Advice: Emotional intelligence and empathy in the workplace: a deep dive Wednesday 03 May 2023 Share Share to LinkedIn Share to Facebook Share via email You might be book-smart, but are you emotionally intelligent? EQ is vital for building and managing relationships at work – and improving it is possible Contents:What is emotional intelligence?Self-awareness: how do I feel and why?Self-management (also called self-regulation)Social awareness, or empathyDeveloping emotional intelligence in your team What is emotional intelligence? EQ, emotional intelligence, is a particularly useful element in a manager’s toolbox. The essence of emotional intelligence is your capacity to recognise the emotional state that you or another person is in, and then manage the emotions appropriately. Why is it so important for managers? Psychological research shows that managers with greater levels of emotional sensitivity are more successful: They perform better and have better conflict resolution skills. With their enhanced interpersonal and communication skills, they build stronger long-term relationships, both within their own teams and with external clients/customers. They manage stress better and have healthier staff. Emotional intelligence is also important for resilience and making logical, ethical decisions. Emotional intelligence is the habitual practice of using emotional information from ourselves or from other people, integrating this with our thinking, using these to inform our decision making to help us get what we want from the immediate situation and from life in general Tim Sparrow and Amanda Knight, Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence Want to learn more about what emotional intelligence is, and how to improve it? Login or register below for Free Instant Access We’re carrying out essential system maintenance between 12 - 19 January 2026. During this time, some CMI services will be temporarily unavailable, including new friend registrations. Please check back from 19th January - we look forward to welcoming you! Find out more Login If you are already registered as a CMI Friend, Subscriber or Member, just login to view this article. Confirm your registration Login below to confirm your details and access this article. Sign in with email Email remember me remember Forget? Please confirm that you want to switch off the "Sign in with email" remember me feature. Yes No Advice Looking for advice and guidance? Whether you are looking for topical tips or information, you can find the latest advice and guidance from the CMI team here. Members See More CMI Members have access to thousands of online learning and CPD resources. Learn more about our membership benefits Join The Community CMI offers a variety of flexible membership solutions, tailored to your needs. Find out more and get involved in the CMI community today.
