+++ SMARTY PANTS NO LONGER NEEDED +++
Webster’s dictionary gives this definition of a “smarty pants” – a person who talks and behaves like someone who knows everything.
Do you know anyone like that?
Shhh, keep this answer to yourself.
I’ve been surrounded by people who would be considered a “smarty pants.”
It’s not that they were flaunting their “smarts.” That would be obnoxious. Arrogant. Right?
It’s simply that they were so knowledgable. Bright. They stood out heads and shoulders among the rest of us because of their academic brilliance.
Because of that, and no fault of their own, they were the unwelcomed guest in our gatherings.
Normally, it was done out of jealousy and even envy.
There were a couple of people that I went to high school with that I was jealous of simply because they talked and behaved like someone who knows a lot.
And for the most part, they did.
However, when it came to being social, some of them lacked the necessary skills. Some were also easily offended and when they were, it showed. They couldn’t hide it.
This is what amazed me.
I couldn’t understand how their “intellectual smarts” didn’t flow over into the other areas of their lives.
What I saw, on the other hand, were people including myself, who were not as intellectually smart, yet flourished in the other areas of life. This “flourishing” compensated for the academic deficits…not being a “smarty pants.”
After many years of not being able to understand why I finally understood.
Thanks to the writings of Dr. Daniel Goleman, Dr. Travis Bradberry, and others, that helped me realize what it was … emotional intelligence.
Does this mean that EI replaces intelligence or IQ?
No!
Because we live in an either/or world, most people tend to conclude with one or the other.
What if we could have both?
In some areas of life, I believe we can and this is one of those areas.
And because of that, I’ve coined the word Emotelligence to capture this “both” concept.
This is what I use to describe what made others successful who is not as high on the intelligence chart.
The question is, what is emotelligence?
Here’s the definition that I have put together with the help of some of the aforementioned people.
Emotelligence: is having the ability to recognize, understand and manage one’s emotions and the emotions of others and being better skilled at decision making, relationship management, and job performance.
As you can see I have combined a both/and approach.
You can hear my thoughts on why emotelligence is the new intelligence on this week’s podcast episode HERE.
My new book: The Emotelligent Leader – Succeed Where Others Failed, goes into more detail and outlines 7 essential traits of leadership as seen through the lens of emotional intelligence. And a whole lot more.
If you would like for me to speak about this concept and the benefits of creating an emotelligent culture, becoming an emotelligent leader, employee, parent, husband, wife, dad, mother, and person, period, connect with me HERE.