Intelligent Quotient and Emotional Intelligence, which is better?

"IQ alone is not enough; EQ also matters. In fact, psychologists generally agree that among the ingredients for success, IQ counts for roughly 10% (at best 25%); the rest depends on everything else - including EQ." - Bressert, 2007

More often, we hear that IQ is the ultimate yardstick by which one can be measured for his or her intelligence, smartness, skillfulness and decision making powers. A child who gets top grades throughout his or her school days is hailed as the smartest person. On the other hand, there are some who believe that IQ is just a score that measures one aspect of a person's life and that higher IQ values alone cannot be the sole criteria to measure a person's success either in personal life or in professional. While this debate rages on forever, there are some pragmatists who feel that there should be a fine balance between the two so that a person can become successful both in handling emotions as well as perform in academic and professional career. So, which is better of the Two - Intelligent Quotient and Emotional Intelligence?

It is very hard to tell which the better of the two is! IQ is a scale to measure cognitive capacity which is a person's ability to think and reason. However, success and happiness in life relates directly to recognizing self-emotions and noting other's needs. Just going back in historic timeline suggests that almost all great leaders had a common ability: to guide, lead and inspire people by establishing a true emotional contact with them. Although, both IQ and EQ are complementary to each other, one can safely say that possessing a better EQ might be better than having a good IQ. Good EQ can elevate a person's spiritual status and lift him or her to a platform of societal achievement.

Life demands tougher decisions and timely actions from people. In addition, only those would succeed who are emotionally stronger and mentally tougher. Persons who are rich in EQ are more likely to succeed in any endeavors that relate to leading a happy and relaxed life. EQ is very important in a child's life because most of the children face anxiety and panic in their classroom and they should be motional stronger to handle crisis and problems of everyday life. Having a higher EQ would help them handle classroom and academics related anxiety very well.

The actual learning process of managing emotions starts right when children are in their infant stage. Their internal clock perceives any needs that are not met a dangerous and life threatening. Such situations might envelop them with very strong negative emotions. Automatically, their rudimentary but growing nervous system creates pathways that are highly negative and prone to mental stress and tension. These negative scenarios will eventually lead to emotionally weaker children who cannot cope with rigors of life in adulthood.

All wise men say that "A high IQ will get you through school, a high EQ will get you through life." In fact, EQ means developing an IQ is to know, understand and master techniques of how to lead life. EQ comes as a gift from the God. However, it must be nurtured and developed through the course of life right from childhood to teenage. Parents may need to tell their children that life does not look as easy as it seems. An informed child is far better than the uninformed one. When children are taught how to handle crisis and emergencies, they can manage their societal life well because they would have already known how to listen to people and understand their concerns. Children with better EQ values tend to learn more from their interactions with people around them.

In nutshell, although IQ is a big necessity in today's life, one cannot simply neglect many sided benefits of having better EQ. To lead a good life, higher EQ is necessary. On the other hand, to succeed in classroom and professional world, one may need to acquire better IQ. However, a person with an average IQ can lead good life provided he or she has higher EQ. On the contrary, a person who has high IQ value but very low EQ may not be able to manage emotions in a refined manner.

In the meanwhile, here is an excellent video that presents essential differences between IQ and EQ. This video is very simple to understand and learn many benefits. However, as mentioned before, both IQ and EQ are needed for a child to lead a productive life. One cannot simply ignore both of them.

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
By Daniel Goleman

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds" - the rational and the emotional - and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships, work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is an entirely new way to talk about being smart.