Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Effectiveness

Managerial Effectiveness can be divided into two categories: getting along behaviors & getting ahead behaviors. This paper focus on the role of emotional intelligence in leadership effectiveness. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others, contributes to effective leadership in organizations. In this current age of information, leaders cannot afford to ignore or even avoid follower emotions in the workplace. The definition of emotional leadership is the leading of followers through the proper identification and management of an array of emotions and influencing the outcome of their subsequent needs. Four major aspects of emotional intelligence, the appraisal and expression of emotion, the use of emotion to enhance cognitive processes and decision making, knowledge about emotions, and management of emotions, are described. Emotional intelligence bears an important impact on self-development of the manager and hisleadership qualities. Practicing activities that support EI behavior illuminates positive effectsthat can be observed and measured by higher productivity. Its impact is visible in buildingpositive relations and gaining emotional commitment of employees.