Part 1: The Importance of Emotion in Leadership Communication
Leadership communication depends on understanding the audience, understanding what moves them to listen and what motivates them to act. This understanding requires self-awareness as well as increased awareness of others. Audiences’ openness to a manager and to his or her message either can assist or be a barrier to their receiving the intended message. In a recent article in Harvard Business Review, Robert Cialdini (2001) argues, “no leader can succeed without mastering the art of persuasion.” Just as creating a positive culture aids in the art of persuasion, understanding what motivates others to listen and to act will help as well, thus the importance of emotional understanding for any leader.
Without emotions, leaders cannot communicate with and manage others effectively. In Bar-On developed the concept of the emotional quotient in 1988. The concept states we have an emotional and social knowledge as well as the ability to; Be aware of, understand, and express ourselves; be aware of, understand, and relate to others; deal with strong emotions and control our impulses, and finally, to adapt to change and to solve problems of a personal or a social nature (Bar-On & Parker, 2000).
This concept suggests that emotions begin with the ability to identify and manage emotions in ourselves and in others, but it extends also to the ability to translate these emotions into actions that show flexibility and personal and social problem solving ability. For leadership communication, emotion is as important as the core skills of strategy development, writing, and speaking. “Emotions accounts for 85% of what distinguishes the stars in top leadership positions from low-level perfo...
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...ught processes in order to succeed. It is essential work for anyone who wants to persuade others to achieve anything worthwhile.
Works Cited
Bar-On, R.& Parker, J.D.A. (Eds.) (2000). Handbook of Emotional Intelligence. San Francisco:
JosseyBass.
Cialdini, R. (2001). Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 79 (9), pp.
72-80.
Conger, J. A. (1998). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76 (3), p. 88.
Gary, L. (2002). Quoting Goleman in “Becoming a Resonant Leader,” Harvard Management
Update. 7(7), 4 – 6.
Morgan, N. (2010). Leadership Is All About Emotional Persuasion. Forbes.com. February 2nd,
2010. Retrieved May 26th, 2011 from
http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/02/communication-emotional-persuasion-leadership-managing-speaking.html
Weisinger, H. (1998). Emotional Intelligence at Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
However, it’s that ambiguity that allows different types of personalities to thrive as leaders. From soft-spoken to loud and booming, from conceptual thinkers to detailed planners, leaders have varied greatly in character and leadership styles.3 Today our Air Force has the most educated and skilled Airmen that its ever had. Technologically-advanced Millennials make up more of the Air Force today than any other generation and they are industrious, free-thinking, and keenly perceptive. It is essential that leaders be sincere with their subordinates as people can easily distinguish between genuine concern and manufactured emotion. As stated by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner who surveyed thousands of people on what they want in their leaders, the results were
The ability to express and control our own emotions is vital for our survival in society and the work place but so is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence (Cherry, 2015).
As expressed in the previous chapter, there is no clear and concise definition as to what exactly is and is not persuasion. Therefore, persuasion has several names and meanings making it difficult to define this complex topic. In this chapter, the author examines some of the reasons as to why defining this phenomenon is such a hassle. To do this, the author first describes two important factors that clarify the source of differences among definitions of persuasion, which are the ideas of pure versus borderline persuasion. Following these characteristics, the author presents five other controversial factors that also contribute to the differences among definitions of persuasion.
Conger, J. A. (1998). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review,76 (3) , 85-95.
Kerbel, Matthew R. (1993). An Empirical Test of the Role of Persuasion in the Exercise of
They have profound convictions for for their leadership; Their behavior always reflect their core values and they view themselves as individuals that “lead with their hearts as well as their heads while also building enduring organizations” (George 2003). Leaders are encouraged to maintain the perception of authenticity but making sure that their words are consistent and reflect their action or intentions. They should not be so pompous and arrogant that they cannot relate to or find mutual and common ground with their staff. (Goffee & Jones 2005)
Jowett, Garth and Victoria O’Donnell. “Propaganda and Persuasion”. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, (2nd ed.) 1992. Print. 4 Jan., 2011.
Persuasion goes on around us everyday, all the time, on television, on advertisements, even in conversations with friends. Perhaps because of this, much has been written on how to persuade more effectively. Most of this literature is built upon the notion that to persuade is to urge successfully and completely. Going along these lines, certainty and confidence are logical complements to effective persuasion, since we cannot hope to convince others when we are ourselves in doubt. Doubt, therefore, is felt to be at the other end of the spectrum and antithetical to persuasion. But the art of persuasion is a human art, and so it is a living art, which cannot be satisfactorily summed up between the covers of self-improvement guides. In reality, successful persuasion can somewhat deviate from the conventional criteria of certainty; in fact, even doubt can be used to persuade.
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.
Hovland, C.I., Janis, I.L., & Kelley, H.H. (1953) Communication and persuasion: Psychological studies of opinion change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
(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
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...
Persuasion is an important aspect of communication, certainly a significant business activity. Regardless of whether this comes in the form of a sender influencing a party or the receiver itself is being influenced. Typically, this could come in the form of a salesman or, even a manager communicating with key stakeholders, such as potential investors.
An individual’s ability to control and express their emotions is just as important as his/her ability to respond, understand, and interpret the emotions of others. The ability to do both of these things is emotional intelligence, which, it has been argued, is just as important if not more important than IQ (Cassady & Eissa, 2011). Emotional intelligence refers to one’s ability to perceive emotions, control them, and evaluate them. While some psychologists argue that it is innate, others claim that it is possible to learn and strengthen it. Academically, it has been referred to as social intelligence sub-set. This involves an individual’s ability to monitor their emotions and feelings, as well as those of others, and to differentiate them in a manner that allows the individuals to integrate them in their actions and thoughts (Cassady & Eissa, 2011).
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.