Emotional intelligence and strategic leadership are two interconnected concepts. Emotional intelligence illustrates the capability, competence, and self-perceived proficiency to recognizes and control one's emotions and those of others. Such characteristics are an essential requirement for any leader (Serrat, 2017). In the early 1920s, Robert Thorndike used the term social intelligence to illustrate the skills and supervising other individuals. In the 1940s, David Wechsler described knowledge as the global capability for people to do things resolutely, reason realistically, and address issues effectively within any environment. When people have emotional intelligence, they become more productive and triumphant in whatever they do. Also, they have a high probability of assisting others in achieving all the stipulated goals in life and organizations since they have all the requisite leadership skills (Serrat, 2017). They can resolve conflicts; promote understanding and correlation while increasing stability, continuity, and harmony in any enterprise.
How Emotional Intelligence Differs From Traditional Perceptions
The conventional definition of intelligence is based on Charles Spearman theory of general intelligence. It states that individuals who performed excellently on one cognitive test would perform well in other tests, and those who performed poorly in one test did the same in other tests. He stated that intelligence is a universal cognitive capability that can be calculated and numerically articulated (Cherry, 2019). However, the emotional intelligence hypothesis indicates that emotional intelligence encompasses all the aspects of life. For instance, a person with emotional intelligence has regulation, motivation, awareness of self and social skills, and it is rare for one to fail in most of the undertakings in life. In brief, all the domains relate to understanding one's emotions, controlling them, encouraging oneself, and distinguishing other people’s emotions behaviors and how to handle them (Serrat, 2017). As such, emotional intelligence creates a pleasant environment for all people.
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Learning and Increasing Emotional Intelligence
I have a conviction that emotional intelligence is learned like other skills in society. For instance, the capability, expertise, or managing others is a skill that can be discovered in leadership management topics. Even though emotional intelligence is related to intelligence quotient, it is still a skill that can be learned provided that a person is willing to learn (Serrat, 2017). Also, there is value in increasing the emotional intelligence of an individual since it creates a better environment to relate with other people. People with emotional intelligence understand others well and connect with by offering guidelines on how to address issues related to life. I believe that it is a critical topic for any person to learn to have all the skills that are requisite for any person in life (Serrat, 2017). Working to improve emotional intelligence is, therefore, a vital practice that can enhance a person to have all the proficiency indispensable to address issues that people face in society.
Relationship between Emotional Intelligence Leadership and Motivation
Leaders are the most critical people in any organization, and they determine the organization’s success and failure. As such, they require a lot of emotional intelligence since they need to identify the needs of the workers and address them proficiently. Many leaders who lead in any enterprise have emotional intelligence since they guide the people and motivate them to acquire all the stipulated goals of the organization. A research done by Anand and UdayaSuriyan (2010) indicates that leadership depends on many factors such as integrity, hard work, discipline, self-confidence and understanding and those are some of the characteristics of people with emotional intelligence (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010). Emotional intelligence and motivation have a connection as people who have emotional intelligence are highly motivated to work towards the stipulated goals. They understand what an organization requires to prosper, and they implement all the strategies needed to make them flourish. Also, such leaders know that the performance of appraisal is a critical practice that motivates workers, and once they are promoted and given rewards, they perform exclusively in any enterprise (Parrish, 2015). In essence, Leadership and emotional intelligence are integral in any societal setting since they enhance the prosperity of any enterprise.
Manager with High Degree of Emotional Intelligence
I have worked with a manager who exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence. He was an optimistic and courageous leader who mentored me into the management strategies and leadership skills in any organization. He was organized, intelligent, and always competent in almost all the sectors in the organization. He would guide and motivate me in all the aspects. Also, he indicated all the objectives that the organization should achieve within the duration of a particular time. As such, he assisted me in gaining a lot of expertise on the leadership skills that are critical in enhancing the prosperity of any business. He also created a positive way that I can interact with people in society. My motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction were incomparable since I got all the relevant guidelines and handling of issues from the manager. Notably, we did not come from the same cultural setting, yet our connection as impeachable. He treated me like a brother or any other skilled personnel in the enterprise. Therefore, he had a lot of positive impact in my life due to emotional intelligence.
Effects on Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity can affect people in any environment due to miscommunication, culture, religion, and politics. People bring differences into the workplaces, and such differences create low productivity in the business. People create variations, and they fail to achieve the stipulated objectives set for the organization. Research indicates that any time that people have differences in an organization (Guillaume et al., 2017). They do not work towards the set goals since they want to frustrate their leaders. However, in my enterprise, I did not exhibit any differences with my manager since he showed emotional intelligence. We could share ideas on the best ways to ensure that the aim of the company is achieved and the people stayed motivated through rewards and promotion to the people who performed the best in the enterprise. There were no cultural differences between my manager and me. Such aspect created an excellent working environment, and people worked in unity and love for their advantage and the advantage of the organization. I learned a lot of leadership skills from the manager that enhanced me to be skillful in any management environment.
Conclusion
In general, emotional intelligence is a critical aspect in the in society. It can either be for leaders, workers, or any other person in society. People with emotional intelligence can manage others in all their undertakings. For instance, leaders in an organization have the competence to manage the enterprise and the workers skillfully since they have all the needed skills to lead others. They have the capability, expertise, and self-perceived proficiency to recognizes and control one's emotions and those of others. When there is an issue in an organization, they competently address it and ensure that everyone is happy. Also, they motivate their workers since they understand that people need a lot of motivation to perform well in an enterprise. Even when there is any cultural diversity in the workplace, they can competently manage since they understand all their workers, their weaknesses and strengths
References
Anand, R., & UdayaSuriyan, G., (2010). Emotional intelligence and its relationship with leadership practices. International Journal of Business and Management , 5 (2), 65.
Cherry K. (2019) Theories of Intelligence in Psychology, Cognitive Psychology https://www.verywellmind.com/theories-of-intelligence-2795035
Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Otaye ‐ Ebede, L., Woods, S. A., & West, M. A. (2017). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity?. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 38 (2), 276-303.
Parrish, D. R., (2015). The relevance of emotional intelligence for leadership in a higher education context. Studies in Higher Education , 40 (5), 821-837.
Serrat, O., (2017). Understanding and developing emotional intelligence. In Knowledge solutions (pp. 329-339). Springer, Singapore.
