2.5 How Emotional Intelligence affects leadership
2.5.2 The Concept of Emotional Intelligence
To understand the concept of emotional intelligence, we must begin by defining the words “emotions” and “intelligence”.
Bharwaney (2006:28) quotes an early definition of Leeper (1948) who defined emotions as “the primary motivating forces: they are processes which arouse, sustain and direct activity”. As primary motivating forces, emotions are physical sensations that drive a person to act. They are forces by which the body and mind communicate. Emotions are constantly changing and moving, that is, E – motion. Part of emotional intelligence is involved in controlling these forces. Emotions are the connection between the body and the mind. Emotions connect our thinking with our health and that is why an emotional outburst can lead to a rise in blood pressure and much sweating. They are automatic responses to internal and external happenings based on past experience.
26 On the other hand, intelligence is referred to as a set of cognitive abilities and capabilities that a person possesses to make a difference in life.
The concept of emotional intelligence was popularized by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book entitled “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ”. He describes emotional intelligence as “the collection of psychological attributes that strong leaders possess” [Goleman: 1995:43]. Tischler et al [2000:202] point out that emotional intelligence has its roots in studies of social intelligence in the 1920s. They also suggest that this concept was rediscovered by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 (1990:189) who first called it emotional intelligence. However, it was Goleman who popularized the concept and the argument that emotional intelligence was more important than the intelligence quotient (IQ) which was so much talked about.
On the other hand, RJ Smit et al (2007:307) define emotional intelligence as the ability to access, manage, and make use of your own feelings in the work-place and at the same time those of other people around you. Tischler (2002:204) acknowledges the contribution made to his thinking by Martinez who defined the concept in his own words as being,
“……an array of non - cognitive skills, capabilities and competences those influence a person’s ability to cope with his environmental demands and pressures”.
2.5.2.1 Concept of various forms of Intelligence
Traditionally, it was thought that there was only one type of intelligence which was measure by the intelligence quotient –IQ, but as may be seen from the above works on intelligence, by psychologists like E. L Thorndike explored other types of intelligence.
This is how emotional intelligence arose out of curiosity and interest in discovering other forms of intelligence. Thorndike pioneered the studies in this regard and came up with the concept of “social intelligence” (Bharwaney: 2006:19; Landy; 2005:414; Locke:
2005: 425). After about 20 years David Wechsler revived the interest in 1940, and suggested that there were various types of intelligence.
27 The issue of multi-types of intelligence was about to die down when Howard Gardiner in his book, Frames of Mind, came up with the discussion on this concept (Gardner 1999:41-43, Locke: 2005:426). Gardner proposed that there were seven types of intelligence which included Linguistic, Logical – Mathematical, Musical, Kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal and intrapersonal and he later added two more. However, Gardner’s theory of multiple types of intelligence has never been accepted in academic psychology.
Of all forms or types of intelligence, it is only cognitive and emotional types of intelligence that has received wide following and interest. Daniel Goleman’s 1995 publication of his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ has captivated the interests of psychologists, academia and the business community to the extent of eclipsing any focus on cognitive intelligence.
2.5.2.2. Competences of Emotional Intelligence
There are four main leadership domains or components of emotional Intelligence that were proposed by Goleman (2002:37 & 47) and they are accepted by many scholars and in most of the relevant literature. However, Hill and Jones [2007:34] suggested motivation to be a separate and fifth component of emotional intelligence. This is in agreement with Goleman’s (1995:43) initial proposal as one of the five components. But in the book he co – authored with Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee (2002) on pages 37, 47 and 327 – Appendix B, it is stated that there are four leadership competences of emotional intelligence. These are often referred to as emotional competences and these differentiate superior from average performers. As Goleman at el (2002:107) further indicated, leadership drives performance in an organization of any kind and one may think not just of business. The leadership must inspire subordinates to have that passion for performing tasks because they feel it is good and right to do so.
The four generally accepted emotional intelligence competences provided by Goleman in his books on emotional intelligence [1995:43, 2002:47 and 2006:331are (a) Self – awareness, (b) Self – management (c) Social - awareness and (d ) Social skills
28 (relationship management). These components tend to affect relationships in work places and the acceptance or otherwise of leadership with the responsibility of guiding an enterprise as a going concern. Relationships are about management of the emotions of the people involved. This is the critical factor in good human resource management and its positive contribution to the good performance of an enterprise.
The following competences as defined by Goleman [2002:47] can motivate both managers and employees to enhance the performance of their organization:
a) Self - awareness – the ability to understand your own moods, emotions and drives in your own life.
b) Self - regulation or management is the ability to take charge of destructive and negative tendencies in terms of feelings and emotions.
c) Social awareness is the understanding of the viewpoint of subordinates and taking them into account when making decisions.
d) Social skills that we need in relating to others in pursuance of a purpose.
Bharwaney (2006:52) suggests that John Mayer, Peter Salovey and David Caruso, who teamed up together and came up with a measure of emotional intelligence, called the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). She further indicates that these psychologists also defined the concept as “the ability to perceive, appraise, and express emotion accurately and adaptively; the ability to understand emotions and emotional knowledge; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; and the ability to manage or regulate emotions in ways that assist thought.
Salovey and Mayer 1990:189) in their own words defined emotional intelligence as,” the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.
Their definition is also fourfold, like the competences in the definition given by Goleman, which Salovey and Mayer (1997:11) list as: perceiving emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions and managing emotions. These convey the following abilities:
29 i. Perceiving emotions. - This is the ability identify emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts, including the ability to identify one’s own emotions.
Perceiving emotions represents basic aspects of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of information possible.
ii. Using emotions – this is the ability of the emotions to facilitate and guide the thought pattern. Something we respond to emotionally is something that draws our attention; therefore, having a good system of emotional input should help direct thinking towards matters which are most important.
iii. Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotional language and to appreciate complicated relations among emotions. Understanding emotions encompasses abilities to be sensitive to slight change in emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.
iv. Managing emotions – this is the ability to be open to feelings and to manage them in oneself and others so as to promote personal understanding and growth.
One can block out emotional signals that are too painful and overwhelming.
Within a person’s emotion’s comfort zone, it becomes possible to regulate and manage one’s and others’ emotions.
If closely examined, there are marginal differences in the meaning of the competences of Goleman and others on the one side and the abilities put forward by Mayer and his colleagues on the other. For example, self - awareness and perceiving emotions both convey a similar idea of identifying the emotions while self – regulation and using emotions is all about control of our emotions in a way that is good for the person.
Emotional intelligence is critical to an organization’s success as it generates a participative atmosphere and climate amongst all organizational members (Goleman at el.: 2002:23). It also contributes to its industrial relations and organizational development. It is therefore important to have a way of measuring it with a view to regulating it. Robert Kreitner (2004:504) commented that if the manager had high emotional quotient scores, it indicated that he or she had a more polished social skills and a greater emotional maturity. In this case, such a manager would be a delight to work for and hence would be able to make a meaningful contribution to the employing
30 organization. Where it is insufficient, emotional intelligence, unlike the intelligence quotient, can be developed as we shall see later. It is useful in an organisation for both organizational leaders and their subordinates to develop this skill of understanding themselves and other people. Goleman and his associates (2002:17) suggest that when people feel good, they will work at their best. These good feelings act as a lubricant to the mental efficiency, making them better able to understand issues and complex problems.
Gardiner and Stough (2002:71) argue that emotional intelligence is a key ingredient in corporate effectiveness. They suggest that leaders with a high degree of emotional intelligence are considered to be on the happier side of the emotional range and more committed to the ideals of their organizations, are more successful, give better performance in their work and use their emotions positively to improve their decision making. Emotional intelligence helps such managers to instill a spirit of enthusiasm, trust and co-operation in colleagues and subordinates. High emotional intelligence is indeed a critical factor in an organization’s success. This success is seen in the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives and successful operations.
2.6 Organization Performance Assessment and Indicators
Organizational performance is seen and assessed in its effectiveness and efficient accomplishment of organizational objectives or goals. These goals are the indicators that point to what has been planned to be achieved and this was defined some time back. To this effect, the organizational effectiveness shows the extent to which the organization is using the resources at its disposal to meet its objectives and expectations of its stakeholders in the near future and beyond (Kreitner: 2004:298).