You�ve probably heard and read a fair bit about Emotional Intelligence. There�s a lot of information out there. But what is it and where has the idea come from? Emotional Intelligence is not a fad or a passing trend but the end result of years of research into what makes people tick. In the words of EI expert Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence is:

The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships."

In other words, Emotional Intelligence has nothing to do with IQ, or how clever you are, but everything to do with how self-aware you are and how you interact with others. Why bother with EI? Recent research has shown that EI is twice as important as IQ in determining future career success. And the really good news is that it can be developed. Hay Group�s partnerships with Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis has resulted in the development of tools and programs that are deeply rooted in conclusive EI research and fully concurrent with the latest findings. These tools really help you and your clients understand and improve their Emotional Intelligence.

So how important is EI and why should anyone invest in developing it? If you or your clients are looking for career success, then developing EI is fundamental. We all knew people at school who were geniuses in the classroom. But how many were destined for great success? A study of Harvard graduates showed that their entrance results (in other words, their basic intelligence, or IQ) had a negative or zero correlation with their future career success. Likewise, most of us have come across someone who�s �lost it� in a meeting or gone blank during a presentation; out of control emotions can have a massive impact on how others perceive you. Learning to understand yourself, and how others see you, by developing your EI is the key to improving your chances of success. There are numerous studies to back this up, but here are a few highlights: