The scientific notion behind emotional intelligence is that individuals have emotional data which they use and understand with social associations. Scholarly studies conducted on the implication of emotional intelligence on leadership are that leaders possessing skills of social effectiveness excel in effectiveness and performance. The capacity to comprehend the essence of effective communication is social effectiveness. One of the most important constructs of social effectiveness is emotional intelligence and is one of the main elements of efficient leadership. Leaders possessing emotional intelligence can work in close association with their followers as they understand and use effective communication to influence subordinates and thereby attain goals and objectives.
Emotional intelligence is especially important and effective in handling change management situations. Take the case of Jerry, a manner working with Merrill Lynch. He was asked to shift some employees to a new building. This done, employees started raising several technical issues and complained about the ventilation system, respiratory problems and the like. Jerry got technical experts to check the building. However, the experts did not find any such fault with the new building. Jerry did a good job in this case but he ignored the emotional issues of the people who shifted to the new office. Despite the fact that Jerry heeded the concerns of his team and started looking into the matter to check for possible faults, the productivity and moral of his team was suffering. Jerry was excellent in understanding, facilitating and perceiving emotions of his team but his understanding of emotional management is extremely poor. Jerry’s main problem was to solve the emotional concerns of his subordinates and he needed to engage in inductive reasoning and idea generation. Thus, one of the important implications of effective leadership is emotional intelligence. This is extremely necessary to handle complex situations and influence the subordinates (Mayer & Caruso, 2002).
References:
Mayer, J.D. & Caruso, D. (2002). The effective leader: Understanding and applying emotional intelligence. Ivey Business Journal, 1 – 5.
