Pure Marble - Emotional Intelligence at Work

Increase happiness and performance whilst building better relationships at work

Why is this course important?

The way we have thought about intelligence in the past has been too limiting. IQ is just one measure of intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EI) is every bit as important, maybe more so.

Walter Mischel, a psychologist, devised a simple test for four-year-olds, which only required two marshmallows to predict which would go on to excel.

He presented the children with one marshmallow, and then left the room. He told them they could have that marshmallow as soon as they wanted, but if it was still there when he got back, he’d give them another.

So the children could double their reward by showing restraint. Some weren’t interested in restraint, and Mischel had barely left the room before the marshmallow was gone. Others waited, but gave in before Mishcel came back. Some stopped looking at the marshmallow, and occupied themselves in other ways.

Those who waited and got their second marshmallow weren’t always of high intelligence, but they did succeed at school.

The test was successful as a predictor.

It measured the ability to defer gratification, to think ahead, and to go for what would have less advantage in the short term but more in the long term. This is a component of emotional intelligence, and a useful skill in life.

Our emotional life contributes much more to our ability to think and adapt than has been acknowledged. This is particularly the case in the workplace. Emotional intelligence makes a positive impact on decision making, teamwork, cross functional collaboration, customer loyalty, and creativity and innovation.

This course looks at how the brain controls emotions and the way emotions impact on our working lives. More importantly the course shows how you can develop and apply your emotional intelligence. You will learn how to use your emotional intelligence to increase your performance and fulfilment at work.

The course will use accelerated learning processes, case histories and summaries of the extensive research that has been carried out in this area.

The course aims

In this course you will …

• develop a clear understanding of Emotional Intelligence and how it is relevant to
   you. This understanding will enable you to achieve better results for yourself in
   virtually every aspect of your life.

• learn how to build your own Emotional Intelligence: self awareness, social
   awareness and ability to build relationships. Your overall self-efficacy in
   other words.

• increase your understanding of the role of emotional intelligence in increasing your
   personal success.

• gain insight into why you feel the way you do and how you can enhance positive
   feelings that will give you more energy, motivation, and personal drive.

• be shown how to control those negative feelings that get in the way of rational
   decision making.

• be shown how to build your resilience and be more confident in high pressure
   situations.

• discover how to be a happier person and how to live life more enjoyably – and
   more effectively.

• learn how to recognise the clues that reflect the prevailing emotional climate and    how to use that information to create a more enthusiastic, collaborative and
   innovative team.

• learn how to use your intuition more effectively to make good decisions when
   things are at their most uncertain.

• produce a plan for personal development based on an EI assessment and
   including implemention techniques for strengthening social and emotional
   intelligence skills.

The course content:

Emotional competencies distinguish the stars from the average

Hard work and impeccable logical analysis won’t guarantee that you’ll get on. You must have the self awareness, social awareness, and interpersonal skills that come with emotional intelligence. Discover how to develop emotional intelligence in yourself and others.

Getting to know you

Boyatzis (1982) found that amongst hundreds of managers, those who could assess themselves accurately performed better. Understanding yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses is essential to superior performance. Discover the painless way of expanding your mind by accurate self assessment.

Emotional literacy

On average people haven’t got many words for emotion. If you’ve got more words to express your feelings you’ll get to know yourself better and relate better to others. How can you become more emotionally literate?

Hot buttons

Some situations trigger destructive emotions and we lose control. The information rushes to an old part of our brain wired up to register threat. What are your hot buttons and how can you manage them?

When the kettle lid is about to blow

People often think it’s best to let anger out. This often doesn’t do any good except to make the angry person feel better in the short term and teach them how to rage the next time. Find out how to channel anger positively when the pressure is on by being more attuned to emotions.

Creative discontent

We all know what happens to conflict when it’s swept under the carpet. It‘s hidden but it comes out in other ways, like backbiting, passive resistance, and people disappearing because they can’t stand the stress. Find out how to handle conflict in a way that leaves both sides feeling satisfied. Learn how to turn a difficult conversation into a ‘learning conversation’.

Is ‘emotional intelligence’ an oxymoron?

Pre-eminent neurologist and neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s research shows that feelings are indispensable for rational decisions. New research suggests that suppressing emotions may actually hamper your memory. Learn how to use your feelings to think more effectively.

Use your feelings as information

People can process consciously about 40 pieces of information a second but our senses are taking in 11,000,000 pieces of information a second. Laboratory studies have shown that a lot of thinking goes on below the conscious level. This emerges in our ‘gut reaction’ or intuition about things. Learn the practical steps to using your intuition more effectively.

It’s not the setback that sets you back; it’s the way you look at it.

How you frame setbacks has a major impact on how you perform. We will show
you how to use techniques, based on the work of Professor Martin Seligman, to
deal with adversity in a way that leaves you feeling in control and confident about handling change.

Handling pressure positively

A certain amount of stress is good. It motivates and stimulates us. Too much can be debilitating. Find out how to identify whether stress is starting to have a negative effect and what you can do about it. Certain feelings reduce the amount of damaging stress hormones in your body. Learn what those feelings are and how to increase them.

"Walk a mile in my shoes"

Listening with empathy has a positive impact emotionally and physically on the listener and the person being listened to. Also when you are completely attentive to what someone else is saying, your blood pressure drops. Learn how to listen at a deeper level and improve relationships all round.

Michael Howard famously referred to himself as "being able to win the debate, only to lose the argument".

People are rarely persuaded by logical argument alone.Learn how to increase your ability to persuade others by understanding your audience and matching your emotional tone to their mood.

Does the group think?

It’s sometimes easier to go along with the group than to suggest something different. This is called groupthink. It can lead to disaster, because nobody really examines the facts. Discover the way to ensure that the team doesn’t settle for harmony at the expense of quality decision making.

Inoculate the team against the ‘emotional virus’

Insensitive management, uncertainty about change, and turf politics can result in ‘us versus them’, blame, antagonism, reduced sharing of learning and knowledge, and loss of trust. Discover how you can play a leading role in creating the three main elements to inoculate your team against this ‘emotional virus’.

Leading with emotional intelligence

Research has found that the primary causes of derailment in executives involved poor emotional intelligence. The most effective leaders are more emotionally intelligent than the runners up. But what do they do differently? Learn how you can improve your leadership capability by using some key elements of emotional intelligence.

Increase your zone of adaptability

To be creative, to lead effectively, and to manage change successfully you need to be adaptable. The ability to adapt is underpinned by emotional competencies. What are they and how can you become more adaptable?

Who should attend:

Delegates come from a variety of work settings, but they have one thing in common. They need to get the best performance from themselves and the people they are managing. So, the course is ideal for middle to senior managers who manage any number of people from 2 upwards.

or call us now on

0116 254 8887

for more information or to
book a course

Gains from attending the course:

You will have a clear understanding of what Emotional Intelligence is and its business benefits. This understanding will enable you to identify where you can use your Emotional Intelligence to achieve better results for yourself, your team, and your organisation.

You will learn how to build your own Emotional Intelligence.

You will have greater insight into why you feel the way you do and how you can enhance positive feelings that will give you more energy, motivation, and personal drive.

You will be able to more easily control negative feelings that get in the way of you achieving your goals.

You will be able to build your resilience and be more focused in your approach.

You will learn what makes you a happier person and how you can increase your enjoyment at work whilst increasing your performance.

You will learn more about how others feel and how to use that understanding to build more effective relationships.

You will learn how to tune in to the emotional climate and how to change the climate in your team so that people will be more collaborative, innovative, and fulfilled.

You will be able to use your intuition more effectively to make good decisions when things are at their most uncertain.