The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders
In his 1998 article “The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders,” Daniel Goleman presented an argument for public and private sector leaders to consider the merits of a leader possessing emotional intelligence in order to create a cohesive work environment. For Goleman, emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize emotion both within oneself and within others, understanding the impact emotions have on others and leveraging this intelligence to assist others and create a positive environment. This form of intelligence, in conjunction with innate intelligence, Goleman advised, is required to make an effective leader. Goleman set the stage for his argument with an example of intrinsic emotional intelligence
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The examples portrayed a few of McCrimmon’s (2005) “key characteristics of thought leadership” (p. 1067) to include, thought leader’s being in subordinate positions, lateral and ascending audience, individualism, spontaneous ideas, and conclusion upon agreement by the audience. Other “key characteristics of thought leadership” (p. 1067) identified by McCrimmon’s (2005) established that the thought leader is solely accountable, inherently nonconforming and need not have innate emotional intelligence when the idea is supported by hard …show more content…
When given the opportunity, I find great satisfaction in being a self-leader. I view such an opportunity as a motivation tool because it provides the individual the sense that they are valued, dependable and trustworthy, which in turn builds commitment to the organization. In my opinion, McCrimmon’s position would have been effective had he clearly defined thought leadership, used scholarly references to substantiate his claim and addressed methods to integrate thought leadership into shared
Emotional intelligence is a new way of thinking about success in life and especially in leadership. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence impacts many different aspects in daily life, such as the way we behave and the way we interact with others. The benefits of higher emotional intelligence are it easier to form and maintain interpersonal relationships and to fit in to group situation. And it’s also better of understanding their own physiological state which can include managing stress effectively and being less likely to suffer from depression.
Emotional intelligence operates under four theoretical domains and their respective competencies that are essentially classified under two divisions: personal competence and social competence (Goleman, et al, 2002, pg. 39). These broader competencies do not describe leadership talents, but learned abilities that describe how effectively the leader manages intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships (Goleman, et al, 2002). The assumption is that if the leader is thoroughly competent in an intrapersonal sense---meaning, among other factors, he or she is appropriately self-aware, transparent and adaptable---the leader will have better interpersonal insight into his or her subordinates (Goleman, et al, 2002). This social competence delineates more specific qualities including a strong sense of empathy, service, influence, and collaboration (Goleman, et al, 2002). In terms of leadership effectiveness, these competencies are not only ideal,...
In this article Judge, Ilies and Colbert (2004) attempted to prove a correlation between intelligence and leadership effectiveness. They hypothesized, very clearly, that intelligence would be related positively to the perceived and objective, determined by a written test, effectiveness of leaders. Additionally, they believed that intelligence-leadership correlation is greater when assessed and measured perceptually. Finally Judge, Ilies and Colbert (2004) hypothesized that the correlation would be lower during stressful situations and for less directive leaders. To conduct this study a quantitative statistical analysis of 151 separate but similar studies from 96 different sources were analyzed which tested positive for perceptual or objective statistical significance (Judge, Ilies and Colbert, 2004). The mean correlation was calculated to determine the relationship.
The transformational leadership characteristics of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration are heavily linked with Daniel Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence (Barling, Slater, & Kelloway, 2000). Emotional Intelligence has gained great prominence in the study of its relationship with leadership effectiveness. By understanding one’s own emotions, managing and controlling these emotions, as well as understanding the emotions of others, research shows that leaders can have great influence on an organization’s success (Goleman, 1997; Goleman et al., 2002).
The theory of emotional intelligence is relatively new, however the psychological theory has become prevalent and many entities have adapted the principles of this theory in order to enhance relations within the professional environment as well as increase performance which ultimately lead to a positive place of work. (Allan Chapman 2014)
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership : realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
Goleman (1998) remodelled Mayer and Salovey (1997) model into an analogous form. Since emotional intelligence is the ability to identify one’s own feelings as well as the feelings of others, capacity to motivate oneself and others and the management of emotions in relationships, it is one of the best tools to analyse the degree of skills required for each job.
When considering emotional intelligence in the context of leadership, emotional intelligence represents the “people skills” held by effective leaders (Riggio et al.). In understanding why emotional intelligence is critical to effective leadership, one study suggested that this is because “leaders need to understand their own emotions and the emotions of followers in order to encourage and motivate others and to encourage follower creativity. In addition, the quality of leader and follower relationships is dependent on leader emotional intelligence” (qtd. in Riggio et al.) Leaders with high emotional intelligence understand that leadership is about building people up and supporting them. By creating an inspiring environment, effective leaders encourage employees to achieve their goals. High emotional intelligence also helps leaders to regulate their emotions, which is essential when handling stressful situations. Assertive leaders use emotional intelligence to put thought behind their actions, and they understand the consequences of their behavior on others. They use their high emotional intelligence to satisfy their own needs and the needs of their employees while maintaining respect, and do not put other people down in the name of organizational
There is an importance of leaders to first analyze the impact of their emotional manifestation. Leaders should own emotional intelligence. Those leaders that don’t possess emotional int...
There are many different positions in an organization that require different knowledge, skills and abilities. Supervisory and management positions encompass more than just technical knowledge, skill and expertise in their given area, but being leaders over others. This is of interest to organizations in having leaders who are able to motivate, understand and get their teams to work together. Many organizations are looking to improve their performance and productivity through finding and placing the right people in leadership positions. How the concept of emotional intelligence and its evolution has come to the forefront in assisting companies about leadership performance and decisions will be discussed along with the debate among researchers and the review of three assessments as to their impact and uses.
Emotions are frequent companions in our lives. They come and go, and constantly change like the weather. They generate powerful chemicals that create positive and negative feelings, which have a powerful effect on leadership. Some emotions can either facilitate leadership, while others can detract from successful leadership. This course, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, has truly opened my eyes to the affects that emotions have on being an effective leader. Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p. 5). This definition in itself states that emotions, whether it be ones own emotions or those of others, is the underlying factor that directs the actions of a leader. Therefore, throughout the progression (advancement) of this course, I have learned the importance of the development of emotional intelligence for being an effective leader, and because of this I plan on developing the capacities that contribute to being an emotionally intelligent leader for my own success, now and in the future.
(2013) separated emotional intelligence into four domains, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (pp. 30, 38). These domains are then broken into two competencies. Self-awareness, the understanding of one 's emotions and being clear about one 's purpose, and self-management, the focused drive and emotional self-control, make up the personal competence (pp. 39, 45-46). While social awareness, or empathy and service, and relationship management, the handling of other people 's emotions, make up the social competence (pp. 39, 48, 51). These emotional intelligence competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities, each of which contribute to making leaders more resonant and effective (p. 38). This is good news for me because I still have much to develop in regards to emotional
“On leadership” was written by John W. Gardner (The Free Press, New York, 1990). He used seventeen chapters to explain and describe essential components for the leadership should be in a successful organization. This book not only has significant influence now, but also for the future. Below are my understanding about this book, which was divided into two parts. For the first part, I will pick up some perspectives which influence me most from this book. For the second part, which is my comments and critique about this book.
Fernandez-Araoz C.(2001) The challenge of hiring senior executives, The emotionally intelligent workplace: how to select for, measure, and improve emallenge emotional intelligence in individuals, groups, and organizations, Jossey-Bass Ch.6
Sy, T., & Cote, S. (2004). Emotional intelligence: A key ability to succeed in the matrix organization. Journal of Management Development. 23(5). 437-455