LearnaBytes

This is a continuation of the training session from the previous post which answered the question – what is emotional intelligence (see it here). This part of the training session will focus on why emotional intelligence is important.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important?

To answer this question, they will do an individual and group activity. First, they will answer a question then discuss the question in a small group.

Direct each person to the part of their workbook titled – WHY IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IMPORTANT TO US?

Tell them to read the information in the section for about 90-seconds then tell each participant to do the activity there. Give them 3-minutes.

After 3-minutes stop them and use the ‘breakout room’ feature to split them into small groups. No group should have more than four people.

Give them 7-minutes for the group discussion.

After 7-minutes, stop them and bring everyone back to the main room.

Then allow each group’s spokesperson to feedback what they discussed. Listen to them without commenting or saying anything. When they finish giving feedback, thank them for doing the activity and let them know that you also have an important reason why emotional intelligence is important that you want to share with them.

Tell them that:

• There are various reasons why emotional intelligence is important for us as you have pointed out. One major reason why it is important is because we are all emotional beings who experience emotions. It is part of us and something we can’t get away from.
• Learning to handle our emotions in productive ways through emotional intelligence is very important. Let’s learn a little bit about our brains to see why we need emotional intelligence.

Display the slide tilted – THE FEELING – LOGIC CONNECTION.

Tell them that:

• Dealing effectively with emotions is very important to the human condition because our brains are hardwired to make us experience emotions.

Click on the slide to display more information on the slide and tell them that:

• Everything we hear, see, taste, and touch travels through our bodies in the form of electric signals toward our brains. They enter through the base of our brain near the spinal cord as you can see here (on the slide).

Click on the slide to display more information and say that:

• But those signals must travel to the front part of the brain, the frontal lobe where rational and logical thinking takes place as you can see here (on the slide).

Click on the slide for the last time to display information and say:

• The challenge is that the signals before reaching the frontal lobe must pass through the limbic system which is the part where emotions are generated. What this means is that we feel emotions before having the opportunity for reasoning and logical thinking.
• The rational area of our brains, the frontal lobe cannot prevent us from experiencing emotions in the limbic system, but the two areas do influence each other and maintain constant communication. The communication between the emotional and rational parts of our brains is the physical source of emotional intelligence.
• When we intentionally develop our emotional intelligence, we can’t stop our emotions, but we can work with our emotions to ensure they don’t push us to make impulsive or irrational decisions. In other words, emotional intelligence helps us use emotions to our own benefit and growth.
• Emotional intelligence is therefore important for helping us manage our emotions in a productive and positive way and not pushing us to behave inappropriately.

Next, ask if they have any comments and/or questions and respond appropriately. Then let them know that the information you shared with them is also in their workbooks.

Now move on to the next part of the session which explores the core behaviours of emotional intelligence.

The next part of the training session will explore the four core behaviours of emotional intelligence.