Emotional Intelligence (also known as EQ or EI) is not a personal trait. It is your ability to recognise the impact of your own emotions upon your behaviour and to be more aware of the emotions of others around you.

Think about how you connect with the people around you at work. Now think how in tune you are with the way the people around you at work connect with you. Having a high level of EQ is beneficial as it can certainly help foster a holistic environment and can also directly impact collegial relationships and overall corpo­rate performance.

Being emotionally aware is not easy. We all have emotional intelligence and need to work on it constantly. Many competent employees have been overlooked for promotion without being able to pinpoint the reason why. They may have been a solid performer but regrettably they also may have managed to get everyone off-side, and lacked the ability to manage their own emotions. Low levels of emotional intelligence can contribute to you being passed over for advancement.

Becoming more aware of your emotional state will make you more aware of the emotional state of others. Consider making a list of the things that frus­trate you or trigger a negative reaction in the workplace. Could there possibly be things that you do that may frustrate or trigger a negative reaction from others around you?

Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be learned and improved and in order to be recognised as a future leader in the workplace, you must develop and hone your emotional intelligence -often considered one of the greatest contributors to organisational success.

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