Even though many people emphasize the more rational elements of the human experience, there has been an increase lately to put people’s emotional side in the forefront. In this sense, psychologists have started employing the term emotional intelligence to emphasize the fact that the management of sentiments and relationships is as important as logical reasoning. This is especially important for a leader, as one could even argue that an important portion of one’s leadership skills depend on one’s emotional intelligence. Therefore, organizations should be aware of this variable in order to better manage their human resources, including interventions, so as to maximize their profits as a whole.
Emotional intelligence is the ability that a person has to successfully identify, assess, control and manifest emotions. A person that has low emotional intelligence may constantly return to an emotionally abusive love partner, or be unable to cope with his or her happiness at inappropriate moments; in general, they seem to be childish in their emotional development. On the other hand, a person that has high emotional intelligence would be somebody who knows how to control his or her feelings, and can influence sentiments in others, when appropriate. “EI is a mixture of self-control, motivation, openmindedness, tact, negotiation, and empathy” (Morrison & Morrison, 2016, p. 19).
The main way to assess this variable is the emotional quotient, which may be called EQ, comparable to the famous IQ, or intelligence quotient. The main difference between the two is what they attempt to measure. While the former evaluates how a person identifies and handles his or her emotions and that of others, the latter is related to the logical and abstract reasoning that a person may have, as well as his capacity to adapt to situations and solve problems. A high EQ is more desirable for leaders, people who work with human resources, psychologists, sociologists, etc., while the IQ is necessary for more mathematical and scientific ventures. For example, “An emotionally intelligent teacher will serve as an important role model for students as such a teacher will be able to bring about the holistic development of the students” (Raj & Uniyal, 2016, p. 106) Nevertheless, it is important to note that while one may form a caricature of these two quotients, both of them are desirable, as humanistic people have to think, just like more scientific people also feel.
There are many reasons why leaders need emotional intelligence to manage today’s workforce. The first of these is the diversity that it has: whereas before, leaders usually worked alongside white men, the expansion of women and minorities into valuable workplaces has dramatically changed the ideological makeup of the groups. In this sense, a leader must have emotional intelligence in order to understand many different walks of life with respect to his or her own.
Furthermore, the quickness of contemporary work also leads to a leader having to have a high EQ, because the work is more demanding. Time is crunched, and people are expected to constantly do more within the same amount of time; there is also more information available and data to crunch, so a good leader has to be able to cope with stress, one of the essentials of emotional intelligence (Vishavdeep. Sharma, Das, Malhi & Ghai, 2016, p. 204). Finally, there is also a constant push for horizontal workplaces, in which asymmetrical relationships are constantly shunned. This implies that an effective leader should be able to treat other people with respect and dignity in a peer-like relationship, something that is very tricky and take great amounts of emotional intelligence.
Conversely, when a leader does not possess emotional intelligence, there are many undesirable consequences that may occur. Mainly, they would be related to his or her team not working in an efficient manner. If a person does not have adequate emotional intelligence, people will not follow his or her lead in a proper manner, as they will not feel that the leader represents them or should be followed. This leads to the workers doing the projects half-heartedly, the two parties constant bickering, people simply deciding not to pay attention to the supposed leader, or even workers leaving the organization. All in all, when a leader does not have a high amount of emotional intelligence, he or she is not effective in this position, leading to problems in the work atmosphere and a subsequent diminishment in productivity for the company as a whole.
In order to fight this, leaders must be aware of different elements of emotional intelligence so as increase their effectiveness. Understanding and empathy are two of the most important of these, as it is primordial for workers to feel that they are in a warm environment with a leader that comprehends them. Furthermore, the management of stress and one’s own emotions is also important, as the leader must be able to not let these negative personal experiences influence the group in a harmful way.
In fact, Vandewaa, Turnipseed, & Cain (2016) contend that emotional intelligence is the sole predictor for good leadership and management skills and abilities (p. 440). There are many ways to improve the social skills of leaders within the organization and thereby positively influence their emotional intelligence. One of these is psychodrama, which has been used to improve social skills before (Kooraki, Yazdkhasti, Ebrahimi & Oreizi, 2012). Another way to improve social skills would be through a group intervention, as showed by Harell, Mercer & DeRosier (2008).
Reference List
Vishavdeep, Sharma, S., Das, K., PrahbhjotMalhi, & Ghai, S. (2016). A Pre Experimental Study to Assess the Effect of Emotional Intelligence Skill Training on Emotional Intelligence of Undergraduate Nursing Students. International Journal Of Nursing Education, 8(2), 203-208 6p. doi:10.5958/0974-9357.2016.00076.3
Morrison, M., & Morrison, J. (2016). Emotional Intelligence and the Childbirth Educator. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 31(3), 19-22 4p.
Vandewaa, E. A., Turnipseed, D. L., & Cain, G. (2016). PANACEA OR PLACEBO? AN EVALUATION OF THE VALUE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE WORKERS. Journal Of Health And Human Services Administration, 38(4), 438-477.
Kooraki, M., Yazdkhasti, F., Ebrahimi, A. & Oreizi, H. R. (2012). Effectiveness of Psychodrama in Improving Social Skills and Reducing Internet Addiction in Female Students. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 17(4), 279-288 10p
Harell, A. W., Mercer, S. H. & DeRosier, M. E. (2008). Improving the Social-Behavioral Adjustment of Adolescents: The Effectiveness of a Social Skills Group Intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies 18,378-387 10p.
Raj, A. & Uniyal, D. (2016). A Study of Emotional Intelligence in Relation to Job Satisfaction Among the Senior Secondary Teachers of Dehradun District. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach and Studies, 3(3), 97-108 12p
