World religions and emotional intelligence in leadership cultivation

¶ … World Religions to Identify if One Religion Correlates Best with Leadership and the Cultivation of Traits that Accompany Organizational Success

This research will compare and contrast the world religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The goal of this research is to recognize and identify factors in the religions that aim to cultivate, help promote, or inspire leadership abilities and success traits. There are many examples of leaders from various religions all over the world throughout time, each of whom has made an impact on societies. Whether it is Confucius teaching the way, the Dalai Lama emphasizing mindfulness and cognitive compassion, or Christ laying the groundwork for the idea of servant leadership -- there are elements in each religion that are similar (self-renunciation) and some that are different (the extent to which the divine enters into the equation). The question this study aims to answer is: How do these religions factor into or relate to successful leadership cultivation?

In order to answer the question, the research will not just examine the world religions but also the ideas that are used to define successful leadership. From this perspective, the study will examine the work of Daniel Goleman, who has written extensively on and promoted the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI), which goes a long way to helping leaders to assess the needs of followers and interact with them in a way that is supportive, positive and fulfilling.

Goleman defines EI\'s central components as \"self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill\" -- all qualities that appear to be at the core of many of the world\'s main religions (Goleman, 2004). Is there, then, a link between these religions -- their values, what they teach, what they inspire -- and the central components of Goleman\'s key to leadership -- Emotional Intelligence? What can be discovered by examining the world\'s religions from the perspective of leadership?

Since religion and culture have been intimately connected for much of human history, it may be valuable to examine whether or not religion can be an effective tool for promoting leadership in the modern era.

Methodology:

The method that this research will take will be to perform a qualitative descriptive analysis by identifying themes, concepts, teachings and core tenets of world religions then comparing and contrasting them. This will be the first step of the study. The second will be to perform a qualitative assessment using a questionnaire/survey method involving a sample of leaders from around the world, including various cultures and ethnicities, so as to include in the sample a wide range of possible religious influences among the sample population. The aim of this questionnaire/survey will be to see how influential religion is in the lives of leaders, if religion is more instrumental in leadership development in different cultures, if leaders are more successful as a result of religious background, or if there is little qualitative evidence of religion playing a role in the development of traits that support the components of EI and successful leadership.

There are several studies that will be useful in the support of this research. Briggs and Rayle (2005) have researched the concept of incorporating spirituality into core counseling courses and the classroom, suggesting that spiritual concepts have a positive effect on the development of individuals. Cecero and Prout (2014) have provided insight into how formulate a questionnaire regarding one\'s use of spirituality/religion, which will be useful in the formulation of this study\'s questionnaire. Kernochian et al. (2007) have examined the role of Buddhism in management and how mindfulness and empathy relate to leadership. Mata (2014) has provided a phenomenological assessment of the role of religion and spirituality in the developmental process. In short, there are several studies available to support the aim of this research.