Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

More recently, is the work of Daniel Goleman. Goleman defines emotional intelligence as a blend of Gardner’s interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Goleman suggests “softer skills such as empathy, intuition, self and social awareness are what distinguish great leaders and successful companies”. These soft skills are found deep within ourselves and our minds. “The most primitive part of the brain, shared with all species that have more than a minimal nervous system, is the brainstream surrounding the top of the spinal cord. This root brain regulates basic life functions like breathing and the metabolism of the body’s other organs, as well as controlling stereotyped reactions and movements” (Goleman, 1995). The emotional centers that control many of the concepts being discussed are derived from this part of the brain. The neocortex is what we consider the thinking part of the brain. This relationship of the thinking section of the brain that has grown from the emotional one “reveals much about the relationship of thought to feeling; there was an emotional brain long before there was a rational one” (Goleman, 1995). The neocortex is not only responsible for our rational thoughts, but it also coordinates the messages our senses deliver. The neocortex makes us a truly great thinking species, because not only can it synthesize our emotions, but it can even allow us to have feelings about our feelings” (Goleman, 1995). Feelings and emotions play a huge role in our decision making process, the way we handle ourselves and interact with others. This emotional section of the brain is just as important, possibly more important, as the thinking section as we analyze important leadership skills. Many emotions tend to be reactions, which...

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