While contributing to the development of a new Leadership Development class today— there was much discussion around Emotional Intelligence. Can the new leadership behaviors required to compete the Digital Age be summed up as emerging Emotional Intelligence? This brought me back to a 2004 February Harvard Business Review article by Daniel Goleman “What Makes a Leader?”

In the course of the past year, my colleagues and I have focused on how emotional intelligence operates at work. We have examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and effective performance, especially in leaders. And we have observed how emotional intelligence shows itself on the job. How can you tell if someone has high emotional intelligence, for example, and how can you recognize it in yourself? In the following pages, we’ll explore these questions, taking each of the components of emotional intelligence—self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill—in turn.

It is fortunate, then, that emotional intelligence can be learned. The process is not easy. It takes time and, most of all, commitment. But the benefits that come from having a well-developed emotional intelligence, both for the individual and for the organization, make it worth the effort.

If you have not read the article (or if it’s been a while) — I suggest giving it a read.