Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

About Emotional Intelligence

When talking about intelligence, the first associations that are made typically refer to mathematical or linguistic skills, and “IQ” is a common term that subsequently comes to mind. However, a large body of literature suggests that there is no such thing as “intelligence” per se, but rather a multitude of them. One such type of intelligence is labelled “emotional intelligence” (hereafter referred to as EI). Over the last 25 years, it has received significant attention for its wide implications on an individual’s private and professional endeavours.

The basic definition of EI was made by Salovey and Mayer in 1990, describing EI as the “ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one’s own thinking and actions” . Salovey et al. further suggested five main domains which characterize emotional intelligence, which were later popularized to a large extent by psychologist Daniel Goleman .

1. Knowing one’s emotions. This is also often referred to as self-awareness, meaning the ability to “recognize a feeling as it happens” .

2. Managing emotions, so that they match a given situation. This builds on the first domain since handling emotions first requires being aware of them.

3. Motivating oneself. This refers to managing emotions (domain 2) in pursuit of a higher goal, such as delaying gratification or resisting certain impulses.

4. Recognizing emotions in others. Often described as empathy, recognizing emotions in others also requires emotional awareness in the first place (domain 1). Empathic people have an advantage at understanding the “subtle social signals” which express the needs and wants of others .

5. Handling relationships. This task essentially breaks down to the management of emotions in other people. It holds wide implications for any type of interpersonal interactions and is therefore of particular interest when examining emotional intelligence and leadership.

Annotated Bibliography

Daniel Goleman, “Emotional Intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ”, Bantam Books New York 1995

This book can be regarded as a core work on the topic of emotional intelligence and has advanced to an international bestseller. Daniel Goleman argues that emotional intelligence is just as important for a successful private and professional life as the infamous IQ. Goleman further criticises the neglect of schooling emotional intelligence in children and teenagers and provides flagship examples of successful programmes. Throughout the book, interesting and compelling findings from a wide array of psychological studies are discussed and put into the context of the brain´s neurophysiological ways of working.

Jennifer M. George, “Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional intelligence”, in Human Relations 53 (8), pp. 1027–1055, 2000

This frequently cited paper examines the role of feelings in a wider array of leadership responsibilities. Many situations which leaders can face are analysed from the viewpoint of emotions and their implications. Since “leadership is an emotion-laden process”, George suggests that emotional intelligence is indeed a part of effective leadership. However, a precise quantitative back-up of some findings lacking in this paper.

Jordan, Peter J.; Ashton-James, Claire E.; Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2014): Evaluating the Claims: Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. In Kevin R. Murphy (Ed.): A critique of emotional intelligence: What are the problems and how can they be fixed?: Taylor and Francis, 198-210.

The authors critically examine some of the more inflated claims about EI that have mainly been made in the popular press. They do so by evaluating whether empirical results support the claims, as well as checking on the theoretical links to the construct of EI. The authors also look for alternative explanations for the claims by discussing related studies. In summary, this reading helps to put the popular picture of EI into a scientific perspective and is thereby making a valuable contribution for a reflected discourse on the subject.