Emotional intelligence matters

Interest in Emotional Intelligence (EI) took off in 1995 with Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It can Matter More than IQ”. Since then, the interest in EI has grown and now it is seen as just as important, if not even more important at predicting success in the workplace.

Perhaps you have heard a lot about emotional intelligence but haven’t quite got to grips with what it really means, or perhaps you wonder how it can be applied to create a happier, healthier and more successful working environment.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the “ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).

The four key components of emotional Intelligence are:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Social awareness
• Relationship management

So what?

People with high EI harness these skills to make better decisions; solve problems; resolve conflict and build effective relationships in the workplace.

However, people who are low on EI fail to realise that their repeated and
unhelpful unconscious patterns of behaviour continue to sabotage their
efforts to improve productivity and teamwork.

Can EI be developed?

The good news is that EI can be developed through coaching and training which can help you develop more robust and effective relationships, solve problems using both logic and emotion as well as develop greater emotional self-control, resilience; flexibility and optimism to achieve better outcomes. As a PA you work with a wide variety of stakeholders and it is important to develop these skills and take your workplace relationships to a higher level of effectiveness. The Excelling as a PA in a Changing FE Landscape workshop on 23 October will help you to do this.