Emotional intelligence is the latest mantra in an age of panaceas.
And in an era when business leaders are screaming for instant answers and certainty, emotion is big business. According to the American Society for Training and Development, four out of five companies now claim to be taking steps to raise the emotional intelligence of their employees. Hundreds of US schools are looking at programs based on its principles and several have already implemented them. In Britain, college principals are attending leadership programs showing them how to get in touch with their feelings. Championed by Daniel Goleman, a Harvard PhD and former science journalist for The New York Times, the principles of emotional intelligence are broadly based on self-awareness, empathy, social skills, motivation and persistence in the face of adversity, impulse control, and stopping emotions from clouding your ability to think.