EQ isn’t just a “designer” fad that’s going to fade, and many are interested to see what directions it will take in the coming years. Here are some of my predictions:
1.Emotional Intelligence will become a household word. Parents will actively teach their children emotional intelligence along with their manners, chores and life skills. Children will learn to accept and welcome their emotions, talk about them, label them correctly, manage them, and choose appropriate responses.
2.Parents will demand the inclusion of an EQ program in day care, public and private schools, and universities. They will demand EQ credentials for nannies, childcare providers, youth workers, spiritual leaders, and teachers.
3.We will move beyond diversity to multiculturalism; working and living with people from different backgrounds and cultures. We will therefore have to rely more on the universal "language" of emotions to reach commonality and understand what’s going on. We will have to rely more on nonverbal communication. 70-90% of communication even between two people who share a mother language, is nonverbal.
4.One person will ask another person "How are you today?" and instead of not listening to the predictable and meaningless response of "fine," they will listen carefully as the other person tells them how they are feeling emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. The person asked the question will know how he or she feels in all these areas and be able to articulate it, and the listener will understand the information and know how to use it. It will smooth the inner world for each of them, and therefore smooth the working in the outer world.
5.As globalization and the rapid exchange of masses of information continues to increase, we reach critical mass, and have to rely on our intuition and nonverbal communication skills.
6.From this massive cultural blending and exchange (culture is learned; not carved in stone) we will extract the health-promoting practices and adopt them. We will wipe out what Mother Theresa termed the worst disease on earth – “the isolation in the West.” People in the West will no longer be ashamed to “admit” they “need people”. (And we do not need people to be in the same room with us, we need emotional connection with people and healthy interdependence.) We’ll be looking at why wellness statistics in some other countries surpass ours in the US and adopting some new customs!
7.The “family” will expand. Proverbs around the world tell us that the feet go more easily where the heart is. Predictions for the future are that nearly half of working adults will be both single AND over 40. Businesses will recognize the need for a more emotionally intelligent workplace, as un-paired adults working longer hours dominate the work scene, who will need more emotional and social connection at the office. Corporations will understand the benefits of establishing an emotionally intelligent culture in their office.
8.Science and Spirituality Blend. Alliances such as the work the Dalai Lama has done with brain researchers at the University of Wisconsin will be commonplace. Technology will improve and there will be more and better ways to measure and quantify data about emotions and the brain.
9.The Left and the Right will Also Meet. People will actively work to develop both their left and their right brains, and the connection between the two. There will be programs for children and adults available in the schools, at work, through agencies, coaches, and faith organizations that teach how to do this.
10. Intuition becomes mainstream. Because the volume of factual information will be overwhelming, and the problems more complex, we will rely more on intuition, an EQ competency.
11.Immune deficiency diseases and stress will continue to increase, so there will be an emphasis on the wellness benefits of emotional intelligence. The so-called "negative" emotions weaken our immune system, which is our health. Therefore understanding emotions and emotional self-management is crucial. Treating the "emotional" component of a disease or illness will be accepted; it will be the norm. Medical care in the US will be moving toward the Eastern model with its emphasis on prevention. Insurance will cover EQ-type programs. “Stress management” program s will be replaced by EQ Programs. Individuals will be given a discount on their insurance for developing their EQ, just as we are now given a discount on our home insurance for installing a fire alarm, or a discount on our car insurance for taking defensive driving or having air bags. Resilience, an EQ competency is the air bag for our stress tolerance.
12.The legal system will incorporate this knowledge. Court-mandated programs for repeat offenders will broaden from "anger management" and "Twelve step" programs to include, or be replaced by, EQ programs.
13.The statement that "anger kills" will be taken seriously, particularly the effect of anger on men. Studies regarding emotional management, heart attacks and men, such as the one at Duke University Medical Center and be incorporated into wellness programs.
14.The average EQ profile for men and women is the same, but they differ in how they do with the different competencies. With increased EQ abilities and better communication between the sexes, along with recognition of the vast health benefits of a viable marriage that nurtures both parties (and the children), the divorce rate will finally stabilize and start to diminish.
15.The use of prescription medications for emotional illness will start to decline as people learn how to manage their emotions better, experience less stress because others do as well, and atmospheres at home and at work are achieved that are conducive to wellness.
16.Corporations will have active anti-mobbing programs and schools will have anti-bullying programs.
17.The senior worker will be highly sought after because EQ will be valued, and EQ generally increases with age. Resilient seniors with good EQ skills are committed to lifelong learning. Their continued ability to 'build' their brains combined with their EQ competencies makes them relatively stress-tolerant, and excellent leaders, managers and team-players. With increased wellness, many will chose not to retire. Work will continue to be team-oriented, and at least one "senior" will be considered obligatory on any team.
18.Business recruiters will replace the term “soft skills” with “EQ skills” and demand them in candidates.
19.EQ courses will be a mandatory part of the core curriculm for medical school, law school, and business school. EQ seminars will be offered for CEUs for doctors, lawyers, teachers, psychologists, and other professionals.
20.We will welcome a Diversity of Psychological Type. Introversion will be recognized as a legitimate personality style and living and work conditions will be adjusted to accommodate both introverts and extraverts.
Interest in EQ is international. In fact, in a recent group of EQ coaches I trained (through Internet and teleclasses), we had participants from Bermuda, New Zealand, and China as well as different parts of the US. I routinely receive inquiries from all over the world. It’s not uncommon to hear clients and coaches say, “This is the missing piece.’” It may well be the glue that holds together the pieces of our world in the coming globalization and multi-enculturation.
French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said many years ago: “The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we will harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” To rework it a little, it could be that we will be able to harness, for the betterment of all the people in the world, the positive energies of well-managed emotions and better health.
About the Author
Susan offers coaching, Internet courses and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your personal and professional development. Visit her on the web at www.susandunn.cc and mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for information on coaching and EQ coach training program, or FREE ezine.