In many ways, our simple definition doesn’t say enough. Emotional intelligence works more like a construct, a comprehensive model that is used to understand how cognitions and emotions impact both personal and interpersonal behaviors. If you are emotionally intelligent, then you are self-aware, you know yourself well, you know your strengths, and you are clear about what you need to develop. You manage impulsive, unpleasant, and disruptive emotions that often lead to unwanted behaviors. Furthermore, you also know how to tap into self-motivating emotions such as confidence, passion, enthusiasm, desire, happiness, and anticipation. You understand other people, how to influence people, how to lead people through times of change, how to handle conflict, and how to build high-performance teams.

Emotional Intelligence, the X-factor

Emotional intelligence, then, is the X-factor that separates those who are successful at managing their emotional energy and navigating through life from those who find themselves in emotional wreckage, derailed, and sometimes even disqualified from the path to success. It is important to develop because it separates those who know themselves well and take personal responsibility for their actions from those who lack self-awareness and repeat the same mistakes. EI separates those who can manage their emotions and motivate themselves from those who are overwhelmed by their emotions and let their emotional impulses control their behaviors. It separates those who are good at connecting with others and creating positive relationships from those who seem insensitive and uncaring. Finally, it is important to develop because it separates those who build rapport, have influence, and collaborate effectively with others from those who are demanding, lack empathy, and are therefore difficult to work with.

Developing emotional intelligence is a lifelong journey. The workshop agendas, activities, and resources are designed to help your workforce better understand themselves and others so that they can build rapport, lead change, handle conflict, and collaborate effectively.