The role of lecturers as "agents of change" is vital. However, in performing this role (which includes teaching, research activities and publication) lecturers face huge working pressure, which requires them to have skills related to emotional intelligence. This paper will discuss the relationship between emotional intelligence and lecturer performance at one of the public higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia. The paper uses primary data, such as questionnaires, to analyze the relationship between emotional intelligence and lecturer performance. For this study, convenience sampling was used as a sampling method, and 200 respondents participated in the study. The main findings of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and lecturer performance. This paper presents the implication of emotional intelligence and its relationship to lecturer performance in the field of higher education.
