Reimagining a New World with Collective Emotional Intelligence
Oct 20, 2022
[This is the transcript of Session 4 at the Emotional Intelligence Online Summit 2022 with Avni Martin.]
I am deeply grateful to have this opportunity to discuss with you a topic that is very close to my heart, as it can genuinely redefine how we relate to ourselves, others, and life itself.
We are living through a period of profound collective disruption. The systems, structures, and assumptions that have organised human life for generations are being challenged simultaneously — economically, socially, environmentally, and psychologically. And in that disruption, a question is emerging: what kind of world do we want to reimagine, and what capacities do we need to create it?
What Is Collective Emotional Intelligence?
Individual emotional intelligence — the awareness and management of one's own emotions, and the ability to read and respond to the emotions of others — is well established as a predictor of leadership effectiveness, relationship quality, and personal wellbeing.
Collective emotional intelligence takes this further. It is the capacity of a group — a team, an organisation, a community — to be collectively aware of its emotional climate, to regulate that climate deliberately, and to use emotional data to inform shared decision-making and collective action.
Organisations and communities with high collective emotional intelligence communicate more honestly, navigate conflict more productively, and adapt more effectively to change. They are not immune to difficulty — they are better equipped to move through it together.
Building Collective Emotional Intelligence
Collective emotional intelligence is not built through one-off training events. It is built through consistent practices embedded in how a group operates — how it opens and closes meetings, how it gives and receives feedback, how it handles disagreement, and how it recovers from setbacks.
At People Builders, we help organisations develop the collective emotional intelligence that enables them to perform at their best — together. Contact us today for a quick chat.