What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)?
Discuss about the Literature Review on Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the capability to identify, understand, and manage emotions in such a manner that will help the leader or person in an effective and positive manner. It helps the individuals to communicate in a better way with others, reduce the anxiety or stress in the individual, clear conflicts and improve the relations with others and also overcome the challenges in life was stated by Carless (2014). He also mentioned that it is important to maintain its quality in daily life as it strongly influences the personal quality of an individual by enhancing the qualities like self-control, expertise and skill management, perseverance. The individuals who have a better EQ have a better capability to work in groups and adjust with the changes accordingly and flexibly. It helps to monitor the individual emotions and behaviour and also influence others with this quality. It helps the person to identify the different types of emotions and label them appropriately. The individuals are helped with this quality as they can use this quality later on to identify and judge the emotional truth or reality of any other person. Being leader EQ helps the leader to understand the reality of the emotion that is said by the subordinates and thus decide how to take the next steps.
According to Schutte, Malouff and Thorsteinsson (2013) The leaders gets a clarity on the strengths and weaknesses and thus can make decisions and hire the individuals who can perform the desiring task to meet the goal. Emotional intelligence is very useful for every role in the daily life, however, it specially affects the role of a leader and the behavioural approach of a leader. Emotional intelligence is also termed s social intelligence and it helps to create an image in the society. It helps to understand the thinking pattern and perception of an individual in the social and then judge the reality of the reasons. On the other hand Van Deursen et al., (2015) stated that the actual term of emotional intelligence arrived in the year 1985 and was described as the faculty of consciousness. It was said that many problems in the world are suppressed by humans and that can be a real issues for them. The study approached for the system that instead of suppressing the emotions the individuals can meet the problems with efficient understanding of emotions. The western civilization was highly influenced by the thought and they started following this trend in their lifestyle. It is said that it is impossible to supress the undesirable emotions.
EI as a Determinant of Success
Carless (2014) stated that if the emotional quotient (EQ) of an individual is developed and high then they can manage their emotion in a judicious and gentle manner. Thus, EQ has to be developed by everyone irrespective of their role in work life or personal life. EQ is a person’s ability to feel and understand the situation and then make judicious decision that will be beneficial for themselves and others. This key role has to be present in leading roles like leaders and supervisors as they tackle a few individual working under them and has to maintain a good relation of understanding with them. Sometimes there is a violence in nature due to lack of proper WQ in those individuals. Basically people who are sensitive and does not know how to react has this problem. Emotional awareness is the ability to identify the feelings and their effects on others. If any individual has this quality then it means they not only know their own feelings but also others too. They can understand and identify the problems or issues faced by any other persona and can help them to solve it accordingly. Self-assessment is knowing the inside feelings of an individual and their resources and limitations. This includes honesty, real perspective to identify the issue or emotional barriers faced by others.
Emotional intelligence is defined as a determinant of success of an individual and a combination of that individual’s talent and skill that understands the emotions and feelings of themselves and others was mentioned by Castillo et al., (2013). It helps the person to control themselves and helps to understand others problem and help them to resolve it. According to scientists it is said that emotional intelligence is not destiny but pure intelligence quotient (IQ)that helps the individual to judge and understand the emotional barriers or issues faced by themselves and others.
According to Goleman IQ was an important but there is no assurance of the skill to understand someone’s feelings every time. It required various sourcing and data collection sometimes to encourage individual choices, sort clashes and proper others. He also stated that self-awareness, social skills, empathy contributes in the EI management process. He claimed that every individual has their own strength and area to develop. However he has also specifies that there is a difference between business leadership and army leadership. On the other hand Bar-On developed the Bar-on model that defines EI as an array of interrelated social and emotional competencies and behaviour. He mentioned the realms of emotional functioning’s are perception, interpersonal, decision making, stress management. The test was used in military system to understand the importance of ESI. The result showed a high relation between performance among the recruiters and the EI.
EI and Leadership Behavior
The behaviour of a leader and emotional intelligence (EI) are contrasting subjects that might not look severe in general but influence the entire system in a huge scale. Various researches have suggested that EI highly influences the role of a leader in various ways. The leaders who have the capability to perceive their own emotions and others emotions will affect the organization in a positive manner. The leaders must process the information in an effective manner and judge the information before believing them. The ambiguous information can often mislead the leader in an organization (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Thus the leaders must make sure that they are analysing the information and then taking decisions. The attributes that highly affect the leadership role are self-awareness, self-management, social skills and awareness. These attributes helps the leaders to process the data and respond according to the emotional information.
According to Batool (2013)theleadership behaviour has to be very unique and different from any other role in job field as it determines the role of others working under that particular individual. The leader has to analyse the data and identify the truth of the data and then take any further decisions. The leader has to make sure that they are creating a real perception about the emotion, appraisal and expression of themselves and others. Emotions can be drawn through various sources like verbal, non-verbal communications, expressions, and situations. According to few researches it is said that leaders who have an increased self-awareness are more effective and in inspiring and influencing the subordinates and others. The author also stated that a person who has the capacity to understand the emotional value for themselves will also a have a better understanding of others emptions too. Leaders must have an understanding of the subordinates to create a comforting work environment and deal with the emotions in the work area.
Goleman(2017) stated that Leaders who has to capability to understand the subordinates needs and criteria has the advantage of inspiring and influencing the subordinates needs and expectation in the work place. There can be various challenges faced by a workerin the work place that has to be met by someone present in that area. The leaders take up the role to meet the requirement of the workers and assure a well-organized management system. It is very important for the leader to understand the needs of the followers and take decision as per the requirements. The followers are completely dependent on the leader who forms the support structure for the organization. The more a leader understands that their emotions influences the followers the more they can easily succeed to reach the followers and resolve their issues. For this they might have to communicate with the subordinates and try to understand what issues are faced by them. On the other hand Batool (2013) stated that for being a good leader in military it is important to maintain a personality and dignity with the subordinates.
Attributes that affect Leadership Role
The leaders who has a high emotional understanding will have the ability to anticipate that how the followers will respond in various situations. Goleman (2017) stated that an EI leader will always focus on the need and requirement of the followers as well as the organizations need. They are skilled with the capacity to manage the situation and maintaining inter-personal relationships with the followers. While the leaders are interacting with the followers they must understand the requirement of the followers and that must be reflected in their behaviour.According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2013) the leaders in an organization has to maintain their emotional intelligence to influence and motivate the workers or followers and create a better place to work. Thus the importance of EI in leadership is highly reflected from the study and it is very important to maintain it every organization.
The effective emotional intelligence reflects the leadership skills of an individual. It is very important to understand the requirement of the employee or follower in every fields. The role of the leaders determines the role of the followers.Schutte, Malouff and Thorsteinsson (2013) state that if the leaders are not adjusting and understanding then there will be internal chaos and instability in the organization itself. The leaders must make sure that they are helping the followers to express their views and emotional expressions. It was stated that the emotional intelligence could predict the potential strategies for the success for leadership. The reason for failure to be a successful leader are being insensitive, unable to give their best performance, express their thoughts clearly. According to a study by Chew, Zain and Hassan (2013) it was seen that the EI in a leader increases as their ranks get higher.
Schlaerth, Ensari and Christian(2013) stated that the leaders are determined by their balance in the leadership skills and EI management skills. Various studies have shown the fact that EI and leadership competency are inter-related. EI includes four main aspects such as self-awareness, self -management, social-awareness and social management. There were researches that compared the emotional inventory scores of every participants to the participants of performance rating. The participant who had a high score on these aspects had scored high for the test also. Everywhere in researches and studies have concluded that the leaders who has a high score on EI and leadership performance are showing an increasing performance in the organization. Chew, Zain and Hassan (2013) has shown the linkage between the leadership, performance and emotional intelligence are expanded which concludes to the fact that leaders who has a high score on EI performs better than them perform who score less than them. Emotional intelligence is a factor that can reduce stress and is likely to contribute in managing individual performance and also helping others to meet their emotional challenges or issues.
Advantages of High Emotional Understanding in Leaders
According to Chew, Zain and Hassan (2013) the leader must assure a solution for every problem to the followers, however, the leaders themselves has to make sure an emotional intelligence for themselves first then only they can understand the need for an emotional understanding for others. The emotional intelligence should be maintained in every work place as it enhances the following environment in the work place- the employees are more satisfies with their work life and their performance has that reflection. The employees persist for a longer period and works with full efficiency. The workers are highly motivated and encouraged to work. They can adopt the work place changes easily and co-operate more with the officials. They become highly active while working and has a better relation with the co-workers as there is complete harmony and peace in the work environment. It is also stated by Schlaerth, Ensari and Christian (2013) that the leaders demonstrate a better organizational behaviour and contributes to the organizations climate in a more positive manner. There is less work rivalry or competency in the work place and thus the workers are able to work more efficiently and effectively.The emotional intelligence in an individual highly affects the entire working system. The leaders influences the followers and creates a better working place for them. The work place is influenced by the behaviour of the individuals approach to the followers that determines the work environment of that particular area.
The term leadership is generally termed as an art of influencing human behaviour to meet the target in a desired manner by the leaders. The leaders are responsible for the success of the entire organization that might be a group, organization or force trying to achieve a certain target or mission. The leaders in military force assists the non-military people by explaining them different posts in the system. It is said by Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee(2013) that a leader must demonstrate the leadership at lower level with different group and situations. However,Ciarrochi and Mayer (2013) stated that the military leaders too are not supposed to express their personal problems and emotional interfere with anyone in the group or subordinates. In the other hand the followers consider their leader as the person who will satisfy their requirement and need in the work area and also guide them to achieve their goals.
The leaders form the backbone of the subordinates and encourages them to achieve thetarget and meet the goals. Thus the leaders forms a vital part in the military force. The subordinates follows the guidelines of the leaders and they canachieve the target. According to Ciarrochi and Mayer (2013) it is stated clearly that leadership in military depends on various factors. It is also said that the leadership factors of an individual are not only depended on his behaviour but his way of approach towards the subordinates during a crisis period and the way he handles the entire situation and reach the goal. Thus, a good military leader must know how to handle situation and convince others to meet the crisis and come out of the bad situation. Therefore a military leader must be able to flaunt his leadership style and traits in situations which are not in his control. Effective leaders must behave in a manner that suits their personality and situation. Batool(2013) stated that there are different types of behaviour expected from a leader at different situation. A good military leader must be able to succeed his team in the mission with complete efficiency and skills.The effectiveness of the leaders is measured according to the success or failure of the team in general. The better strategies the leader brings, the better it is for the team.
Leaders are not only guides to accomplish the mission in the military force but they are also the teacher for the subordinates. They teach the subordinates how to tactically deal with the situation, how the handle their fear, how to keep calm and have patience and also teach them to meet their target from the leaders past experiences was claimed by Karimi et al., (2014). He also said that the authority of the military comes from the authority of a leader. The military leaders has to play a very strict and firm role to abide by the general forms and also motivate the subordinates to follow them for the entire life. The role of a general leader and a military leader is not same. The military leaders has to maintain the dignity, authority and personality in their every single step and also motivate the subordinates to do the same. The traits of a leader that are considered to be the best one are: association with wise people and being sincere, being trustworthy, being a caring person and taking responsibility of all the subordinates. Thusit can be said that the military leaders are always very considering and self -dependent when it comes to perform their role in work life. They have to maintain a certain dignity and consider the issues of all the subordinates.
As per Sookermany(2013) there are many changes that has occurred in the society and environment. Among the changes military change is one of the prominent change. In an institution it is important to identify the mechanism and make required changes. The target of the institution is not only to give a proper definition for the change but also to give a proper description for the requirements to make the changes. Few attributes are effected due to transformational changes: 1) The institution needs to be an expert for the change., 2) Leadership has to be continued., 3) The other leadership’s specially the senior leadership must accept the change., 4) Everyone should be aware and accept the changes., and 5) Trials and experiments must be conducted by the institution (Naveh, 2013).
Sookermany also stated that the military transformation was guided by few rules that helps them to reorganize the army efficiently. Change is important as leaders must conduct the present operations and also develop the organization.Leadership is related to evaluation as the leaders uses these values to identify the constants in the organization thus providing a stability and direction at uncertain times.Leadership is possible only with team support. Effective transformational leaders form team to empower themselves with the sense of responsibility and effort.One of the most difficult aspect in military transformation is to improve the organization while operating during peace time, war or conflict. The fact requires a lot of time, resources and people to contribute in the process else the transformation will not be of any help. They tend to focus on the future and make continuous changes. A leader focus in future prospects and think beyond the scope for future improvement. They should not only think for such prospect themselves but also encourage the subordinates and others to do the same.
Ruffa, Dandeker & Vennesson (2013) claims that managing change is important and without a competent management the entire process might get out of control. Only leadership can access through the many sources of such criteria. Transformational leadership can be a mixture if the skills such as: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, consideration of the individual, intellectual stimulation. All these aspects combines to form a better leader and leadership skills. The leaders must consider these skills for a better performance and utilize the sources for a productive outcome. It is stated that charisma is an important part of this kind of leadership. These leaders are the one who are capable of creating perspective on the followers and then motivate them to reach the desired goal. The second dimension talks about the inspirational motivation. They leaders are capable of motivating and inspiring the followers to meet the goal of the organization. If the leaders can express their view point effectively then they will attain the trust of the followers and that will help them to assist the followers to meet the goal. The leaders use their EQ not only for motivating the followers but also to overcome the barriers that comes in between the goal and them. Whereas Chase et al. (2015) claims thatthe term intellectual stimulation defines the stimulation as leaders enhancing the intelligence, solving the problems, and helping in critical thinking. It constructs a primary difference between the two types of leadership which are transformational and transitional.It is related to EQ as the transformational leaders have to control their emotion and analyse the reality of the follower’s emotions. The individual consideration defines the capability to forma supportive environment in the organization where the leaders pay attention to the needs of individual and find out solution to their issue. The leaders work as coaches for the individuals and guide them to do their work accordingly.
References and Bibliography:
Batool, B. F. (2013). Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 84.
Carless, D. (2014). Narrative transformation among military personnel on an adventurous training and sport course. Qualitative health research, 24(10), 1440-1450.
Castillo, R., Salguero, J. M., Fernández-Berrocal, P., & Balluerka, N. (2013). Effects of an emotional intelligence intervention on aggression and empathy among adolescents. Journal of adolescence, 36(5), 883-892.
Chase, M. S., Engstrom, J., Cheung, T. M., Gunness, K. A., Harold, S. W., Puska, S., & Berkowitz, S. K. (2015). China’s incomplete military transformation: assessing the weaknesses of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Rand Corporation.
Chew, B. H., Zain, A. M., & Hassan, F. (2013). Emotional intelligence and academic performance in first and final year medical students: a cross-sectional study. BMC medical education, 13(1), 44.
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Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Karimi, L., Leggat, S. G., Donohue, L., Farrell, G., & Couper, G. E. (2014). Emotional rescue: The role of emotional intelligence and emotional labour on well?being and job?stress among community nurses. Journal of advanced nursing, 70(1), 176-186.
Naveh, S. (2013). In pursuit of military excellence: The evolution of operational theory. Routledge.
Ruffa, C., Dandeker, C., & Vennesson, P. (2013). Soldiers drawn into politics? The influence of tactics in civil–military relations. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 24(2), 322-334.
Schlaerth, A., Ensari, N., & Christian, J. (2013). A meta-analytical review of the relationship between emotional intelligence and leaders’ constructive conflict management. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 16(1), 126-136.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2013). Increasing emotional intelligence through training: Current status and future directions. International Journal of Emotional Education, 5(1), 56.
Sookermany, A. M. (2013). On developing (post) modern soldiers: An inquiry into the ontological and epistemological foundation of skill-acquistion in an age of military transformation.
Van Deursen, A. J., Bolle, C. L., Hegner, S. M., & Kommers, P. A. (2015). Modeling habitual and addictive smartphone behavior: The role of smartphone usage types, emotional intelligence, social stress, self-regulation, age, and gender. Computers in human behavior, 45, 411-420.
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