Individual Success and Importance of EI and CI

There are number of factors that contribute to the success of an individual. These factors include but are not limited to emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, proactive personality and level of commitment. The topics of emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence are popular for the researchers in the last few decades (Rao 2006). There are number of notations and abbreviations used for both such as CI, IQ, EI and EQ. This essay will use the abbreviations of EI and CI for emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence respectively. Kreitner and Kinicki (2013) refer to EI as the ability to manage oneself and social relationships in mature and constructive ways. CI is another form of intelligence that represents the experience of common intelligence at work like memory, analytical skills, vocabulary, academic success and multilingual skills (Schaie, 2001). It has been acknowledged that CI is important for achieving task goals that need individual wisdom, whereas emotional intelligence is a more relevant criterion for effectiveness where social interaction and leadership are required (Antonakis, Ashkanasy & Dasborough, 2009). This essay will argue that EI is more important than CI for an individual’s success, especially in an organisational environment. Next few paragraphs will support this argument based on the characteristics of EI that directly influence on an individual’s success such as teamwork, job satisfaction, performance and leadership.
It is difficult to define success because different people have different meanings for this terminology. Kreitner and Kinicki (2013) claim that it is not possible to define success for everyone because it depends on personal history, expectations, goals, dreams and opportunities. Therefore, this essay is based on the assumption that in the organisational environment first layer directors, managers and CEOs are considered as the most successful individuals. Collaboration and teamwork are very important for

References: Dunn S, 2012, Ignitepoint, viewed on 13 April 2012, Farh, CI, Seo M, Tesluk PE 2012, 'Emotional Intelligence, Teamwork Effectiveness and Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Job Context ', Journal of applied Psychology, vol Schaie, KW 2001, 'Emotional intelligence: Psychometric status and developmental characteristics—Comment on Roberts, Zeidner and Matthews (2001) ', Emotion, vol. 1, pp. 243–248.