On Emotional Intelligence - Case Study Example

Executive Summary Emotional intelligence is the individual’s ability to comprehend, evaluate, and manage one’s own emotions and those of the social network. Emotional intelligence is categorized into four components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. There are five aspects of emotional intelligence: intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, stress management, adaptability, and general moods. This paper also presented three components of this employee feeling related to levels of job satisfaction: (a) behavior toward management, (b) behavior toward the nature of the job, and (c) behavior toward colleagues. Organizational climate or work environment is a determining factor that makes an employee perceives the organization as a healthy environment to work at. Leadership is the process of influencing people so that they will be motivated in achieving common and desired goals or targets. Aside from being intelligent, an effective leader should also master the art of coaching and guiding his or her personnel, this means that an effective leader should possess “people skills”. Leadership is also defined as influence. Transformational leadership could be abused through improper utilization of emotional intelligence. Since leadership is also influence, we cannot deny that there are some managers or project leaders who might take advantage of their persuasiveness. Emotions do influence a manager’s conviction, relationship towards subordinates, and effectiveness of job performance Introduction As human beings, we are all in need of emotions, basic emotional needs. There several ways to express our needs. Although all of us share common emotional needs, the intensity of our emotional needs varies. One individual may need to know more about something while another individual may need to simply comprehend the same thing (Goleman 1995). Importance of Emotions Here are some reasons: survival, decision making, boundary setting, communication, happiness, and unity. Our emotions serve as our guide, a system within us that leads us towards our actions. Emotions are essential for our safety, both physical and mental safety. Here comes boundary setting, our emotions tell us when we feel uneasy with a particular person or situation. Communication is important for us as human beings, we can communicate in several ways, and it could be through the use of words, letters, or even gestures. If an individual is good at communicating his or her feelings, it would be easier for him or her to fulfill his or her emotional needs. If our emotional needs are fulfilled, contentment follows. An individual may have all the material needs a man can ask for but may still unhappy, this means that there is something that this individual still long for, it may not be in material form but more likely to be emotional needs. Until this individual fulfill these emotional needs, he or she will still be miserable and feeling incomplete. Once we are aware of our emotions, we will be able to determine the needs that we need to fulfill for us to be completely happy. We may have different beliefs, our religions vary, but our emotions could be identical, this is how emotions unite mankind (Goleman 1995). Emotions plus Intelligence A study was conveyed between top performers and average employees; it stated that these top performers excel because of their emotional intelligence. It is said that training and IQ or intelligence quotient take up 20% of the difference between these two types of employees, what makes up the 80% is attributed to emotional intelligence. It also stated that the effectiveness of a leader lies on the level of emotional intelligence (Wall 2007 p.64). Emotional intelligence is said to be the individual’s ability to comprehend, evaluate, and handle emotions and those of other people (Shetcliffe 2008 p.18). It is also defined as group of abilities that allows an individual to create, acknowledge, disclose, comprehend, and assess their own, and of those around him or her, emotions so that he or she would be able to organize and perform in accordance to the demands and pressures brought about by the present situation (Van Rooy and Viswesvaran 2004 p.71). Emotional intelligence has been defined as the ability to watch over their own and others’ feelings and emotions to compare emotions and utilize the information as a pilot of thought organization and actions. This is how emotional intelligence is defined based on the ability-based model of EI (Salovey and Mayer 1990 p.185). The other model of emotional intelligence is called the mixed or trait model of EI. This particular model presented emotional intelligence as the group of competencies that aid individuals in adapting and reacting with their surroundings in a more efficient manner (Zeidner et al. 2004 p.371). Association of Emotional Intelligence and Intelligence Is emotional intelligence, in fact, not a part of intelligence? A study stated that intelligence alone will not lead an individual to success in life whether success in career or success in personal life. It is said that emotions of an individual is essential in achieving personal targets and in organizational success. The study presented that those managers or project leaders who possess higher levels of emotional intelligence do understand their own, and those under his or her supervision, emotions have higher chances of achieving desired goals and be regarded as an effective and influential leaders by their subordinates and superiors (Rosete and Ciarrochi 2005 p.388). This just means that a particular individual could possess high levels of cognitive intelligence acquired from education and have lower levels of emotional intelligence, or vice versa (Davis and Newstrom 1989). Emotional Intelligence towards Work It is the individual’s awareness of his or her capabilities, skills, and the ability of an individual to categorize emotional knowledge to obtain mental development. It is the ability to comprehend and evaluate emotions (Mayer & Salovey 1997 p.3). Another researcher categorized emotional intelligence into four components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills (Goleman 2001 p.13). Emotional Intelligence and Work Environment Most companies tend to take into account the potential personnel that they have. These companies evaluated their personnel who possess not only extensive technical skills but also those personnel who manifest great soft skills such as emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has been considered as soft skill required for most managerial positions. On a study held at healthcare industry, it presented that if managers do possess high level of emotional intelligence, more and more employees tend to perform above standards thus creating a more healthy and positive organizational environment (Fresman & Rubino 2004 p. 2). As support to this study, it is said that an individual’s tenacity toward the nature of work is essential toward achieving personal goals and career ambitions (Friel 2007 p.66). Organizational climate or work environment is defined as how the employees react to the current structure of the institution and the way the employees view this structure. It means that the way the employees react and respond depends on their managers’ dominion over them. This is said to happen because of our emotional center. Scientists called this the open-loop system which depends on external factors that manage the system compared to closed-loop system that is self-regulating. The open-loop system allows us to attend to other people’s emotional needs (Goleman et al. 2001 p.45). A study presented three components of this employee feeling: (a) behavior toward management, (b) behavior toward the nature of the job, and (c) behavior toward colleagues (Lyman 2003 p.19). Emotional intelligence is defined as a group of competencies both social and emotional that deals with the daily requirements and pressures brought about by the environment. It is also said that emotional intelligence is comprised of five aspects. These aspects are: (a) intrapersonal skills – referring to self-knowledge including one’s own goals, strengths, weaknesses, limitations, moods, uncertainties, interests, and motivations; (b) interpersonal skills – refers to how an individual relates to the people surrounding him or her; (c) stress management – referring to the lightening of stress which may have resulted from asymmetric levels of demands and pressures from various factors like nature of work, family issues, etc.; (d) adaptability – referring to the individual’s ability to cope up with the environment and situations, also known as flexibility; and (e) general mood – referring to the manner of what an individual is feeling on a given time (cited by Hayashi 2005 p.333). Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Leadership is also defined as influence. Leadership is the process of influencing people so that they will be motivated in achieving common and desired goals or targets (Hitt 1993). This is supported by another definition of leadership: the process of social interactions where the leaders are trying to command the behaviors or attitudes of those under their jurisdictions (Dasborough and Ashkanasy 2002 p.615) The study stated that emotional intelligence plays a more vital role toward effective leadership compared to intelligence quotient in addition to acquired technical abilities (Sosik and Megerian 1999 p.475). Another study stated that being an effective and influential leader, one must not concentrate on enhancing technical capabilities because being effective also lies on the manner of how an individual carry his/herself on any given situations (Cooper and Sawaf 1997). To guarantee the success of any project or mission, a study presented that one factor that contributes most is the involvement of human capabilities (Sunindijo et al. 2007 p.166). One study presented that the factor that usually leads the team in achieving project success is the human skills of the team’s project leader or manager aside from the technical skills and abilities that this project leader or manager possess (El-Sabaa 2001 p.1). Many researchers have tried to determine the association of job satisfaction with the individual’s job performance (Moorman 1991 p.759). Job satisfaction is the level of an employee towards his or her nature of work, this term is also known as the employee’s well-being towards work. Job satisfaction refers to the manner of how an individual perceives his or her work, its all about the employee’s perceptions (Grandey 2000 p.95). A study was conveyed about emotional intelligence and the performance of most policemen, the study stated that policemen’s emotional intelligence have something to do with the success of their performances. The study also presented that the components of emotional intelligence determines the policemen’s level of job satisfaction (Daus et al. 2004 p.453). It is also said that the association between emotional intelligence and job performance is clearly manifested by those people who are engaged to natures of jobs that require higher levels of emotional intelligence (Daus and Ashkanasy 2005 p.453). Leadership before was focused on who manages the whole team or entire group. But today, as competition among companies grew, leadership is considered as one’s creativity (Kuhn 1962). Recommendations A study cited that emotions do influence a manager’s conviction, relationship towards subordinates, and effectiveness of job performance (Goleman 1995, 1998b p93; Hughes 2005 p.603; Huy 1999 p.325). Other studies cited that when managers do feel that they are understood, accepted, and when they feel the sense of belongingness, these managers’ dedication and interests is levitated to the level that would guarantee excellent job performance. It’s like a chain reaction, when a manager does his or her job perfectly, the results would be the same of those under his or her guidance. Organizations should take into consideration their personnel’s technical skills and capabilities, true, but organizations should not forget that in promoting or hiring personnel, they should also look into the applicant’s abilities to withstand issues and challenges that involve emotions. Most organizations look at the technical side of their personnel that sometimes these organizations tend to ignore their personnel’s “people skills” or the human sides of their personnel. In acquiring managers or project leaders, emotional intelligence is important, but also take a glimpse of the future, meaning if these applicants would be able to develop or increase their current level of emotional intelligence. This is very relative because of the fast paced world that we have today. Economic competition is growing tougher and tougher as time passes by. Most organizations should think about it seriously if they want to keep up with their competitors (Goldsmith and Eggers 2004; Light 2005; Sosik and Megerian 1999). Negative Side of Emotional Intelligence As we all know, emotional intelligence is an important trait that managers or project leaders should possess in order to guarantee or certify desired achievements. It is said that managers or project leaders innovate their organizations through attracting their subordinates to associate with them in achieving their desired goals or missions (Dasborough and Ashkanasy 2002). If these managers and project leaders do possess higher levels of emotional intelligence in addition with their strong influential capabilities, these managers may use these special skills in luring their subordinates so as to put their wicked plans into action and later be in reality. Conclusion The paper cited that emotional intelligence is a fundamental part of intelligence that mainly focus on the individual’s perception of one’s own emotions and that of those people around him or her. It also stated that it is a tool to measure one’s own capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. And by this awareness, an individual is given enough cushions to categorize one’s own thoughts and activities toward reaching set goals and targets. We learned through this paper that emotional intelligence is of composed of four main components, these are: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. Since emotional intelligence is considered as soft-skill, it means that it could be learned. We learned that by creating a healthy and positive organizational climate or work environment, a more enjoyable and harmonious relationship would bond the members of the institution. We learned that business today is warfare of new ideas and products that would topple their rivals over. This is because all companies would want to get the biggest chunk of the market, meaning higher rates of success in financial terms. And lastly we learned that by managing one’s emotional intelligence would help the individual deal with him/her-self and to those social networks that surrounds him or her better and more effectively. Emotions do influence our daily activities, emotional intelligence is not only manifested and helpful in terms of career or business, but it is also essential to our personal living. Being aware of our own emotions would lead us to understanding emotions of our family members, friends, and relatives. With this awareness we would be able to narrow the gap that lies between our relationships with other people. References Cooper, R. & Sawaf, A. (1997).Emotional intelligence in leadership and organizations. New York Dasborough, M.T. & Ashkanasy, N.M. (2002). Emotion and attribution of intentionality in leader-member relationships. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 615-634 Daus, C.S. & Ashkanasy, N.M. (2005). The case for the ability-based model of emotional intelligence in organizational behaviour. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 453-466 Davis, K. & Newstrom, J.W. (1989). Human Behavior at Work: Organizational Behavior, McGraw-Hill El-Sabaa, S. (2001). The skills and career path of an effective project manager. International Journal of Project Management, 19(1), 1-7 Fresman, B. & Rubino, L. (2004). 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