Applying Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace - Case Study Example

Introduction Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the eight multiple intelligences advocated for by Howard Gardner, a Professor at Harvard University (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity inherent in an individual that enables him/her to understand, use, manage and identify emotions in both constructive and positive ways. In this perspective, emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize the emotional states that reigns in the surrounding, either from others or oneself. The most important aspect of emotional intelligence is that it helps to draw people closer by engaging with others in a positive way. It is imperative to note that the concept of emotional intelligence tends to lean towards being “heart smart” and not just being “book smart” (Salovey and Grewal, 2005). “Heart smart” means being good to others in a way that draws other people closer to you. “Book smart” means having the capability derived from acquisition of knowledge through education. Numerous studies have shown that emotional intelligence is an important aspect of human life just like intellectual capability. This is because emotional intelligence determines the success and happiness an individual derives in life because it is the pathway to developing strong interpersonal relationships with other people. Since, the world is a social network of people, emotional intelligence results into immense success in many spheres of life because an individual is able to develop numerous networks with numerous people (Vorst & Bermond, 2001). EI skills can be developed throughout individual’s life in many ways such as learning to connect to ones emotions, using nonverbal form of communication, playing and using humour to deal with challenges, developing skills for dealing with stressful situations and application of self-assurance and confidence to defuse conflicts. Emotional intelligence (EI) is made up of core abilities. They include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Self-awareness is the ability to develop self-assurance and confidence as well as recognizing the effects of one’s behaviour and thoughts as well as being aware of one’s weaknesses and strengths in life (Kluemper, 2008). For example, being aware of one’s ability to control anger or lack of anger control is an important factor of emotional intelligence. Self-management refers to an individual’s capacity to control impulsive behaviours and feelings as well as the ability to manage emotions in a positive way. It also refers to an individual’s capacity and ability to being flexible to changing circumstances and taking initiatives aimed at enhancing a positive relationship with other people. Social awareness is the ability to understand the needs, emotions and concerns of other individuals particularly in a given setting such as the family, organization and other social gatherings. It is also the ability to recognize the dynamics of power that prevail in an organization or a group (Copper, 1997). The other core ability of emotional intelligence is relationship management. This refers to the ability to build and maintain good and healthy relationships, influence and inspire others, communicate clearly, manage conflicts and work positive ly with other team members to achieve the intended goals. Hence, from the foregoing, it is true that emotional intelligence is an important aspect of life because it traverses almost all spheres of life in which a human being finds him/herself in. Kluemper (2008) noted that emotional intelligence provides important sources of information that helps an individual to navigate and make sense of the surrounding or the social environment (Kluemper, 2008, p.30). The reason for this is that people have different information processing abilities that help them to relate and adapt to different situations in life. In this regard, the author noted that emotional intelligence consist of four capabilities that include perceiving emotions, applying or using emotions, managing emotions and understanding emotions. Perceiving emotions refers to the ability to decipher and detect emotions as expressed in the voice and faces. This is an important step in everyday life because emotions are expressed differently by people. Hence, perceiving emotions helps to identify the emotional condition of others as well as oneself (Yukl, 2010). Applying emotions or using emotions is an ability that has been applied widely particularly in the political arena. Aspiring politicians apply or use emotional speeches to move masses in order to achieve their political objectives. Hence, it is the ability to harness the potential of emotions to enhance cognitive activities such as problem solving and thinking. Understanding emotions is being sensitive to any slight changes depicted by emotional lapses of other people and oneself. It is also the ability to describe and recognize the evolution of emotions over time. For example, a slight tonal variation may be a depiction of emotional changes (Goleman, 1998). Emotional management follows the aspect of understanding emotions. Once a person understands emotions, he/she is able to find ways of controlling and managing emotions in order to avoid conflicts or heated disagreements in a given setting. Hence, managing emotions involves regulation of emotions whether positive or negative and harness such emotions to achieve the desired goals. In summary, emotional intelligence (EI) is an import aspect of leadership because leaders are required to be all-round people with higher capabilities than their followers in order to provide direction to their followers. In the subsequent section, another type of intelligence identified by Howard namely social intelligence will be explored. Social intelligence Social intelligence is defined as the ability to positively interact with other people and driving other people closer to oneself. From this definition, social intelligence can be viewed as the skill of understanding other people and a skill for enhancing greater interaction with others (Copper, 1997). Another basic definition of social intelligence is ability to manage and understand women and men, girls and boys as well as the ability to execute wise actions in all forms of human relations. The concept of social intelligence was derived from the fact that clever people may lack social intelligence which may affect their performance significantly. For example, previous studies on autistic children revealed that these children may be extremely clever but they lack basic social intelligence skills (Copper, 1997). Other studies revealed that animals such as Chimpanzees have high intelligent levels that enable them to remember and make observations better than human beings but their interpersonal relationship skills fall below the expected levels. Such studies show that apart from intelligence, other forms of intelligences (multiple intelligences) are required for positive existence in life. A careful examination of findings undertaken in different social science studies reveal that social intelligence comprises of five dimensions namely; situation awareness, authenticity, presence, empathy and clarity. Situation awareness is the ability to read and understand how behaviour is influenced by the social context and the ability to choose successful strategies of behaviour. The ‘presence’ concept refers to the perceived external sense of self. This includes self-worth, self-respect and confidence as seen by others. Authenticity refers to the aspect of self-honesty as well as being honest in the social environment. Clarity is the ability to use language effectively, use clear language to express oneself, persuade others with ideas and explain concepts effectively and clearly to enhance the understanding of other people towards the subject being discussed (Copper, 1997). Empathy as used in social intelligence is the ability to develop and establish connection with others in order to draw other people closer to oneself. From the above sections, it is evident that the concepts of social and emotional intelligence are closely related. The reason for this is that they are concepts applied concurrently with intellectual intelligence in order to enhance the effectiveness of the leader (Kouzes & Posner, 1987). Furthermore, they are concepts used and applied widely in different spheres of life to enhance interpersonal relationships and working relationships in the workplace. With the above understanding of what emotional and social intelligence entails, the subsequent section will explore the relevance of emotional and social intelligence for effective leadership. Importance of emotional and social intelligence in leadership It is imperative to note that modern economies are drifting away from manufacturing characterised economy to service and value-added economies. Service-oriented and valued added economies are mainly driven by interdepartmental, intergroup relationships and interpersonal relationships (Church &Waclawski, 1999). In this perspective, one of the importances of emotional intelligence is that it is the basic foundation for effective leadership. The reason for this is that an emotionally intelligent leader is able to comprehend emotional implications of their thoughts and feelings on others as well as oneself. For example, before adopting a given style of leadership, an emotionally intelligent leader is able to understand the implication of a certain style of leadership on his followers. The second importance of emotional intelligence on effective leadership is that modern organizations are characterised by empowered workforce. This means that new demands that go beyond the co-operative, consultative and democratic style is required in the contemporary organizations (Mikolajczak et al, 2007). In this regard, an emotionally intelligent leader is able to identify the changing context in organizations and therefore provide an environment that brings the opinions, arguments and ideas of other people to the decision table (Kotter, 1990). This includes providing opportunities for other people to challenge the aspects of leadership applied in the organization, providing freedom and autonomy and enhancing involvement and consultations as well as team spirit and inclusion in decision making process. This does not only make a leader people-oriented but it also enhances interpersonal relationships, interdepartmental relationships and team spirit in the organization. The third importance of emotional intelligence is that it helps leaders keep and attract people closer to themselves due to the people-oriented and generous attributes associated with emotional intelligence (Locke, 2005). Emotional intelligence helps the leader to develop inspiring traits that allows him/her to focus on the intended goals. For example, an emotionally intelligent leader avoids focusing on short term achievements and gratifications but focuses on long term achievements (Hill, 1995). This is because an emotionally intelligent leader has an open mind that sees an organization in future rather than presently. By keeping investors and great colleagues closer to himself, an emotionally intelligent leader assures the organization of both a present and a future. Social intelligence is an important aspect of effective leadership. First social intelligence enables the leader to develop complex networks with people that helps in propelling the organization to greater heights of success. For example, by developing complex networks with investors, suppliers, customers and employees, the leader is able to recruit and hire the best performing employees. The organization is also assured to continuity through investments and supply from other people. In this regard, social intelligence increases the effectiveness of the leader by enhancing the performance of the leader (Sosik & Megerian, 1999). Social awareness is one of the important aspects of social intelligence. By applying situational awareness, the leader is able to identify and apply the best behavioural strategies that eliminate conflicts in the organization. Additionally, through social intelligence, the leader is able to effectively use language and clearly persuade the employees and the subordinates with real ideas that can help eliminate unnecessary strikes in the organizations (Miller, 1999). As a result, through social intelligence, the productivity of the people is enhanced and increased drastically in the organizational setting. In conclusion, emotional and social intelligence are some of the important aspects of effective leadership. Through, emotional intelligence the leader is able to identify, use, understand and manage emotions particularly during participative decision making processes where the involvement of the subordinates and employees is required. Social intelligence on the other hand enables the leader to develop complex networks with people from all walks of life. This serves as the backbone of increased productivity and profitability in the organization setting particularly when such people include the suppliers and investors. Hence, emotional and social intelligence are important ingredients for effective leadership in any given social setting where interpersonal relationships, interdepartmental relationships and people-people relationships must be upheld. References Church, A., and Waclawski, J., 1999. Influence Behaviours and Managerial Effectiveness in Latereal Relations. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 10 (1). Copper, R., 1997. Applying Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. 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