Emotional Intelligence: What is it?
Emotional intelligence, if you have enough of it, is your supreme superpower. It’s your passport to greater success in the events industry in terms of building deeper, more meaningful relationships with your clients and colleagues; it can ensure the effectiveness of your leadership, as well as improve the quality of your decision-making; and it’s your key to more personal satisfaction and enjoyment of your career in this demanding but fulfilling industry. In this article, I will explain what emotional intelligence (EI) is; why it is an essential set of psychological competencies for your success in events; and what you can do to foster your own EI skills and use them to future-proof your career against the advances of Artificial Intelligence in events management.
There are many definitions of EI, but one of the most widely used is that of the American psychologist Daniel Goleman, who describes it as our ability to recognise our own feelings and the feelings of others; and to motivate and manage emotions, both our own and those of other people. Typically, EI competencies include qualities such as empathy, social skills, self-awareness, and the ability to motivate yourself and others. One more element of EI is self-regulation, the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, and behaviour when operating under pressure. In this way, EI is closely linked to stress management, a core managerial competency.
How important is emotional intelligence for the events industry?
It is easy to see that a high level of EI is highly valued in any industry where understanding people and collaborating well with them is essential. But there are certain characteristics of the events industry that make a high level of EI indispensable for effective management. Several researchers such as Krasimira Yancheva and Jessica Stewart have recently focused on this aspect of EI. Clearly, understanding the emotional needs, motivations and responses of your clients, colleagues, attendees, volunteers and sponsors is essential to the smooth running of any event, and Yancheva offers some examples of areas of events management where applying EI can lead to greater success:
- During Client Consultations - Asking open-ended questions and listening actively with empathy helps clients feel heard. Emotionally intelligent event professionals can identify unspoken concerns by reading between the lines.
- Event Planning and Design – Understanding the emotional tone or message the client wants to convey through the event; designing the event experience (lighting, ambiance, speeches, etc.) to create the desired emotional impact.
- On-Site Event Execution - Staying calm and composed under pressure (self-regulation); reading the crowd’s mood and adjusting elements (e.g., music, pacing, lighting) in real time.
- Team and Vendor Coordination - Handling disagreements with diplomacy and compassion; encouraging open dialogue to ensure everyone feels respected and motivated.
- Post-Event Feedback and Follow-Up – Demonstrating appreciation and acknowledging feedback, even if it’s critical; following up with clients and stakeholders with empathy shows professionalism and emotional maturity.
The ability to successfully manage stress (your own and your clients’) is particularly necessary in the high-pressure, fast-paced environment typical of the events industry. According to a 2023 study by the World Scholarship Vault, event planning is the third-most stressful job in the world, after military service and home care work. And while the management of events carries less responsibility for life and death then those other two professions do, nevertheless it can often produce situations that are a source of considerable anxiety for managers. In any complex event management process, there is a high likelihood that something will go wrong; clients present with unrealistic expectations and/or last-minute changes; deadlines are tight; suppliers are going to let you down; technical equipment is going to die on you. And because the events you plan are public, any mistakes you make are highly visible, making you vulnerable to criticism and condemnation when things go wrong. EI is the key to helping event managers manage their own stress and make quick, composed decisions in these kind of high-pressure situations.
Can emotional intelligence be learned?
Is your level of EI innate and fixed, or is it fluid and capable of being improved and strengthened? The good news is that most researchers agree that, just like rational intelligence, emotional intelligence can be developed through sustained effort and practice. In fact, it has been argued that emotional intelligence and empathy training should be integrated into academic curricula and professional development programmes for event managers.
- Jessica Stewart recommends the following practical strategies to develop your EI:
- Stay Self-Aware & Present - reflect on your own emotional responses and those of the others around you
- Become an Active Listener – ask for feedback
- Resolve Conflicts Smartly
- Be Aware of Cultural Differences
- Foster a Positive Event Experience
- Employ Positive Thinking
An additional strategy is offered by studies from Harvard Medical School which show that regular mindfulness meditation can strengthen that part of the brain - the prefrontal cortex – that is associated with self-regulation, a key element of EI. Even 10–15 minutes a day can help build the emotional awareness skills critical to high EQ. And the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence recommends a technique called Emotional Vocabulary Expansion, which emphasises the power of labelling feelings with more precision in order to regulate your emotional responses with greater control. For example, learning to accurately distinguish between being “frustrated,” “irritated,” and “overwhelmed”.
Can emotional intelligence protect your career agains the advances in artificial intelligence?
Yes, it certainly can. This is a time of accelerating adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the events industry, and they are taking over much of the routine administration associated with events planning. Naturally, this is leading to growing anxiety among events professionals about AI reshaping the world of work and "taking our jobs”. But as technology automates more and more of the routine tasks in events management, it’s becoming clearer that skills such as empathy, self-awareness, relationship building and active listening are becoming increasingly valuable precisely because they cannot be automated. In other words, in an AI-driven world, EI is becoming the fundamental human advantage.
The massive impact of AI across the events sector highlights the urgency for you to add to your technical skills and knowledge by cultivating your own EI, simply because it is a unique human asset that machines cannot replicate – and an asset that is valued more than ever in our industry that depends for its success on employing people who know how to build trust, communicate clearly, navigate conflict, and bring others together around a shared purpose.
Sources of more information
Krasimira Yancheva. "Empathy and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Event Management Success: A Mixed-Methods Study." Psychological Research (in the Balkans) 28.2 (2025): 119-138.
Jessica Stewart “Building Meaningful Connections: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Event Management”. The Event Planner Expo. July 18, 2023
Rob Davidson “Business Events”, published by Routledge, 2026
