Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Dissertation

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence - Dissertation Example Peter Salovey and John Mayer in their definition of emotional intelligence states that it is â€Å"a form of 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 actions† (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). One of the most common forms of research studies are based on connecting the aspects of emotional intelligence (as defined by Salovey & Mayer) with that of effective leadership. The literature on the leadership quotient has a remarkable number of theories that create a framework on the characteristics that define an effective leader, of which the two most distinct forms of leadership traits are, transactional and transformational (Mandell & Pherwani, 2003). In a transactional leadership, performance forms the main basis for rewarding or disciplining an employee. Emphasis is placed on timely completion of work, quality of work, and compliance with the companyâ₠¬â„¢s norms and values, while trying to affect an employee’s performance organizational punishments and incentives (Bass & Avolio, 1994). On the other hand transformational leadership functions through the notions of motivating and stimulating the co-workers, in order to create a completely different perspective on the organizational objectives, foster an atmosphere where the employees are motivated to achieve higher levels of capability, while inspiring the employees to put team interests before personal interests. Thus, transformational leadership functions of four basic pillars: intellectual incentive, edified influence, inspirational motivation, and consideration for each individual employee (ibid). From the conducted literature review it is evident that from that various studies on the results of effective leadership it is seen that the transformational form of leadership achieves better performance as a team (Keller, 1995), greater effectiveness and reparation (Hater & Bass, 1988), and better efforts from the junior employees (Seltzer & Bass, 1990). In this context, the researchers have also contended that to achieve effective form of leadership with positive outcomes for the entire organization, the aspect of transformational leadership must be combined with emotional and social forms of intelligence (Mandell and Pherwani, 2003).