Running head: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

Emotional Intelligence as a Key Leadership Skill

Melissa Sheldon (Student #253354)
Siena Heights University Graduate College
August 4, 2016

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

Emotional Intelligence as a Key Leadership Skill

Productive teams need effective leaders. Leaders provide resources, direction, support,
feedback, and many other necessary elements that help convene teams and allow them to
perform at peak levels. Effective leaders are able to build meaningful working relationships with
others that are based upon trust and respect. In order to build and maintain positive professional
relationships, leaders must possess emotional intelligence. The ability to control ones own
feelings, attitudes, and thoughts is a foundational skill that all effective leaders must master,
especially when managing teams.
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
From a scientific perspective, Ovans (2015) defines emotional intelligence as the ability
to accurately perceive your own and others emotions; to understand the signals that emotions
send about relationships; and to manage your own and others emotions (p. 2). Accurately
perceiving ones own emotions and the emotions of others is not an easy task. Picking up on
emotional and social cues is not an inherent skill that all leaders possess. Leaders that lack the
ability to pick up on social or emotional cues are less likely to be able to develop meaningful,
positive relationships in the workplace. Without the ability to identify and relate to emotions and
build relationships, a leader will not be able to manage their own emotions or the emotions of
others. When it comes to a leader establishing relationships with their team members, Keohane
(2005) describes how the team members must feel as though they know the leader. This is
accomplished by the team members observing the leader in action, being recognized for their
efforts as part of the team, feeling a sense of warmth or support, openly communicating, etc.
Once a team member feels as though they can trust the leader and they generally approve of their
actions in and out of the workplace then they begin to trust the leader and a relationships forms.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

Darling and Utecht (2010) also discuss the importance of a leaders ability to control
emotions when forming teams. The thoughts, attitudes, and feelings of the leader ultimately
control the levels success within a team environment and their organization as a whole. Leaders
become that which they think about (p. 47). Therefore, it is critical for leaders to develop the
ability to recognize and refocus negative emotions and energy in order to strengthen their teams
and increase productivity. The inability to manage ones own emotions and the emotions of
others stems from an overall lack of trust and/or respect on behalf of the other parties. Effective
team leaders are able to relate to their team members on an emotional level and maintain control
at all times. It takes much more than a positive attitude, the initiative to act, and self-confidence
to develop emotional intelligence as a leadership skill. Mayer, Goleman, Barrett, and Gutstein
(2004) reveal that emotional intelligence is part genetic predisposition, part life experience, and
part old-fashioned training and it emerges in varying degrees from one leader to the next, and
managers apply it with varying skill (p.1). Thus, an employee can master all of the technical
skills necessary for a particular job and have the perfect work experience and still not possess the
ability to perform as an effective leader.
According to Ovans (2015), there is an ever-growing body of evidence based in
organizational research that suggests emotional intelligence is the future of effective leadership.
This research is based in the wheelhouse that it is nearly impossible to separate ones rational
and emotional selves. In order to perform at peak levels, it is best for leaders to integrate their
rational and emotional selves. On the other hand, as the research continues to be published, there
are some opposing viewpoints that have surfaced. A lack of correlation between scores on tests
of emotional intelligence and business results is one major opposing viewpoint that has surfaced.
Even with the contradictory research that is being published, experts in the field still maintain

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

that leaders who are able to master emotional intelligence are much more effective in the long
run.
Components of Emotional Intelligence
Goleman (2004) identified the chief components of emotional intelligence as selfawareness, self-management, motivation, and empathy for others. The motivation component
focuses on intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors that go well beyond money and status. Mastering
each of these components results in a leader possessing fine-tuned social skills and the ability to
develop meaningful working relationships. Figure 1 shows the relationship between each of the
components of emotional intelligence.

Self-Awareness
Emotional Self-Awareness
Accurate Perception of Emotions

Empathy for Others

Self-Management

Organizational Emotional State

Service Orientation

Trustworthiness
Adaptability
Drive and Initiative

Motivation
Influence and Inspiration
Development of Others
Teamwork and Collaboration
Building Relationships

Figure 1. Relationship between the primary components of emotional intelligence (Goleman,

2004).

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

Self-Awareness
Self-awareness occurs when a leader is able to accurately identify their own emotional
state. Acknowledging ones own emotions and making sure those emotions do not impact their
judgement when making decision on behalf of an organization or a team is critical. It is also vital
for leaders to be aware of how their emotions impact their team members. Positive energy
spreads just as fast as negative energy so leaders need to be aware of the emotions they are
showing to their team.
Self-Management
Self-management is the process of managing ones own emotions after they have been
accurately identified. According to Shields (2009), self-management must be done in a way that
simplifies the task at hand and serves the organization. The ability to manage ones own
emotions helps leaders build a foundation of trust with others, allows them to possess drive and
take initiative, and also allows them to be flexible and adaptable when needed. Leaders must be
able to do this an interpersonal as well as intrapersonal level to achieve success (Shields, 2009).
Motivation
Motivating others requires the presence of a well-established working relationship. If the
team members that a leader is trying to motivate do not trust them then the leader will not be
successful in their attempts to motivate. Leaders who are able to establish a foundation of trust
are able to influence and inspire their team members while helping them develop as individual
employees. This positive environment fosters teamwork and collaboration and also helps the
leader build and maintain their relationship with each team member. Rath and Conchie (2009)
point out that teams need to be well-rounded, however, individual team members do not.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

Therefore, it is critical for leaders to possess the ability to identify strengths among their team
members and acknowledge them in order to motivate the individuals and the team as a whole.
Empathy
If a leader is able to motivate their team members, then they will also be able to provide
empathy when necessary. Being empathetic requires the team leader to be able to not only
identify the emotions of others, but to understand them on a deeper level. At times, a leader must
understand the emotions of their team members in order to motivate them. Empathy also helps
the leader provide an awareness of the organizational culture and the desire to help others and
provide the best service possible, at all times. According to Mayer, Goleman, Barrett, and
Gutstein (2004), leaders can read and regulate their own emotions while intuitively grasping
how others feel and gauging their organizations emotional state (p.1).
Conclusion
The most eective leaders are all alike in that they all possess a high degree of emotional
intelligence (Ovans, 2015). A strong link between empathetic leaders and nancial performance
has also been identified making the case for emotional intelligence as a key leadership skill even
greater. A leader can have the best education, a plethora of work experience on their resume, and
excellent technical skills pertaining to their job and lack emotional intelligence. The inability to
form meaningful, positive, lasting working relationships is detrimental to a leaders performance
and ultimately affects whether or not their team will be successful. Emotional intelligence is a
key leadership skill that all leaders must possess in order to be effective as team leaders and
representatives of organizations.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS A KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL

References

Darling, J. R., & Utecht, R. L. (2010). Leadership responsiveness to the key in an era of
socioeconomic stress: A focused team-building paradigm. Organization Development
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Goleman, D. (2004). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82, 82-91. Retrieved from
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Keohane, N. (2005). On leadership. Perspectives in Politics, 3.4, 705-722. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3688175

Mayer, J., Goleman, D., Barrett, C., Gutstein, S. (2004). Leading by feel. Harvard Business
Review, 82, 27-37. Retrieved from
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Ovans, A. (2015). How emotional intelligence became a key leadership skill. Harvard Business
Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/04/how-emotional-intelligence-became-akey-leadership-skill

Rath, T. & Conchie, B. (2009). What makes a great leadership team?. Retrieved from
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/113338/what-makes-great-leadership-team.aspx

Shields, D. (2009). Leaders' emotional intelligence and discipline of personal mastery: A mixed
methods analysis. Retrieved from
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