What is Emotional Intelligence?

The concept of emotional intelligence has become a very hot topic of psychological research in recent years, especially in regards to how it affects today’s workforce. Businesses are essentially people, so anything that impacts the effectiveness of people’s minds also impacts the businesses they run or work for. In fact, many experts now believe that a person’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) may be more important than their IQ and is certainly a better predictor of success, quality of relationships, and overall happiness.

It’s interesting to note how the concept of emotional intelligence has evolved over the years, from its inception as something called “social intelligence” all the way back in the 1930’s, to “emotional strength” in the mid-20^th century, to its current terminology, “emotional intelligence.”

But whatever we call it, emotional intelligence is, in layman’s terms, our level of ability to:

Recognize and understand our emotions and reactions (self-awareness)

Manage, control, and adapt our emotions, mood, reactions, and responses (self-management)

Harness our emotions to motivate ourselves to take appropriate action, commit, follow-through, and work toward the achievement of our goals (motivation)

Discern the feelings of others, understand their emotions, and utilize that understanding to relate to others more effectively (empathy)

Build relationships, relate to others in social situations, lead, negotiate conflict, and work as part of a team (social skills)

So, why is Emotional Intelligence Important?

Leadership – The ability to understand what motivates others, relate in a positive manner, and to build stronger bonds with others in the workplace inevitably makes those with higher emotional intelligence better leaders. An effective leader can recognize what the needs of his people are, so that those needs can be met in a way that encourages higher performance and workplace. An emotionally savvy and intelligent leader is also able to build stronger teams by strategically utilizing the emotional diversity of their team members to benefit the team as a whole.

Emotional intelligence is still not completely understood, but what we do know is that emotions play a very critical role in the overall quality of our personal and professional lives, more critical even than our actual measure of brain intelligence. While tools and technology can help us to learn and master information, nothing can replace our ability to learn, manage, and master our emotions and the emotions of those around us.

What do you think? Do share your views!!

Ref: Lifehack

 

The rules for the capitalisation of letters in written English

• Capitalise the first word of every sentence.
• (see emboldened letter of first word of this sentence), and every new line.
• Capitalise the first word of quoted sentences.
• He said to her, “You have betrayed my trust.”
• Capitalise proper nouns.
• I want to holiday in the Himalayas.
• Capitalise words derived from proper nouns.
• I want to study English and history in college.

‘English’ and ‘history’ here serve as the subjects that the speaker wants to study in college, so they are both fundamentally common nouns; however, the subject title ‘English’ is derived from the proper noun ‘English’, which refers to the language. Hence, it must be capitalised.

Capitalise a person’s title when

   - it precedes his/her name,

       President Sharma

   - when it follows his/her name on an address/signature line,

       Regards,

       Sharma, President

   - AND when used as a direct address,

       What is the verdict, President?

    - Do not capitalise when the title is used after the holder’s name to describe him/her.

       ‘I call this meeting to order,’ said Sharma, the president of the club.

Capitalise cardinal directions when they are used to refer to specific locations.

       I am headed to the South this summer.

Capitalise the first and last words in titles of publications, and all words in between except for

    - Little words like a, an, the, but, as, if, and, or and nor, and

    - Prepositions, regardless of length.

       One Hundred Years of Solitude

       War and Peace

       Down and Out in Paris and London

Happy learning!!

Know how to Use the Word “Actually” in English

The word “actually” is a false cognate. The word “actually” has several different uses in English and is very common in spoken language. As we will see, it is an important word to learn how to use because it allows you to change your mind about something that you say.

Actually meaning “Thinking again”

This is the most important meaning of “actually” to learn how to use properly. If you say something that you don’t mean and want to take it back, or if you say something incorrectly and want to correct yourself, you can use actually at the beginning of your sentence to signify that you changed your mind. This is similar to how alias is used in Portuguese. For example:

“Do you have a pen I could borrow?”
“No I don’t. Wait! Actually I have one right here.”

“Alberto Santos-Dumont was the American inventor who first invented the airplane. Actually, no, he was Brazilian.”

Actually meaning “In Fact”

This use of the word “actually” means “in fact” and is used to point out something that was unexpected. This usage is similar to how na verdade is used in Portuguese. For example:

“Are you American?”
“Actually, I’m Australian.”

Actually meaning “Really”

The word “actually” can be used interchangeable with the word “really” in some cases, similar to how realmente is used in Portuguese. It is used to emphasize that something someone has said or done is surprising.  For example:

“Did you hear that Isaac is in Saudi Arabia?”
“I heard, but I can’t believe he was actually able to get a visa to go there.”

“Did you hear what Mary said to Joe at the party last weekend?”
“I can’t believe she actually said that, that was really mean.”

Actually as a “softener”

If you are giving someone unpleasant or unwanted information, “actually” can be used to soften the blow of what you tell them. It is similar to para ser sincero in Portuguese. For example:

“Are you coming to the party next week?”
“No, I have to work actually.”

“Dad can we go to Disneyland?”
“No we can’t. We ran out of money paying for your college actually.”

“You’re still coming tomorrow, right?”
“I won’t be able to make it, actually.”

Thanks to Josh who is an English teacher in Belo Horizonte. He helps foreigners learn Portuguese and teach English in Brazil .