Emotional Intelligence

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Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the most important aspects in any kind of social interaction in life. It is an inbuilt ability, skill or competency, which enables an individual to control his or her emotions, of other people or or/and groups. The term emotion refers to the emotions themselves, moods, evaluations and other feelings including fatigue and energy. On the other hand, the word intelligence refers to the abilities such as “power to combine and separate” concepts, to judge and to reason and also engage conceptual thought, (Eissa & Cassady, 2008, p. 5). This marks the beginning of comprehending the concept of EI which is the most important requirement when dealing with individuals and leaders, when dealing with organizations, teams, cultures and any other field including education. Most importantly is to appreciate the fact that there is a strong link between EI and leadership. Consequently, one will be able to welcome importance that it has to any management team and explore the possibility of developing the concept in leaders’ minds.

Pahl (2009, p. 23), observed that, effective management of organizations and control of human resources experiences a lot of challenges including downsizing and reengineering themselves amidst the rising competition in the global market. In any given company, EI has a strong application in human resource planning, recruitment interviewing and selection, job profiling, management development, customer relationships, relationship with fellow employees and more, (Pahl 2009, p. 23). In short, EI helps the management team to be able to align organizational structures and systems towards attainment of company’s goals.

From Chelladurai (2006, p. 56), argument, some of the beneficial elements that are associated with EI include; decrease in conflict, reduction in stress for individual and organizations, better relationships and understanding and improved stability and harmony. In addition, EI helps a leader be able to mobilize people around him/her to focus on beneficial aspects of business while assisting them to develop individual capability and competence. Chelladurai (2006, p. 56), concluded that, the most successful management leadership result when those involved have improved their EI skills.

According to Gimbel & schwatzp, (2000, p. 98), it is of possible for companies to develop EI in management leadership. To realize this objective, companies can use performance management tools i.e. application of performance feedback and other behavior modification techniques, to shape the behavior of leaders in desired directions. This can be achieved through coaching mentoring and feedback, positive reinforcement role modeling and counseling, recognition and rewards for top performance, incentives and performance appraisal.

Nejati & Nejati, (2009, p. 126), explains that the need for training and development of EI in leaders should not just be meant to meet present needs of a company. Instead, all companies need to mould management team towards development of skills which are anticipated to be of use in the future. Therefore, performance management should be ongoing and nonstop in order to benefit from quality leadership, presently and in future through improved EI.

Conclusion

In conclusion, EI motivates leaders in management team to give their best in their services to any given organization. It also strengthens trust to build productive relationships. In theory and in practice, it is possible to develop EI in leaders and end up benefiting from quality leadership both in the present and in the future. Therefore, EI defines the level of success of any company’s operations.

References

Cassady, J. C. &Eissa, M. A. (2008) Emotional intelligence: perspectives from educational and

positive psychology (vol. 366) Ney York, NY: Peter Lang print.

Chelladurai, P. (2006) Human resource management in sport and recreation (vol.2)

USA: Human Kinetics

Gimbel, K. G. & Schwartz, M. K. (2000) Leadership resources: A guide to training and

development tools (8th edition) USA: Center for Creative Leadership

Nejati, M. & Nejati, M. (2009) Global Business and Management Research: An International

Journal (Vol.1 Nos. 3 & 4) Florida, USA: Universal-Publishers.

Pahl, N. (2009) The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Norderstedt Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2009 publshers