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Emotional Intelligence & Leadership

What Is the Role of Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Effectiveness?

crisis-management Graphics courtesy of ITMOpens in new window

Do the moods and emotions leaders experience on the job influence their behavior and effectiveness as leaders? Some research suggests this is likely to be the case. And, if true, a leader’s level of emotional intelligence (EI) may play a particularly important role in leadership effectiveness.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage oneself and one’s relationship in mature and constructive ways. There are four dimensions of EI:

  1. Self-awareness: A good understanding of your emotions
  2. Self-management: The ability to control and regulate emotions and impulses
  3. Social awareness: Skills in perceiving, empathizing with, and reacting appropriately to the emotions of others
  4. Relationship management: The ability to manage the emotions of others to build strong and healthy relationships with them

Given that leadershipOpens in new window is an influence process between leaders and direct reports, it should come as no surprise to leaders and others that EI is predicted to be associated with leadership effectiveness. Evidence to date supports two conclusions:

  • EI is an input to transformational leadership. In other words, EI helps leaders to effectively enact the behaviors associated with transformational leadershipOpens in new window.
  • EI has a small, positive, and significant association with leadership effectiveness. This suggests that EI will help leaders, for example, to lead more effectively.

Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in how leaders relate to and deal with their direct reports, particularly when it comes to encouraging direct reports to be creative.

CreativityOpens in new window in organizationsOpens in new window is an emotion-laden process; it often entails challenging the status quo, being willing to take risks and accept and learn from failures, and doing much hard work to bring creative ideas to fruition in terms of new products, services or procedures and processes when uncertainty is bound to be high.

Leaders who are high on EI are more likely to understand the emotions surrounding creative endeavors, to be able to awaken and support the creative pursuits of their direct reports, and to provide the kind of support that enables creativity to flourish in organizations.

Humility and Leaders

Humility is a relatively stable trait grounded in the belief that “something greater than self exists.” Although some think it is a sign of weakness or low self-esteem, nothing could be further from the truth.

Humble leaders tend to display five key qualities valued by employees: high self-awareness, openness to feedback, appreciation of others, low self-focus, and appreciation.

Leaders can conclude the following about humility in the context of leading others.

  • First, try to be humble by changing the focus of your accomplishment from “me” to “we.” Share credit with others, but by all means be authenticOpens in new window. Don’t try to fake humility.
  • Second, try to spend more time asking questions and less time talking about yourself or telling people what to do.
  • Third, an organization’s culture can promote humility.
See also:
  1. Walter, F., Humphrey, R.H., & Cole, M.S. (2012). Unleashing leadership potential: Toward evidence-based management of emotional intelligence, Organizational Dynamics, 41(3), 212 – 219.
  2. Whitman, S.S. (2009). Emotional intelligence and leadership in organizations: A meta-analytic test of process mechanisms, doctoral dissertation, Florida International University.
  3. Nielsen, R., & Marrone, J.A. (2018). Humility: Our current understanding of the construct and its role in organizations.International Journal of Management Reviews, 20 (4), 805 – 824.
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