Emotional reasoning is the skill of using emotional information (from yourself and others) and combining it with other facts and information when decision-making. Leaders high in this skill make Expansive decisions whereas leaders who are low in this skill often make more limited decisions based on facts and technical data only. Emotional reasoning is important in leadership because:

• Feelings and emotions contain important information. For example, if a colleague is demonstrating frustration or stress, these feelings provide insight that they are going to be less open and supportive of new ideas and information.
• The workplace is becoming more complex and fast-paced. This requires quick, good decision-making, where all the facts and technical data are not available. Gut feel and intuition are important in these environments; and
• People are influenced by emotion. If you fail to consider how people are likely to feel and react to decisions that are made, you may not achieve the appropriate buy-in or support for your decisions.

Explore our program and assessment here