Emotional Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Emotional Intelligence - Essay Example According to Goleman, emotional intelligence is the management of feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively in order to allow people to work together for a common goal (Leadership Organization 2012: 42). Additional definitions given include one that calls it the capacity to understand and use emotional information, either from others or from one’s own, accordingly. The concept of emotional intelligence is tied around the ability to be aware and express emotions; moreover, it is the ability to be aware of other people’s feelings, establish interpersonal relationships and the ability to manage and regulate emotions. The other two aspects of emotional intelligence are the ability to realistically and flexibly cope with the immediate situation and solve problems of personal and interpersonal nature as they arise, as well as generate positive feelings that allow one to be motivated adequately in order to achieve personal goals. In addition, emotional intelligence is known to affect the personality traits that an individual exhibits, which include sociability, extraversion, self-esteem, persistence and optimism. This is because, by people understanding their own, and other people’s feelings, people can manage relationships appropriately. Therefore, emotional intelligence is crucial in influencing people and leading them to achieve certain goals that in which one has an interest. In leadership, it is crucial to have emotional intelligence and apply it to all situations that involve relationships with people in order to affect the outcome that people under one’s leadership. This is particularly so in transformational leadership styles. Moreover, in this form of leadership, a leader operates at the emotional level of transforming people and their outcomes (Leadership Organization 2012: 18). Therefore, in transformational leadership, emotional intelligence is used to inspire involvement, loyalty, commitment and performa nce (Leadership Organization 2012: 18). In addition, this is done by leaders identifying themselves as a force and commissioners of change through taking up that role and embodying with it (Leadership Organization 2012: 18). This is concerning the behavior they portray and the influence they seek to mount on their followers. Thus, leaders using the transformational style of leadership are able to motivate their followers to do more than what they intend to do, and that which they consider themselves capable of achieving by providing a sense of belonging (Deloitte 2012: 10). Emotions are expressed in offering meaning and offering challenging tasks to followers in order to motivate them. This shows the role of emotional intelligence in offering motivation in leadership by letting one’s followers own the goals of an organization and create, and the leader creates an enthusiastic environment in which to work. In addition, transformational leaders and emotional intelligence go han d in hand owing to the leaders characteristics. This is because transformational leaders conduct themselves in ways that are admirable, respectable and that can be trusted by their followers. Thus, they are role models for their followers by portraying the goals and needs of an organization as their own. Moreover, this behavior works on the emotions of the followers by provoking a desire to achieve together with a formidable leader. An additional way in which transformational leadership and emotional intelligence are related is in the opportunities offered by a leader concerning furthering the ideas of their followers. This occurs by leaders engaging their followers in exploring ideas, which builds the relationship between the two parties (Brady et al. 2008: 58). Therefore, the relationship between leaders and followers gets a boost by interacting, exchanging ideas, challenging assumptions and developing new ideas for the betterment of the organization (Leadership Organization 2012: 18). Furthermore, on leadership styles, emotional intelli