Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Role-play
Introduction
Technical competence earns managers their first leadership role, but the way they handle pressure, conflict and other people's emotions decides whether teams follow them. Poorly handled reactions damage trust, escalate disputes and push capable staff to leave, often without the manager realising the cause. This Core Concept course equips leaders to assess and develop their emotional intelligence using recognised models and assessment tools, and to apply it in the conversations that matter most. Participants rehearse in observed role-play and leave with a Personal EI Leadership Development Plan.
Course Objectives
- Assess own emotional intelligence strengths and gaps against recognised models, including EQ-i 2.0 and Goleman's competency framework
- Regulate own emotional responses under pressure using structured techniques drawn from the process model of emotion regulation
- Read the emotions, motives and concerns of others and respond with empathy in leadership conversations
- Adapt leadership style to the emotional climate of a team and to the demands of a situation
- Handle emotionally charged disagreements without damaging working relationships
- Produce a Personal EI Leadership Development Plan with measurable behaviour goals
Target Audience
- Managers responsible for leading teams through demanding workloads and change
- Department heads whose decisions and communication shape team morale and performance
- Project managers who lead people without formal line authority
- HR and talent managers who develop leadership behaviour and manager capability
- Customer-facing and service managers who handle escalations and difficult conversations
Course Outline
Day 1: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Effectiveness
- EI Evidence Base: Ability, Trait and Mixed Models Compared
- Mayer-Salovey Four-Branch Ability Model
- Goleman's Emotional Intelligence Competency Framework
- EI Self-Assessment and Leadership Impact Baseline
- Emotional Vocabulary Building with Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions
Day 2: EI Models and Assessment Tools
- EQ-i 2.0 Model: Composites and Leadership Report Interpretation
- ESCI 360-Degree Feedback Structure
- Six Seconds Know-Choose-Give Model
- Gross Process Model of Emotion Regulation
- Rock's SCARF Model of Social Threat and Reward
Day 3: Applying EI in Leadership Conversations
- Self-Regulation Techniques: Pause, Label and Reframe Using the ABC Model
- Empathic Listening and Empathy Mapping
- Goleman's Six Leadership Styles and Style Switching
- Emotionally Intelligent Feedback Using the SBI Model
- Team Climate Reading with Pulse Checks and Observation Guides
Day 4: Pressure, Conflict and Derailment
- Amygdala Hijack Recognition and Recovery Routines
- Conflict De-Escalation Using Interest-Based Dialogue
- Burnout Warning Signs and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Dimensions
- Leadership Derailers Under Pressure: Overused Strengths Analysis
- Emotional Contagion and Mood Management in Teams
Day 5: Role-Play Practice and the EI Development Plan
- Role-Play: Delivering Unwelcome News to a Team
- Role-Play: Managing an Emotionally Charged Disagreement with a Peer
- Role-Play: Supporting a Team Member Under Visible Strain
- Personal EI Leadership Development Plan Drafting
- Peer Coaching Triads and Plan Commitments
Skills You Will Gain
- Self-Awareness
- Emotional Self-Regulation
- Empathy
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Management
- Team Climate Management
- Rapport Building
- Stress Resilience
Why Attend This Course
- Return with a Personal EI Leadership Development Plan built on an evidence-based self-assessment and peer feedback
- Rehearse the conversations that test a leader's composure, with feedback on what worked
- Recognise personal triggers early and have practised routines ready to use under pressure
- Exchange experience with managers from other sectors and countries who face similar people challenges
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence is a set of observable leadership behaviours that can be assessed, practised and improved. This course moves from the evidence and principal models of emotional intelligence, through the assessment tools that profile it, to the regulation, empathy and feedback techniques used in daily leadership and the pressure points where leaders most often derail. The final day tests those skills in demanding role-plays and produces a Personal EI Leadership Development Plan that participants continue to apply with their teams.