Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) is a cognitive ability that imposes interpersonal behavior and entails social skills, social awareness, self-management, and self-awareness, which are essential in enhancing the effectiveness in leadership (Carter, 2011). One example of emotional intelligence is the ability to motivate oneself and maintain successful interpersonal relationships. Another is example entails being able to discern and efficiently deal with emotions of other persons (Carter & Russell, 2008). On a similar note, it requires recognizing and managing one’s emotions in an efficient and effective manner. Emotional quotient is the measure of an individual’s emotional intelligence as quantified by a given standard test. On the other hand, intelligence quotient is the measure of one’s thinking ability. However, the latter is ineffective because people with a low IQ can still learn leadership skills and become emotionally intelligent.
According to Carter (2011), emotional intelligence is an integral part of leadership in the current world. First, emotional intelligence appropriates effective communication in the industry or firm where the leaders work. It is imperative to note that the higher the levels of emotional intelligence, the better the extent to which leaders effectively communicates with others to inspire and motivate them (Goleman, 2009). As such, this is paramount in firms because it improves not only work outcomes, but also profitability, job satisfaction, and work-life balance. Additionally, conflict resolution is improved when a leader is emotionally intelligent.
Indispensably, conflict is the cause of disrupted or threatened productivity and efficiency. For this reason, possessing emotional intelligence ensures that a leader placates disagreements on time, and these might arise between stakeholders such as clients, workers, shareholders, suppliers, and others. Finally, emotional intelligence improves self-awareness in the firm. Leaders need respect and loyalty in a company and this may not be achieved unless they are aware of the needs of their employees and empathize rather than sympathize with the latter.
On the contrary, lacking emotional awareness culminates in various pitfalls in a firm. For instance, leaders may find themselves unable to handle their emotions. For example, they may let their anger take control or make hasty decisions that might have adverse implications for the firm in the future (Carter & Russell, 2008). Further, low emotional intelligence might lead to a scenario where a leader is not aware of him, or her, self. In this regard, leaders may not understand their strengths and weaknesses as required by the positions they hold in their respective firms. It is for this reason that handling some situations in the future might be a hard task as a consequence of their inability to deal with the current issues in business.
Elements of emotional intelligence entail social awareness, social skills, self-awareness, and self-management. In this regard, social awareness entails being sympathetic, empathetic, and outgoing as well as respecting and treating others in a good way. According to Carter (2011), social skills involve handling other people in an appropriate manner, in addition to environmental stewardship efforts. Self-management entails self-motivation, being able to manage an individual’s resources such as emotions, and using these resources to ensure positive outcomes. As such, it is the ability to comprehend different emotions and utilize them for personal benefits in acting and reasoning. In this regard, it is essential in management as a consequence of its improving emotional management that compels leaders to possess rational behavior as well as become sensible, articulate, productive, open to change, and consistent with strategies that aid in managing stress.
Finally, self-awareness requires one to be cognizant of his or her threats, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths as in a SWOT analysis. It is worth noting that it entails self-confidence, accurate self-assessment, and emotional self-awareness. Self-confidence is a belief that an individual’s capacity to accomplish certain tasks by giving an affirmation and reaffirmation that this is possible, depicting confidence in all situations (Carter & Russell, 2008). Self-assessment entails having the ability to identify one’s strengths and abilities as well as recognize possible shortcomings. As such, this is vital to managers because it helps them to learn from mistakes made. It also assists them to be receptive to self-development and continuous learning as leaders. On a similar note, self-assessment helps knowledgeable leaders to deal with their strengths and weaknesses in a very efficient manner. Further, emotional self-awareness enables leaders to understand the intrinsic interconnection between speech output and thoughts as well as recognize how the latter affects individual and organizational performance. Similarly, it is vital in leadership because it allows individual leaders to be guided by their aspirations, objectives, and values.
Organizations are expected to plan seminars where different leaders meet to interact and improve business outcomes. Such seminars instill three core qualities in leaders (Goleman, 2009). First, they learn how to praise their employees. It should be noted that giving praise where it is due is one of the best ways leaders can motivate their employees and inspire loyalty in them. Second, they improve communication skills by giving them questions to answer and thereafter provide feedback on what they are expected to do to improve. Finally, seminars assist leaders in learning conflict resolution between vendors, customers, and team players.
References
Carter, P. J., & Russell, K. A. (2008). Succeed at IQ tests: Improve your numerical, verbal, and spatial reasoning skills. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Carter, P. J. (2011). IQ and psychometric test workbook. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Goleman, D. (2009). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. London, UK: Bloomsbury.
