Emotional intelligence is your ability to perceive, understand and manage emotions. You use it every day whether you’re hard at work in the office or dealing with a friend in crisis. Good emotional intelligence improves your relationships and your professional outlook. But how do you know if you’ve got it or not?

Being sensitive to your partner’s moods can make all the difference when you spend a lot of time together. But equally, you need to recognize your own feelings and know how to manage them. At work this could take the form of carefully balancing your ambitions with difficult office politics — your emotional intelligence is never switched off!