Empirical paper for unit assignment

Emotional Leadership

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

There are many different styles and aims of leadership that have been identified in both professional and academic literature. Since the middle of the twentieth century this literature has come to focus at least as much on the human aspect of leadership and management -- on the ability to motivate and coordinate individuals -- as it has on the more numerical and mechanistic aspects of organizational leadership (Chan 2007). The concept of emotional intelligence, though variously defined, has been identified as a necessary component of successful leadership in a wide variety of disciplines and many different organizational types (Ashkanasy & Dasborough 2003; Eason 2009). This paper identifies several of the ways in which emotional intelligence has been found to alter the nature and effect -- as well as the efficacy -- of leadership in a variety of settings and with a variety of goals.

An essential goal in many organizations, regardless of the industry or primary objectives of that organization, is the inspiration and motivation of the organization's workforce to provide the best possible service to the organization. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that is defined by its achievement in this area, and emotional intelligence has been cited as a primary characteristic of transformational leaders in may situations (Barbuto & Burbach 2006). Essentially, it is the ability to recognize and respond to emotions honestly and adeptly that allows leadership to become truly transformational, promoting not only individual efficacy and motivation but also establishing greater group cohesion (Wang & Huang 2009). Leaders hat poses true emotional intelligence can use this to inspire employees and organizations to new levels of excellence and productivity.

Emotional intelligence is also an effective component of leadership in a much broader sense. The existence and application of empathy and emotional intelligence in leadership is an essential element in determining the needs of many organizations, particularly in educational endeavors (Moore 2009; Singh et al. 2007). Many studies have also found emotional intelligence to be of paramount importance in nursing leadership, as well; the more directly emotions are both a means and an ends of the organizations practices and goals, it seems (and quite reasonably so), the more necessary emotional intelligence becomes and the more extreme its effect on organizational and individual efficacy (Vesterinen et al. 2009; Akerjordet & Severinsson 2008). In the fields of both education and nursing, the emotional needs of the client (students and patients, respectively) are a part of the direct focus of the services provided, making emotional intelligence arguably a more prominent feature of successful leadership in these industries.

The usefulness of emotional intelligence is not limited to a few select fields or goals, of course, but is broadly applicable in almost any leadership setting. There has been some suggestion that emotional intelligence -- or more precisely, an over-reliance on emotional intelligence as a decision-making tool for leadership -- can actually be a hindrance in some situations, but this is far from the prevailing view in the bulk of literature on the topic (Hicks & Dess 2008). Instead, emotional leadership is far and away increasingly seen as a necessary part of the leadership ability and practice in any organization.

Chapter Bullet Points

New rules for determining individual competency include an awareness of initiative, empathy, adaptability, and persuasiveness

A lack of motivation, which can be the result of a lack of emotional connection to/from leadership, leads to reduced job performance and ability

Even -- perhaps especially -- in fields where technical expertise and traditional intelligence are among the most highly prized attributes in employees and leaders, emotional intelligence confers a large competitive advantage

Proper skills and practices must be learned in order to take advantage of/fulfill the potential of higher levels of emotional intelligence

Nearly two thirds of some of the most commonly identified competencies/attributes of successful leadership and performance were emotional competencies

Similarly, expertise and high intelligence quotients were not predictors of successes or failures in other studies of organizations and management, whereas low emotional intelligence levels were excellent predictors of failure

Effective use of emotional intelligence requires the recognition and the assertion of one's own internal emotional drives and motivations

Self-confidence is also a high indicator of eventual success in leadership positions, especially when combined with solid emotional intelligence

Stress can have a physiologically detrimental effect on individuals, and must be mitigated to achieve high levels of success in all situations

Annotated Bibliography

Akerjordet, K. & Severinsson, E. (2008). "Emotionally intelligent nurse leadership: a literature review study." Journal of nursing management 16(5), p. 565-77.

In an examination of other primary studies on the subject, these researchers found emotional intelligence to be a prominent feature of nurse leadership as judged by nurses. A wide array of studies with highly varied aims reached similar conclusions in this general area.

Ashkanasy, N. & Dasborough, M. (2003). "Emotional Awareness and Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Teaching." Journal of Education for Business 79(1), pp. 18-22.

A study of the effect of adding emotional content to undergraduate leadership courses showed the benefits of such education on emotional intelligence levels as measured through direct tests. Individual emotional intelligence was predictive of individual success, whereas general interest in emotions was more predictive of team successes.

Barbuto, J. & burbach, M. (2006). "The Emotional Intelligence of Transformational Leaders: A Field Study of Elected Officials." The Journal of Social Psychology 146(1), pp. 51-64.

This study looked at elected officials who had shown success with what could be deemed transformational leadership, and found emotional intelligence to be a common factor amongst these individuals. Though narrow in its focus, this study's findings were highly applicable to the question at hand in this paper.

Chan, D. (2007). "Leadership and intelligence." Roeper review 29(3), pp. 183-9.

An examination of nearly five hundred Chinese students in a gifted program were surveyed as to their own individual perceptions regarding their emotional intelligence, emotional management, and goal orientation. Leadership abilities were paired with high perceptions of emotional intelligence and a reduced level of/concern for emotional management.

Eason, T. (2009). "Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Leadership: A Successful Combination." Creative Nursing 15(4), pp. 184-5.

Examining another facet of emotional intelligence, this study showed how useful emotional intelligence is in developing emotional management techniques and making goal-based decisions. The focus on the decision making process and acknowledgement of emotional influences were of paramount importance to this paper.

Hicks, R. & Dess, G. (2008). "A question of leadership: Are there any potential downsides to emotional intelligence for executives, and if so, what are they?" Leadership in Action 28(5), p. 18-24.

The authors identify several potential negative effects of emotional intelligence in executives, including hesitancy and reduced profitability. The researchers' discussion provides an important balancing perspective to the main view presented in this paper and the majority of studies evaluated and contained therein.