Emotional Intelligence: Its Role in Leadership and Organizational Success

1. Emotions and Emotional Intelligence
An Emotion is a physiological response to a situation that is too
important to leave to intellect alone, such as danger, painful loss,
persisting towards a goal despite frustrations, bonding with a mate, and
building a family. In effect, we have two minds, one that thinks and one
that feels. The brain evolved over a million years to deal with the major
challenges of survival - whether to fight or flee, ignore, or embrace the
approaching challenge (Goleman, 1995).While we use hundreds of words
to describe emotions, they are commonly related to about eight basic
emotions: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, love, surprise, disgust, and
shame. Paul Ekman, head of the Human Interaction Laboratory at the
University of California, has found that there are characteristic facial
expressions to describe the first four of these, which have been found to
be consistent in all cultures, including primitive ones with no access to
the outside world (Ekman, 1994).
In articles published in 1990, Psychologists Jack Mayer and Peter
Salovey coined the term emotional intelligence, referring to constellation
of abilities through which people deal with their own emotions and those
of others. They did later define Emotional Intelligence as the ability to
perceive emotional information and use it to guide thoughts and actions.
Hence they did distinguish it from cognitive intelligence, which is used to
determine academic success. Properly used, the emotions are an essential
tool for successful and fulfilling life. But out of control, emotions can
result in disaster. In our day- to-day life, they affect our relations with
other people, our self-identity, and our ability to complete a task. To be
effective, our cognitive processes must be in control of our emotions, so
that they work for us rather than against us (Salovey, 1990). Daniel
Goleman did broaden the aspect of Emotional Intelligence by describing
the abilities that help people adapt to all aspects of life, through his book
Emotional Intelligence in the year 1995. Following are measures of
effective use of emotions, i.e. Emotional Intelligence as mentioned by
Daniel Goleman in his book.
1.Knowing one’s emotions:Self-awareness –recognizing a feeling as it
happens – is the keystone of EQ. The ability to monitor feelings from
moment to moment, cognitively as well as effectually,is crucial to
psychological insight and self- understanding. An inability to read our
true feelings leaves us at their mercy (Goleman, 1995).

2. 2.Managing emotions:Handling feelings so they are appropriate is an
ability that builds self-awareness. Having the capacity to soothe oneself,
shake off rampant anxiety, gloom or irritability is critical to recovery
from life’s setbacks and upsets (Goleman, 1995).
3. Motivating Oneself: Marshaling emotions in the service of a goal is
essential for paying attention, for self-motivation and mastery, and for
creativity. Emotional self-control – delaying gratification and stifling
impulsiveness –underlies accomplishment of every sort. And being able
to get into the “flow state” (to be described below) enables outstanding
performance of all kinds. People with this skill are more highly
productive and effective at whatever they undertake (Goleman, 1995).
4.Recognizing emotions in others: Empathy, another ability that builds on
emotional self-awareness, is the fundamental “people skill.” People who
are empathic are attuned to the subtle social signals that indicate what
others need or want. Empathy kindles altruism, which is the basis for
social morality (Goleman, 1995).
5.Handling Relationships: The art of relationships is, in large part, skill in
managing emotions in others. This ability undergirds leadership and
interpersonal effectiveness (Goleman, 1995).
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to understand and explain
emotions and use emotions to enhance the thought of others. “Emotional
Intelligence can be misunderstood and misrepresented. But the bottom
line is that the one who can think about emotions accurately and clearly
may often be better able to anticipate, cope with, and effectively manage
change” (Mayer and Caruso, 2002). According to Salovey and Mayer
(1990) the two distinct mental processes, thinking and feeling, actually
works together. The theory focuses on the extent to which peoples
cognitive capabilities are informed by emotions and extend to which
emotions being cognitively managed (George, 2000). There are many

3. models of EI (Emotional Intelligence) currently available like Multifactor
Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS; Mayer et al., 1999), the Mayer
Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test etc.
Leadership can be described as a process of social interaction where the
leader’s ability to influence the behavior of their followers can strongly
influence the performance outcomes(Humphery, 2002; Pirola-Merlo et.
al., 2002). It is an emotional process in which leaders tend to recognize
the emotional state of their followers, attempt to evoke emotions in
followers and then seek to manage the emotional states of their followers
accordingly. This ability to influence their emotional states can strongly
influence their performance (Humphrey, 2002).Emotional Intelligence
forms a key factor in an individual’s ability to be socially effective
(George, 2000; Mayer et al., 2000b). The argument made by George
(2000) is that, emotionally intelligent leaders can promote effectiveness
at all levels in organizations. Leaders with high levels of emotional
intelligence will have effective and smooth emotional interactions with
their team members. Individuals with higher ability to perceive
accurately, understand, and appraise others emotions were better able to
respond flexibly to the changes in various social environments and build
supportive networks (Salovey et al., 1999).
Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Success
EQ (Emotional Quotient) is a broad term encompassing awareness of
one's own emotions and their effect on others as well as how to manage
and restrain those emotions in a healthy and productive manner. In
addition, it helps to intuitively read people's reactions and treat people
accordingly which enables to build good rapport, trust, relationships and
networks.“People with high Emotional Intelligence will build real social
fabric within an organization, and between an organization and those it
serves, whereas those low in Emotional Intelligence may tend to create
problems for the organization through their individual behaviors”(Mayer,
2002). In an Organization emotionally mature team leaders will be highly
motivated and will have a high driving passion for their work. Such
leaders will be optimistic, resilient, adaptable, trustworthy and
persuasive. They are always open to change and will also lead change
efficiently. The Emotional skills will help leaders to understand their
team members and thus build, lead and inspire efficient teams towards
success. Team Members depend on them for consistency, good judgment
and the ability to do the right thing at the right time.Emotionally

4. intelligent leaders are often blamed as being too soft, nice and
emotional.But they can confront sticky situations with extreme self-
confidence and behave assertively when necessary. This enables them to
keep the team in an engaged, participative and collaborative mode while
subtly moving them in the right direction. By successfully connecting
with the entire team, they directly affect team morale, performance and
efficiency.This is not to say that cognitive skills or technical skills are
rendered any less relevant.They are essential drivers of a team leader's
success but never as important as the emotional skills factor.
Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence did explain about it
in his book as follows, “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. Without it, a
person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical
mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won't make a
great leader”(Goleman, 1995). According to Warren Bennis, author of On
Becoming a Leader, “In those fields I have studied, emotional
intelligence is much more powerful than IQ in determining who emerges
as a leader. IQ is a threshold competence. You need it, but it doesn't make
you a star. Emotional intelligence can” (Bennis, 1989). Daniel Goleman
further adds, “When I calculated the ratio of technical skills, IQ and
emotional intelligence as ingredients of excellent performance, emotional
intelligence proved to be twice as important as the others for jobs at all
levels” (Goleman, 1995). During my career as Head of Administrations
in hotel industry, I have observed that team leaders powered with
compassion and understanding of human nature was able to build
successful teams. They were able to manage emotional issues of their
teams, deal with contentious members, respond genuinely to members'
frustrations/concerns, handle unexpected disappointments and also accept
rapid changes in the workplace, all with a level head and strong sense of
self. It is not that everyone is born with strong emotional skills, but it can
be strengthened and even learned with the right attitude, commitment to
change and willingness to face one's own flaws. A combination of careful
listening, observing and seeking feedback can help eliminate old
behaviors and imbibe new approaches. But it is not easy and takes lot of
persistence, practice and dedication to truly change for the better. Many
organizations have taken to building competency models to help identify,
train and promote emotionally intelligent employees for future leadership
positions. According to me, technical skills and emotional skills form two
parts of the whole for a successful team leader. A right blend of both is

5. what makes a team leader complete and successful.
Key Questions Before Us :
1. Does Emotional Intelligence play a major role in Organizational
Success?
2. Are Emotional skills as important as Cognitive skills for Leadership
Success?
3. Should the current educational and organizational training methods be
modified so as to include, various practices and methods that will help
develop emotional skills in students and employees?
4. Are their any efficient training methods adopted to develop emotional
skills in employees?
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