Emotionally Intelligence and Its Importance
By Marcy Levy Shankman, PhD & Scott J. Allen, PhD
In a recent conversation that we had with our students, one of them said, “Today was one of those days where I just wish I could have taken back what I said because once those words came out of my mouth, trouble began.” This student realized, that had she paused before she spoke, she would have prevented a challenging, interpersonal conflict from happening. What a great example of why we advocate for people to learn about, and subsequently develop, their emotional intelligence.
The term emotional intelligence (EI) was first introduced by two American college professors, Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990. Their original definition of EI was “a form of social intelligence that involves 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” (Salovey & Mayer, 1990, p. 189). In 1995, Daniel Goleman published Emotional Intelligence, which brought the concept into mainstream American society. Over the last 15 years, business and industry as well as schools and non-governmental organizations have adopted EI as a model or approach for professional development, leadership development, and holistic education for their employees, students, faculty, and staff.
EI is a part of all of us. We all have different levels and we express it in different ways. From the time we begin to socialize with others, we are developing and demonstrating our EI. EI plays an essential role in our lives – it helps us understand our emotions and how our emotions impact our thoughts, decisions, and behaviors. When we’re not aware of this link, behaviors just happen (like the outburst mentioned above). Once you become aware of how you react to an event or someone who pushes your buttons, you can intentionally choose your response. And this is one reason why we see such a powerful connection between EI and leadership – in fact research shows that individuals with high levels of EI are often more effective as leaders (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002).
While there are four main schools of thought about what EI is, most scholars agree that EI is critical for understanding and developing because they have found that cognitive intelligence (IQ) alone does not lead to success (or effectiveness). Hunter and Hunter (1984) concluded that intelligence accounts for around 25% of the variance in high performing employees, while others reported similar results, thus promoting the idea that EI has significant impact on leadership, human performance, effectiveness, or success (Goleman, et al., 2002; Singh, 2006; Sternberg, 1996). Other research suggests that a person who demonstrates high levels of emotional intelligence will have a better perception of their emotions, knows how to use them in their thinking and decision-making, and better manages their emotions (Goleman, et al., 2002).
Like others, we have wrestled with how to develop leadership capacity in others. Emotional intelligence gives us a strong foundation for both teaching and learning about leadership. EI supports and helps explain how leadership is a relationship between the leader, followers, and the context. As the context changes, so do the ingredients for successful leadership. For instance, think about a teacher who has been wildly successful at one school, but struggles at another school. Likewise, we all know of students who respond incredibly well to one teacher and one hour later, that same student is in trouble with a different teacher. Leaders and followers must be aware of their own skills, abilities and aspirations as well as those of the people they work with. This can mean the difference between success and failure.
Effective leaders in any organization or sector of society ensure that their message resonates with the interests and desires of others (Goleman, et al., 2002). This ability to influence and inspire is directly linked with emotional intelligence. A person’s ability to monitor and regulate their own emotions, develop healthy relationships with others, and be intentional in their behavior supports effective leadership. There is certainly no fixed formula for leadership, nor is emotional intelligence the only foundation from which a leader works; either assertion minimizes the complexities and realities of leadership and of us as human beings. However, EI is a powerful foundation for effective leadership. In our work with students, teachers, administrators, and executives, we have found that when paired together, EI and leadership are essential for developing leadership in ourselves and others.
References
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Hunter. J. E., & Hunter, R. F. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin, 760, 12-93.
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition, and personality, 9(3), 185–211.
