Emotional Intelligence has always been important, and still is.

I presume you are referring to the work of Daniel Goleman, and others. In his book, Emotional Intelligence, Goleman developed the argument that non-cognitive skills such as the ability to read other people can matter as much as I.Q. for workplace success.

But that should come as no surprise. Soft skills have always been highly valued: "Yes, he has the technical skills, but can he play well with others?" That's why employers like hiring on employee referrals: "Do you know them? What kind of person are they? Are they trustworthy?"

In a way, it's like reading minds. A person who can empathize, who understands another person's emotional framework, can appear to know a lot about that person. Some of that is, "Well, I know where you're coming from, because I have been there," and there are many life experiences that resonate in a unique way, that have their own emotional signature.

From the perspective of the general public, the single most important thing we can do is improve the educational system, and the surest way to fail at that is to keep putting everyone in the same old dull, grey-painted box. Different people learn in different ways, and there are a few common modes of learning, such as visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Appeal to a person's learning style, and you will greatly improve their chances of success.

Similarly, all people fall into one or two of four "social styles:" Amiable, Analytical, Driver and Expressive. Understand a person's social style, and you understand the person, to a large extent. These are not lofty, intellectual ideas created by some egghead in a laboratory; they are simple, practical principles that work for everyone.

People are persuaded by emotion, not logic. So if you understand the emotional motivations of a person, group or organization, you can be far more influential.