In many occasions, Emotional Intelligence is overlooked as a major factor in determining the effectiveness and success of leaders. This should not be the case because true leaders are all emotionally intelligent.

Theories of Leadership

People looking for one specific definition of leadership can hardly find any such a definition.  This is simply because there is no universal theory of leadership. Many scholars and thought leaders have come up with several theories.  In recent years, we have seen an explosion in leadership thinking.  This explosion resulted in a large number of different theories about leadership. These include such notable theories as servant leadership (Robert K. Greenleaf), collaborative leadership (David D. Chrislip and Carl E. Larson), visionary leadership (Burt Nanus), situational leadership (Kenneth H. Blanchard), and principle-centered leadership (Stephen R. Covey). Some of these theories support the distinctions between managers and leaders, such as transactional leadership (managers) as opposed to transformational leadership (leaders).

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Emotional Intelligence & Leadership

Whenever “Emotional Intelligence” is mentioned, I often remember my first reading of Daniel Goleman’s best seller “Emotional Intelligence”.  The book was published in 1995, and it opened a wide unexplored area in studying leadership.  Since then, a great deal of research was done on how emotional intelligence is linked to leadership.

Three years later, Harvard Business Review published “What Makes a Leader?” in which Goleman says: “I have found, however, that the most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence.  It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but mainly as threshold capabilities; that is, they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions. But my research, along with other recent studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.”

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is about placing a value on the feelings of others. We all have emotional needs – emotions represent real needs, basic to how we connect with others, how we define our moral boundaries, and how we find self-esteem. And since self esteem is at the foundation of productivity and performance, there is a serious relationship between one’s emotional intelligence and one’s performance. Emotional

Intelligence is measured in the form of one’s Emotional Quotient or EQ.

EQ in Organizations

Organizations consist of people. We need to manage the human factors – perceiving emotions, integrating our emotions into our thoughts and actions, and knowing how to manage and use our emotions constructively.

Cary Cherniss is one of the greatest contributors to the study of Emotional Intelligence in organizational setting.  He is the Chairman of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations and coauthor of EQ: The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace.  He stresses that behavior influences people and if the biggest influences come from our leaders, then our leaders must be emotionally intelligent.

Emotional intelligence, according to Time magazine, “may be the best predictor of success in life.” And despite the fact that emotional intelligence is a relatively new concept, there is overwhelming evidence that our best leaders and most successful people are very emotionally smart (high EQ’s).