Emotional intelligence is the capacity individuals have to recognize both their emotions and others’, something particularly important in an organizational setting. Similarly, it allows people to discern and discriminate between different feelings, being capable of correctly labeling them (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). From that perspective, emotional intelligence serves as a form of understanding emotions, even employing said feelings as a guide of thinking and behaving. This permits a degree of adaptation as different environments require different use of emotions, particularly in the workplace where emotions can either hinder or improve performance. The concept of emotional intelligence has been explored since the 1960s, but it did not become a mainstream trend in psychology and organizational behavior until Daniel Goleman popularized the concept in 1995.
Hence, emotional intelligence can be perceived as a kind of emotional intelligence that involves the capacity of assessing personal emotions and contrast them with those of the other individuals. The scope of emotional intelligence is varied as it does not include a single kind of intelligence but a set of expressions, both verbal and non-verbal. Similarly, a correct assessment of the emotional capital can help in utilizing emotional content in situations that require solving problems, adapting them to affective information. On the other hand, it is important not to confuse social competencies with emotional intelligence. While an extroverted person can be perceived as an emotionally intelligent individual, it is not necessarily the case that such individual is emotionally intelligent as most of the traits that person exhibits are behavioral dispositions rather than mental abilities. In contrast, knowing what the others feel is an ability, and that is its main difference from behavioral traits.
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"Emotional Intelligence and Leadership".
When compared to the concept of the intellectual quotient, emotional intelligence, also called emotional quotient is mostly regarded as a better quality to have since the intellectual quotient can only make you partially succeed in a job environment. According to Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence accounted for the 67% of the abilities deemed necessary for a leader to succeed; almost twice as much as having a high intellectual quotient (Goleman, 1998). From that perspective, while a high IQ can help individuals’ learning processes and general cognition, having a greater emotional intelligence is bound to make for a better leader. Thus, most of the traits related to emotional intelligence are closely related to the classic leadership when looked closely; traits classic qualities a leader must have. In fact, a high degree of emotional intelligence is often related to a better mental health and job performance.
However, the concept of emotional intelligence, being as new as it is, is still obscure, and people considered, and many still do, IQ as the primary factor for success. People with a high IQ were thought to be destined to accomplishments and achievements. IQ is important in life, as it measures intelligence that can be used in an academic setting, but there are many places where being academically capable is not going to guarantee success. That is when other kinds of influences come, and the EQ makes its appearance, marking several traits for leadership that has a direct correlation with the non-academic world. Thus, the concept of emotional intelligence impacts the business world and leadership in general.
Under the perspective of the emotional intelligence, people who experience varying emotions and are able to understand them are much more capable of bonding with their coworkers and subordinates. By the same token, changing emotions produce a varied array of emotional outcomes that can enrich the process. Leadership is an emotional process as it involves not only the leader but also the subordinates. The capacities of a leader to influence their subordinates and recognize its followers’ emotional states is capital when it comes to a workplace. Recognizing the followers’ emotional states is also crucial in capitalizing these factors to attain positive performance outcomes because an emotionally intelligent leader can influence the moral of its subordinates, bolstering solidarity and shared emotional experiences, something that a person with a high IQ might not be capable of doing. From an organizational perspective, the capacity of influencing others is a key factor of emotional intelligence, and social effectiveness can be a detrimental factor in understanding others and promoting their abilities.
Also, a leader with a great degree of emotional intelligence affects the effectiveness of its subordinates, creating an environment of flexibility and support that monitors how the members of the organization are feeling. Similarly, openness is an important trait for emotionally intelligent leaders. In contrast, since IQ does not mean openness, an individual with a high IQ might not communicate accordingly and suffer. If an individual remains open during its emotional states, it is likely to become a better leader than those who fail at being open to their emotional states. However, regarding emotional quotient and intellectual quotient and their relation, most people end to see them as two distinct processes, somehow separated from each other. In a way, this might come from a terminological situation because the concept of intelligence is rather fixed, while emotions are changing. Emotional intelligence assists intelligence and the processes related to it. Thus, emotional intelligence enhances processes rather than hindering them, becoming an alternative intelligence that helps people differently in their workplace.
Different kinds of individuals possess different kinds of intelligence. Emotionally intelligent leaders are much more aware of their feelings and those of others. If a leader fails to see the importance of the emotions of others, it is bound to failure not only from an organizational perspective but also on a human level. In What Makes a Leader, Daniel Goleman theorized an array of competencies that drive leadership performance, signaling five competencies such as self-awareness, involving understanding emotions, strengths, and weaknesses; self-regulation, which involves controlling one’s emotions; social skills, comprising managing relations; empathy to consider others’ feelings; and motivation, encompassing the drive for success (Goleman, 1998). Goleman considered that emotional competencies are not innate; in fact, humans can learn and improve their competencies, effectively learning new emotional competencies.
Ultimately, the most effective leaders are all similar in a crucial way: they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence. IQ is relevant, of course, as it helps people paving their way and finding a job or even academic success. However, they can only open the door; they can help you entering the corporate world. To be a successful leader, a different kind of intelligence is needed. Training can help but is not the necessary condition to be a good or successful leader. Without emotional intelligence, a person can only get to a point; they would probably hit a glass ceiling because they cannot establish correct relations with their bosses and their subordinates. By the same token, a person with a low emotional quotient might be incredibly capable in its job but unable to be noticed. From that perspective, emotional intelligence fosters stronger personal relations, which can become a competitive advantage in the workplace, resulting in effective leadership and effectiveness. Also, to be a good leader, self-awareness is crucial as it signals the path for people to be successful. In the end, a leader needs intelligence to get to the place it is but needs emotional intelligence to understand its subordinates and thrive in an organization.
- Salovey, P., & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211.
- Goleman, D. (1998). What makes a leader: why emotional intelligence matters. Florence, MA: More Than Sound, LLC.
- Goleman, D. (1998). Working With Emotional Intelligence. New York, NY. Bantam Books.
