The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Introduction

Emotional intelligence directly involves skills and behavioral dispositions that may be activated to expand one’s ability to assume optimal leadership. The principle of emotional intelligence involves an ability to recognize a mood in a moment and the behavioral dispositions it elicits, to have an accurate understanding of the cause of the mood and to be able to predict future moods, and to either employ an emotional shift or maintain the current mood if it is believed to be most effective. An emotionally intelligent person can accurately perceive emotions in self and others; use emotions to facilitate thinking, understand emotional meanings, and manage emotions. This person then can apply an array of specific behaviors and dispositions to understand what is going on in a group, regulate one’s own and others’ moods and emotions, and to affect the best possible change in a given situation. Emotional intelligence requires that leaders monitor and accurately appraise the affective dynamics in their environment and within themselves. This is difficult because moods are hard to spot in a relatively fleeting and unconscious basic psychological state that is manifested in a global and undifferentiated feeling tone. Once emotions are identified, it is easier to generate an affect and that affect can be either self-managed or managed with others to achieve an optimal result. This may be a difficult process that requires patience and the ability to make effective decisions based on current and future mood, an ability to understand complex information, and altering moods and emotions to affect a desired outcome. Given that a leader must provide and execute a successful vision and have high levels of effective organizational change, it can be seen that emotional intelligence is essential in leadership.

2. Understanding Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence has four components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Self-awareness is the “ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others” (Goleman, 2001), and can be assessed through self-report measures and multiple-choice tests. Self-aware individuals can be more conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, and less likely to overestimate their abilities. This awareness is an important feature of effective leaders because it allows them to recognize their moods and emotions and the effect they have on others (Druskat & Wolff, 2001). A good example of this is found in DMI Consulting, whose managers were coached to manage their emotions which had a very positive impact on their leadership efficacy. An assessment of the managers using a multi-rater 360-degree feedback showed improvements in the leader’s self-awareness and a strong relationship between this and their change in leadership style. Self-awareness also allows leaders to be more adaptable in their behavior and decision making. Evidently self-awareness is vital for leaders in order to be effective and maintain a positive leadership status. Step two in the DMI case study was to recognize the need for change; this was achieved using a self-report survey to identify behavioral weaknesses and coaching on self-awareness and management of emotions. Again, this shows good leaders are aware of the effects their behavior has on others and are not afraid to change to a more effective style. Evidently, the impact of self-awareness and effective management of behavior and emotions can result in more effective leadership.

A common belief is that emotional intelligence, or EI, is important in the workplace. However, there is a lack of research to support this view, as well as a lack of a widely accepted measure of EI and definitive proof of exactly what it is. In the following section, several aspects of EI will be discussed in more detail, particularly in how they relate to leadership, which is an important element of this topic.

3. Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

The capacity to lead is a complex, multifaceted concept, requiring many skills, not all of which can be easily defined. Leadership is often described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” Conceptually, leadership can be broken down into the leader and the followers, with the quality of leadership dependent upon the individuals involved. The effectiveness of a leader is commonly judged in terms of various work or group attitudes and performance of those being led. This, in turn, can be split into will, which concerns motivation, and task, which concerns implemented direction. Effective leadership will, it is assumed, raise motivation and performance. A leader’s personality will affect the quality and style of his leadership and is also a factor in the receptiveness of the led’s responses to it. Finally, the quality of leadership is dependent upon situational factors and the nature of those being led. Overall, leadership is a process involving many variables and skill sets; its complexity is illustrated when considering the vast and often conflicting literature concerning effective leadership and its varying styles.

4. Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

The concept of emotional intelligence has been given a lot of importance in various fields because of its contribution to the success of the individuals and the organizations. Emotions play a critical role in the workplace and can be managed effectively by emotionally intelligent leaders and members. Emotional intelligence can be defined as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). An emotionally intelligent individual can accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others, use them to facilitate thinking, understand emotional meanings, and manage emotions (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Gibb (2001) discusses the need for sensitivity to others’ feelings and concerns, creative use of emotions, facilitation of motivation, and the generation of a positive work environment as reasons for the importance of EI. Emotional intelligence has been reported to have a great impact on work life, mental health, and personal life. This has been supported by a study suggesting that emotional intelligence can be a strong predictor of job performance (Bar-On, 2000) and by a report from the Office of National Statistics (2002) stating that the mental health of individuals has declined in correlation with an increase in work pressure and demands. It is suggested that this has led to a large increase in work days lost and a cost of several billion pounds in lost productivity in UK organizations due to absence, ill health, or other factors related to mental health (HSE, 2003). Such statistics and trends indicate a need for fostering emotional intelligence in current and future leaders. EI leaders can make a lasting impact on the organizations they lead and the followers they lead on. Leaders possessing high EI have a better understanding of their followers’ feelings and concerns and are thus able to handle their needs with consideration. Yukl states that leaders are required to build and maintain work group effectiveness by understanding followers’ needs, and he defines understanding as an empathic attribute towards others, holding concerns for their own needs and feelings. Dahlin (1982) suggests that concern for followers’ feelings provides a moral-based influence tactic and an expectation of positive outcomes as a result. This style of leadership has been tied to transformational and charismatic leadership styles and has been found to enhance follower job performance and satisfaction and increase the leaders’ ability to influence their followers (Kezar, 2001). Transformational leaders set higher goals and put more effort into what they do than their counterparts and have higher growth in the leadership they promote (Barling et al., 2000). A transformational leadership style has been shown to lead to increases in team effectiveness and cohesion and ultimately organizational performance (Limsila and Ogunlana, 2008). An EI leader’s positive approach and effective management of emotions will facilitate these leadership styles and can cause a great impact on an organization’s effectiveness, an appealing concept to many leaders focused on progression in today’s competitive environment.