Article: Emotions and leadership- the role of emotional intelligence

Introduction
In this article the author describes that a lot has been written on the notion “leadership” but the
feeling aspect associated with the leadership has not been touched much by authors. According
to the author this non- addressing of feelings in the leadership effectiveness domain is not by
chance rather it is deliberate because those who express feelings i.e moods and emotions are
considered contrary to reasoning and cognitive process. The emotions and feelings are
considered as hindrance in the effective decision making. Therefore, this paper has shed light
that how moods and emotions play an important role in the effectiveness of leadership. The study
suggests that feeling may play an important role in the leadership. It also emphasizes that
emotions and feelings may not be considered only an additional factor rather it may play a much
more pivotal role in the leadership process. The paper attempt to find out that what could be the
emotional capabilities of an effective leader just like he possesses certain cognitive capabilities.
Owing to this central role, the author first describes the role of emotions and moods i.e feelings
in human affairs.
Summary
Moods and emotions play a central role in the thinking and reasoning process which results in
new behavior. However, the study suggests that mood is different from emotions. Moods are
more prevalent and kind of innate while emotions are more intense and are affected by either
internal or external triggering event. When people are in positive mood they exhibit self-
confidence, take credit for success and do not blaming others for failure, their evaluations are
more positive and helpful to others. The article also describes that a person who takes rational
and balance decisions is one whose decisions are not based on emotions and feelings but on the
other hand studies on nerves system suggests that for good decisions to make there is need of
good feelings. For example people with brain surgeries due to tumor have shown the perplexing
results. The tumor and surgeries had damaged the areas of their brains responsible for emotions
and feelings. They were good in their memories, analytical and numerical skills but flat in
emotions. Thus, the intense emotions may definitely inhibit the effective decision making but it
should also be noted that non-existence of emotions also results in the irrational behavior.
The above discussion describes that feelings has much effective role in the human affairs. This
also affirms that feelings may have overriding effect on the effectiveness of leadership. Moods
and emotions play an important role in shaping the thoughts and behaviors. Research also
suggests that people do take steps to correct own and other’s moods and emotions. Some leaders
possess superior moods and emotions which they can use to benefit from it in a variety of
circumstances. On the other hand he can use the same superior moods and emotions to influence
others and create cordial interpersonal relationships with them. This mood and emotion
capability has been explained by the notion emotional intelligence in the literature. Four aspects
of emotional intelligence have been described in the literature.
1. The appraisal and expression of emotion- This pertains to emotions to both the self and
others. People vary in terms of awareness of their own emotions and its expression. Those
 people who are able to accurately express their emotions both verbally and non-verbally are
able to make good judgments and decisions. But some people are hesitant in expressing their
emotions. For example some people want to express their emotions, they try but they worry
over doing it. Some people do express their feelings but then they repent over it. These two
states results in some sort of anxiety, depression or psychic disorder. This hesitancy in the
expression of feelings inhibits to develop healthy interpersonal relationships. Some people
are also unable to express their emotions using language and using facial expressions. Thus
emotionally intelligent people have the property to appraise and express the emotions of
others and self.
2. The use of emotions to enhance cognitive process and decision making- emotions and
feelings can be used to enhance good decision making. That is when people are emotionally
intelligent, i.e aware that what will be repercussion of this decision or what others will feel
about this decision can make a good decision. On the other hand the emotions, feelings and
moods have positive effect on cognitive process. That is when people are in positive mood
their creativity increases. Similarly when people are in positive moods they are able to think
of more alternative solutions of a problem. Positivity in moods foster optimism while
negativity in mood foster pessimism. When people think in a positive way they exhibit more
self-esteem and their self-efficacy is being enhanced. That is they think of themselves as
being capable in a variety of situation.
3. Knowledge about emotion- This refers to that emotionally intelligent person knows that
what are the causes and determinants of the moods and emotions. How moods and emotions
evolve over time. For example a person who had a bad workday at his job come to home and
start quarreling or start arguments with his spouse or children only deteriorates his
relationships. Such person does not have knowledge about emotions.
4. Management of emotions- this refers to how an emotionally intelligent person manages his
and other’s moods and emotions. Those who have good appreciation and know about the
causes and determinant of moods and emotions are better able to manage the emotions.

Having discussed the four aspects of emotional intelligence in detail, the author then has
described that how emotional intelligence (the four aspects) influence the leadership. The author
has described the determinants of effective leadership and then has described that how an
emotionally intelligent leader could be an effective leader.

Emotional intelligence and effective leadership-

The four aspects of emotional intelligence play an essential role in the leadership effectiveness.
The author has described the factors that determine the leadership effectiveness. These aspects or
factors are:
“Developing a collective sense of goal, objectives and how to achieve it (giving vision and work
plan to achieve this vision), to instill in others the importance of work activities and behaviors, to
generate and maintain enthusiasm, encouragement and optimism in the organization as well as
cooperation and trust, encouraging flexibility in decision making and establishing and maintain a
meaningful identity of the organization”
The author has described that a major task of a manager or leader is to give a compelling and a
challenging vision and direction to his organization. He can accomplish this aspect if he is aware
of the environment around him. Positivity in moods fosters creativity in him and thus enabling
him to come up with a more promising vision. On the other hand an emotionally intelligent
manager is aware that this aspect of positive mood can lead him to an exceedingly more
optimism therefore, he has the capability to maintain a balance between being realistic and being
critical. Emotionally intelligent person is also able to properly translate the vision throughout the
organization. He knows when to share this vision and how to acquire support from his followers
so that it becomes a shared vision and followers are supportive in achieving it.
To inculcate the importance of work and behavior in his followers, an emotionally
knowledgeable leader makes sure that followers have realization about the problems and aware
that opportunities exists. He encourages the followers to resolve the issues by themselves and
meet the challenges ahead of them.
An emotionally well versed leader is able to generate and maintain excitement, enthusiasm and
bringing confidence in his followers by knowing clearly the feelings of his followers and know
exactly how to influence these feelings. The followers are encouraged to resolve the problems by
themselves thus boosting their self-worth and feeling of efficacy. Moreover, a knowledgeable
leader has the capability to know about the true and expressed feelings of his followers. To thrive
trust and confidence in the organization, an emotionally intelligent leader takes the advantage of
constructive thinking to resolve disagreements and create a win-win situation for both the worker
and leader.
Flexibility in decision making means that an emotionally intelligent leader takes the decision by
leaving the space for reversing his decision when new information surfaces or when the situation
is uncertain. He does not take his course of action in a rigid manner rather he considers many
alternatives. He knows that when he exhibit positive mood his approach to problem solving is
different than when his mood and emotion is negative. Thus he deliberately revisits his stance
when experiencing positive or negative mood. Emotional intelligence helps leaders to
successfully bring changes in his organization because he knows about his and others emotions
and knows how to manage and influence it. An emotionally intelligent leader keeps his mind
open and remains open to many clues.
Finally the organization identity is a derivative of organizational culture. All the members of an
organization adopt to his culture. Organization culture is a set of values, beliefs and explicit and
implicit rules etc that guide members’ behavior. These aspects i.e values and beliefs are the
consequence of emotions. An emotionally intelligent leader is able to impart norms, beliefs and
values in the organization members. For this he must be aware of his own feelings as well as to
his followers’ feelings.
Conclusion

In conclusion, according to the author, the above mentioned theoretical discussion emphasize
that emotional intelligence has relevance with the leadership effectiveness. Since the foregoing
discussion reveals that there is correlation between emotions and leadership effectiveness
therefore, further empirical research is needed to test and validate this idea.