Emotional Intelligence
Know yourself, lead others · 8 modules · 5 hours in all
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Free, twenty minutes from the start of the topic.
Start Here
One complete idea, 1 hour 15 minutes.
The Whole Topic
Every module, in order: 5 hours.
Other sizes: see all 5 products
Bitesize
3 courses
Focus
2 courses
Captions and full transcripts on every slide · Organisations can pay by invoice
Course overview.
Emotional intelligence is widely talked about and often misunderstood. This topic goes back to the evidence: what emotional intelligence actually is, the competing theories, how self-awareness and self-management work in practice, and what the research really shows about its value at work. It ends with how it is developed and measured, and how to apply it well.
What you will gain.
Clarity, not buzzwords
Understand emotional intelligence as the evidence describes it, and the main models.
Know yourself, steady yourself
Build self-awareness and self-management you can use under pressure.
Use it wisely
Tell a commercial claim from a sound finding, and choose the right way to develop and measure it.
See all 6 learning outcomes
Across this Explore, you will develop the ability to:
- Describe the three origins of emotional intelligence and distinguish the ability, trait and competency models by the question each one answers and how each is measured.
- Describe the four branches of Salovey and Mayer's ability model and explain why they form a hierarchy with perception at its base.
- Describe the four internal competencies in Boyatzis and Goleman's model and Susan David's four skills of emotional agility.
- Distinguish a commercial claim from a peer-reviewed finding, using the ninety per cent figure as the example.
- Describe the five RULER skills and explain why their sequence matters, especially why regulating comes last.
- Distinguish the MSCEIT, EQ-i 2.0 and ESCI by the tradition each belongs to and the question each was built to answer.
The modules.
Focus · Understanding emotional intelligence
4 modules · 2 hours 30 minutes01Foundations: What Emotional Intelligence Actually IsFree Taster36 min
Emotional intelligence has a more contested history than most people realise. This module traces its three origins, in Salovey and Mayer's ability model, Bar-On's trait model and Goleman's competency model, and shows that each answers a different question. It sets out the shared principle that emotion is information, clears away common myths, and shows where these skills are tested in public service leadership.
Bitesize: Beyond the buzzword, with module 102The Four-Branch Model: Salovey and Mayer's Original Theory37 min
Before emotional intelligence became a popular idea, Peter Salovey and John Mayer built it as a precise, testable mental ability. This module sets out their four-branch model, developed with David Caruso, of perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotion, and walks it through a difficult conversation. It explains how the MSCEIT tests the model, why being wrong about emotion is useful, and where organisations misuse it.
Bitesize: Beyond the buzzword, with module 203What Is an Emotion? Two Competing Theories39 min
What is an emotion? This module sets Paul Ekman's classical theory of universal, automatically triggered emotions against Lisa Feldman Barrett's theory of constructed emotion, treating the disagreement as genuinely unresolved. It explains Ekman's refractory period and why you cannot argue someone calm, introduces emotional granularity, and shows how both ideas can be used with care in meetings, difficult conversations and everyday team language.
Bitesize: Know yourself, steady yourself, with module 304Self-Awareness and Self-Management in Practice39 min
Self-awareness and self-management are the practical skills everything else in emotional intelligence rests on. This module works through the internal half of Boyatzis and Goleman's competency model, Boyatzis's Intentional Change Theory and Susan David's four skills of emotional agility. It shows where the frameworks meet, where these skills are tested in public service, and how self-management goes wrong when composure is really suppression.
Bitesize: Know yourself, steady yourself, with module 4
Focus · EI in the real world
4 modules · 2 hours 30 minutes05EQ and IQ: What the Evidence Actually Shows38 min
Few claims are repeated as often as the idea that ninety per cent of top performers have high emotional intelligence. This module traces that figure to TalentSmart's unpublished marketing material and sets it against the peer-reviewed O'Boyle meta-analysis, which found a moderate correlation of about 0.28 with job performance. It shows how to read a meta-analysis and use honest evidence in public service.
Bitesize: What the evidence really says, with module 506Emotional Intelligence at Work: The Classic Business Case, Examined36 min
Three business cases, from L'Oreal, American Express and the US Air Force, have anchored the case for emotional intelligence for almost three decades. This module presents them with their real figures, separates the selection, training and prediction effects each tested, and is open about their consultancy origins with Hay and McBer. It offers three questions for checking any claim and shows how to pair stories with evidence.
Bitesize: What the evidence really says, with module 607Teaching It Well: RULER and the Evidence for Schools39 min
This module presents some of the strongest evidence in emotional intelligence: a peer-reviewed randomised controlled trial of RULER, Marc Brackett's approach to Recognising, Understanding, Labelling, Expressing and Regulating emotions. It sets out three levels of evidence, explains why the RULER sequence and precise emotional vocabulary matter, and shows what made the trial credible. It closes by applying the five skills to leadership in public service.
Bitesize: From classroom to workplace, with module 708Measuring and Applying Emotional Intelligence: Capstone39 min
This capstone brings the topic together through measurement. It sets the MSCEIT, the EQ-i 2.0 and the ESCI side by side as the instruments of the ability, trait and competency traditions, and shows how to match an instrument to your purpose. It names four ways measurement misleads, traces the whole arc from Salovey and Mayer's 1990 paper, and stresses that a test names the gap while practice closes it.
Bitesize: From classroom to workplace, with module 8
Immerse Days and Programmes That Use This Topic
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Women in LeadershipRoom at the topFocus4 hours£69
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