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Emotional Intelligence – What It Is And What It Can Do For You And Your Business


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Abstract
Abeceder associate Sue Heward starts a series of articles in which she will describe current HR management concepts in everyday language and provide some practical ways in which you can apply them at work.

Article
Where it came from.

The term emotional intelligence has been popular since Daniel Goleman’s published his book, Emotional Intelligence in 1995. Since then, a plethora of materials have been developed around the subject, including assessment instruments, self-help books and training programmes. As a relatively new subject area, although there is an acceptance of the overall themes, there is also an ongoing discussion and disagreements about the details of its characteristics.

Emotional intelligence is based on a considerable amount of research and is, worthy of our consideration.

It was developed by Goleman using psychological research conducted by Howard Gardner, Peter Salovey, John Mayer and David C. McClelland in the 1980s and 1990s, into the relationship between intelligence and competence. It also used findings from clinical research into the impact of brain injuries on peoples’ capacities and capabilities.

What is it?

Emotional Intelligence refers to, “the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.” (Goleman)

The underlying notion is that there are two different types of intelligence – intellectual and emotional – demonstrated by different activity within the brain.

The intellect is based in the neocortex, the more recently developed part of our brain, whereas the emotional workings of our brain are based lower in the brain, in the ancient subcortex. Goleman used previous research to produce 5 basic emotional and social competencies which constitutes emotional intelligence:

  • Self-awarenessThis includes knowing your own abilities, having self-confidence and being aware of your own feelings and how this impacts on your decision making.

  • Self-regulation Being able to control your emotions so they don’t interfere with tasks or goals and being able to recover from emotional stress

  • Motivation To use our preferences to pursue goals, take the initiative, improve our skills and be resilient when faced with setbacks

  • Empathy Understanding other peoples’ viewpoint and how they are feeling and a desire to create rapport with a wide range of people

  • Social skills Accurately reading social situations and being able to interact successfully. Also to be able to influence others, settle disputes and work towards cooperation and teamwork.


Emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically. Whereas IQ changes little after our teenage years, emotional intelligence seems to be largely learned and continues to develop through life, as we learn from experience. As a result we can also learn to be better at emotional intelligence.

Why is emotional intelligence important to organisational life?

The emphasis of Goleman’s first book was to describe the impact of the findings on emotional intelligence on education. However, it also struck a chord with numerous people in both public and private organisations.

There was a recognition that emotional intelligence may help describe some key factors required by people in today’s business environment, in order to produce what Goleman describes as “star performers”. Some of the current issues faced by both employers and employees include:

  • In leaner organisations, the people who remain are more accountable and more visible, so any problem areas are clear to see.

  • There is recognition that a high level of IQ and technical skills does not guarantee successful performance. For instance, an IT expert may be brilliant technically, but may not be able to use emotional competencies to communicate or persuade clients and colleagues.

  • People now realise that no job is guaranteed for life. Loyalty to an organisation or having intellectual excellence or technical skills does not guarantee you promotion, or a job. In an uncertain job market people need transferable skills to do with adaptability, resilience and initiative.

  • Organisations are constantly concerned with what contributes to successful leadership. Goleman quotes a series of pieces of research to show that, in general, emotional competencies play a far larger role in superior job performance than do cognitive abilities and technical expertise i.e. Lyle Spencer’s analysis of 286 organisations demonstrated that of 21 generic competencies that contributed to successful performance, all but 3 were based on emotional intelligence.


In summary, having abilities to adapt to change, to contribute to teambuilding, to build rapport and influence others – factors that were of little importance to your success in the past, are now crucial, particularly for those in managerial or senior positions.

How can you use emotional intelligence in your business?

You may be someone who is sceptical about the emphasis on “soft” skills.

However, the comprehensive research findings are persuasive. If it is important to you to ensure your business remains competitive and develops “star performers” you may like to consider taking the following actions:

  • Look at your “star performers”. Identify what distinguishes them from other staff. These may include knowledge and experience, but it is also likely to include personal and interpersonal skills, such as how they interact with clients and colleagues.

  • Once these are identified, you can recruit against these factors and also use them in performance reviews.

  • Increase your own self-awareness about your emotional intelligence.

  • Train yourself and others, to build the skills of emotional intelligence. Goleman outlines a process for this, in his book, Working with Emotional Intelligence. It does require organisations to have processes to identify the skills an individual needs to improve in. Also, that there are opportunities, both off the job and then on the job, where individuals can practise these skills, together with ongoing feedback and recognition of progress made.




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