While working for the airline industry I encountered many personalities. Colleagues that worked only a few months with the similar qualifications took the lunge and applied to managerial positions. When promoted, it made me wonder what set them apart from other candidates, others with even more qualifications. What I noticed was similar, in those that were promoted, was their ability to resolve conflict and mentorship qualities. These qualities what is known as Emotional Intelligence. In Inter-Act, Professor Rudolph Verderber and Professor Kathleen Verderber quote Dr. Peter Salovey and Dr. John Mayer’s studies, emotional intelligence is “the ability to monitor your own and other’s emotions and to use this information to guide your communications”
Emotional intelligence serves an important role in leadership. Emotional intelligence is a concept that many people may not know exist when thinking about how qualified a person may be for a job. In this paper, there are three main objectives; to define and point out the differences between emotional intelligence and traditional intelligence, identifying why emotional intelligence can be learned, and identifying the relationships between emotional intelligence and leadership/motivation. I will finish with an examination of my encounters with managers exhibiting low and high levels of emotional intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence is an ability stemming from the feeling of empathy that most people acquire as they experience new things in their life. It is the ability to monitor the emotions within yourself and that of others in order to discriminate between feelings and label them as such. We use this emotional information to guide our thinking patterns and behaviors. High emotional intelligence levels directly correlates within an individual to greater mental health, exceptional job performance, and more advanced leadership skills.
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.
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.
...ffective leadership and why it is believed that people with high emotional intelligence are more effective leaders. Knowing that emotional intelligence is something that can be learned, developed, and improved upon over time really shows that it is possible to become both a successful and effective leader. As I mentioned in the beginning of this paper, anyone has the ability to become a leader. Anything is possible as long as you have the heart and dedication to believe in it and everyone can be a leader no matter what.
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,...
Locke, Edwin A. (2005). Why emotional intelligence is an invalid concept. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 425-431. doi: 10.1002/job.318
Rosete, D. & Ciarrochi, J. (2005). Emotional intelligence and its relationship to workplace performance outcomes of leadership effectiveness. Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 26(5/6), 388-399. Retrieved January 6, 2010, from Emerald database. DOI: 10.1108/01437730510607871.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend and direct the effect that individuals’ emotions have on each other (Giltinane, 2013). Linda recognizes that keeping staff motivated and inspired requires her high emotional intelligence. She is able to gauge individual reactions to news, both good and bad, and understands that when a concern is brought to her attention, immediate reaction is not always the best course of action as a leader. When able, she allows herself time to review the situation from several perspectives and gain insight from others involved. Giltinane (2013) found that “emotionally intelligent leaders will not rush to fix, cure or control the responses of staff to change, but are empathetic to their concerns” (p. 36).
What sets a leader apart, those who are more than qualified or a leader who understands the importance of emotional intelligence? Leaders who are qualified to do the job and fail are lacking emotional intelligence and those leaders who are less qualified but, have a high emotional intelligence are being successful. Examining this issue will be discussed in this paper and why it is important in leaders today. This paper will explain Daniel Goleman’s five competence of emotional intelligence and why they are important to leaders.
Ultimately, emotional intelligence can be summed up by a story included in this article by Joe Jotkowitz with regards to a company just starting out and how it handled the unimaginable growth and their employees. The new company caught on to the fact that the overall positive mood of their employees was their main focus out of all business matters. “The EI of the company’s leadership predicted that if the staff was happy, then people would put in the extra hours, go the extra mile, put up with the ambiguity and stick with the company under strained conditions. (Simmons 6)” I personally can attest to the fact that being in an environment with an emotionally intelligent manager as well as coworkers creates the perfect environment for success and productivity whereas being in an environment where the emotional intelligence is lacking can cause a great deal of stress and disappointment. From Kathy Simmons article and personal experience myself, emotional intelligence is a key factor of a successful business, productive employees, and a pleasant and honest work
(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
The book “Working with Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman deals with the emotional assets and liabilities of individuals in organizations. Emotional intelligence is traits that go beyond academic achievement or IQ. As a matter of fact he points out that high academic intelligence can sometimes stand in the way of emotional intelligence. Broadly speaking, emotional intelligence determines how well we handle difficult situation, which cannot be solved by logic, but more by a “feel” for the situation. These attributes are very hard to measure, which is why many standardized tests, whether academic or for employment, fail to measure these attributes, even though these are the one which determine to a large part how successful individuals will be in an organization.