Emotional intelligence (EI) became popular in the mid-1990s under the influence of Daniel Goleman’s bestseller, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ.

What is it?

There are many definitions of EI. Researchers disagree over whether it is an ability, a competency or a part of your personality.

This confusion has caused scepticism. But interest has continued because most of us intuitively recognise EI in people. It’s to do with having insight into your own and other people’s emotions, as well as the emotional mood of a social situation, and then using this knowledge appropriately to express, manage and understand your own and others’ emotions.

Why is it important?

Again there is controversy, not least because many of the claims made for EI have not been proved. Research at Henley Management College by Vic Dulewicz and Malcolm Higgs suggests that EI contributes a great deal to leadership success, perhaps as much as 30-40 per cent. Leaders work through people and, while it’s important that they have a certain level of cleverness and knowledge, EI is the key once you get past that point.

The same team did research in call centres and found the same effect. This suggests that any job focused on people requires high levels of EI.

How do you measure it?

There are plenty of informal assessments of this subject. There are now many really good tests. To highlight three:

The Emotional Quotient Inventory (by Reuven Bar-On) was one of the first EI measures to be published. It concentrates on how well an individual
deals with external pressures. (See www.mhs.com)

The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire by Dulewicz and Higgs views EI as a set of competences and is available in both a managerial and general form. (See www.ase-solutions.co.uk)

Most recently, Adrian Furham and K V Petrides have instigated a major research project on EI, based on their theory that EI is a sort of personality trait. Their Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire became available last year and breaks down EI into a large number of sub-scales which provide a useful profile. (See www.thomasinternational.net)

How do you use it?

EI tests should not be used in recruitment: they’re intended for individual development and are particularly useful in leadership coaching, preparing someone for a more senior job or improving the people skills of a customer-facing team.

It’s important to note that EI is not a single thing. The suggested definition above implies that EI breaks down into a number of different facets. Knowing someone is, for instance, good at expressing their own emotions but not particularly sensitive to other peoples’ moods, gives leverage for rich developmental work.

What to watch out for

Beware of tests that invite people to give a rosy picture of themselves. What is known as ‘impression management’ is a problem for EI measurement. Good tests take account of candidates’ tendency to answer how they think you want them to answer.

Finally, EI is a work in progress. Some of the claims for it are unproven and inflated. People find the area fascinating and, in my experience, useful, but it’s worth keeping an eye open for further research findings about whether it really does do what it says on the tin.

Ian Florance is director of Only Connect and a consultant at the Psychometrics Centre, part of Cambridge University. He can be contacted on ian.florance@btinternet.com

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