Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

So far in the Coaching Café Podcast 2026, we’ve explored the trends shaping coaching and leadership, the importance of strong performance conversations, and the role of psychological safety in building trust and engagement. This week, we turn our attention to emotional intelligence—consistently identified as one of the most critical leadership capabilities in today’s workplaces. As work becomes more complex, pressured, and human, leaders are increasingly expected to navigate emotions—their own and others’—with awareness, empathy, and skill. Emotional intelligence underpins how leaders communicate, build trust, handle performance conversations, and create psychologically safe environments. This is where coaching plays a powerful role. Coaching creates the space for reflection, self-awareness, perspective-taking, and behaviour change—key elements of emotional intelligence. It supports leaders to respond rather than react, and to lead in ways that strengthen relationships and performance. Join Paula as we explore emotional intelligence through a coaching lens. You’ll walk away with: ✔️ A clear understanding of emotional intelligence and why it matters now more than ever ✔️ How emotional intelligence shows up in everyday leadership and performance conversations ✔️ The role coaching plays in developing emotional intelligence ✔️ Practical ways to support leaders to build emotional intelligence at work This is your space to stay informed, reflect on practice, and connect coaching to what’s happening in real workplaces—right now. Transcripts can be found here: Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review wherever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners. Also drop the podcast a follow! Watch the webinar of this episode on YouTube or read the blog by visiting our website. Want to join us live every Friday? Register Here! Engage with The Coaching Café Podcast Stay up to date on our socials Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Email us at [email protected] Thanks for listening!