An Introduction to Emotional Intelligence

Explore how your emotional intelligence influences how you perform, build relationships and make good quality decisions based on emotions. What is it to be the best human being that you can be. Emotional intelligence is an aspect of you as a whole person affecting your work life and your personal life.

Your emotional intelligence is your ability to combine your thinking with your feelings in order to build good quality relationships and to make good authentic decisions. It is managing who you are in the moment to meet your emotional needs through conscious choice and is fundamental to leading a full, rich and rewarding life. Emotional intelligence is different from IQ - cognitive intelligence, and offers a different perspective on success and performance at work.

There are many parts to emotional intelligence - it predicts effectiveness and can be changed and developed. Research suggests that emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence (IQ) are unconnected: you can have a high level of emotional intelligence but a low level of cognitive intelligence, and vice versa. Your emotional intelligence is your responsibility.

How you react and respond to events is governed by your emotional intelligence. You can work to develop your emotional intelligence, but this is not easy. This course explores little known ways that emotional intelligence can be used in the workplace by investigating what it is and what it is not.