Introduction

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

Dale Carnegie

Emotions are what drive us and emotions can also lead us astray. In Latin, emotions are described as ‘motus anima’ meaning ‘the spirit that moves us’.

No matter how logical, reasonable and rational we think we are, it is our emotions that motivate and propel us. Emotions play a key part in the way we perceive, understand and reason about people and things.

It’s easy to dismiss the mess and muddle of emotions as interference with rational reasoning and decision-making; we tend to see intellect as separate from and superior to emotions. Emotional intelligence, however, recognises that intellect and emotions are ...

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