership the right flavour.
How To Develop Emotional Intelligence
We’ve introduced the concept of emotional intelligence and talked about its components.
Today, we explored emotional and cognitive intelligence. In the next article, we will look into the practical ways of developing emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence can be developed. It’s not a genetic trait like the colour of our hair, the size of our ears or any other unchangeable genetic characteristic. It can be learned, nurtured and developed.
Next week, I will show you practical ways to develop emotional intelligence as leaders and everyday people.
I write about leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship every Monday at Care City. Though my writings target healthcare entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators, I feel entrepreneurs and leaders, in general, can learn from them.
Catch you next week Monday.
Have a productive week ahead. Bye.
