The aim of this graduate thesis is to define and describe emotional intelligence and present perception of students about its importance in the development of individuals into a leader. The initial part od the thesis deals with the theme of leadership and characteristics of the leader, followed by emotional intelligence and in the end the purpose of emotional intelligence in the business environment. The key contribution of the thesis is empirical research conducted among students of undergraduate and graduate students about their opinion related to the emotional intelligence and how is it important in the development of individuals into a leader. Basic categories of data sources in the theoretical part are books, articles, legislation, theses and websites. In the empirical part students from bachelor degree and master degree, different gender and age were filled out a questionnaire. Some useful results came from this questionnaire. Students see importance of emotional intelligence in the development od any person, particulary leader. Descriptive statistical analysis of the data shows the number of students who know what emotional intelligence is, the percentage of those who consider emotional intelligence important for the leaders development and other results from the questionnaire which are attached to the end of the thesis. The main assumption is that emotional intelligence has a positive effect on the development of potential leaders. The conclusion summarizes the most important information of theoretical and practical part of this thesis.