We often prioritise our rational world. We go to school and learn about things, but what about the challenge of educating ourselves about our emotions?

We often struggle to understand why we respond in certain ways; why feelings such as joy, sadness, fear and anger can hold such sway over our lives. And this doesn't apply just to ourselves: do you ever find yourself looking at someone and trying to second-guess their behaviour, or wondering what is going on inside their head?

These questions have important implications for us as business and organisational psychologists. How successful are we in understanding and managing the emotional content of our own lives as well as the lives of those whose paths we cross?

All of these questions feed into the big question running throughout this course:

How can emotional intelligence be used to improve individual, group and organisational performance?

Over the next two weeks, we will be exploring the nature and application of these understandings and how they can be used to improve your performance at work, and subsequently, the performance of the groups and organisations you work with.

Welcome to Emotional Intelligence at Work.

Your task

It has been stated that you can improve your emotional intelligence by being:

aware of your emotions and those of othersable to manage your emotions and those of othersable to use those emotions to make decisions and get things done (Foroux 2017)

Our understanding of emotional intelligence is continually evolving, and psychological research is helping to shape our understanding about exactly how we should be applying this to workplace settings. This course in emotional intelligence from Coventry University will challenge you to think about whether emotions have a place in the world of business and whether emotional intelligence can lead to greater organisational success and improved personal performance. You will be introduced to different theoretical perspectives of emotional intelligence and have the opportunity to tackle significant questions such as is emotional intelligence innate or can it be learned? Is emotion or logic the best guide to the way to behave at work? And how can be even measure whether someone is emotionally intelligent or not?

We will also delve into situations where EI can be misused and the consequences that this can have on people in organisations. As you progress through the course you should reflect on the examples of Nick and Sarah. Who would you prefer to work for, and why? What do you think their strengths and blind spots are? And who do you think will get the project completed successfully and why?