The Importance of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

In considering the idea of leading with EI we begin by considering the development of the concept of EI. During the past 25 years we have seen an enormous amount of interest in EI. The view that EI accounts for the difference between personal success and failure has captured media interest. In the early years there were numerous articles in leading newspapers that attempted to explain the performance, perceptions and peccadilloes of leading politicians in terms of their possession or lack of this ‘most desirable’ characteristic. One article argued that the problems of the former US President, Bill Clinton, were explained by his lack of EI while another article in the same paper two months later claimed he had high EI. The success of the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was attributed to his high EI whilst the former Chancellor, Gordon Brown, possessed very low EI. The latter was borne out later during his premiership. Several recent articles have claimed that a different type of business leader is now required: one who possesses EI.