The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on an Organizational Leader's Ability to Make Effective Decisions

Organizations are scaling down, reengineering themselves to compete in the global market and facing an explosion of available information. Max Messmer, CEO of Robert Half, told in a survey of 150 executives from some of the country's biggest industries, that leadership art was found the most important equity of managers and officials. James E. Perrella (1999), CEO, President and Chairman, Ingersoll-Rand Company, said America is moving towards a value-added, service-oriented economy from a manufacturing economy. And at the heart of service are relationships: interpersonal relationships; intergroup relationships; and interdepartmental correlation. The ascendance of work teams in large organizations puts a new premium on relationship team craft. On the other hand among others, this set of skills consist the following expertise:

 Communicating or listening openly and sending convincing messages,

 Managing conflict, which entails negotiating and resolving disagreements,

 Guiding and Inspiring individuals and groups as a leader,

 Initiating and managing change, and

 Cooperating and Collaborating with others toward shared goals.

These two examples show the increasing influence of retaining, training, finding and hiring leaders with high emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is defined as a person's, integrity, self-confidence, commitment, self-control and self-awareness, ability to accept change and initiate change (Goleman, 1998). Studies have shown that emotional intelligence impacts a leader's ability to be effective (Goleman, 1998). Three of the most important aspects of emotional intelligence for a leader's ability to make effective decisions are communication, influence, self-awareness, integrity and commitment. Managers and officials who do not flourish their emotional intelligence have difficulty in building good relations with subordinates, and clients.

The following paper is an examination of how emotional intelligence affects a leader's ability to make effective decisions. The first part of the paper defines the parameters of emotional intelligence, effective decision-making and leadership. This is succeed by a discourse of how the aspects of emotional intelligence affect a leader's ability to make good decisions and how emotional intelligence is integral to Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly successful people and Warren

Bennis’ beliefs on what is leadership. The paper concludes with the leadership responsibilities that are implemented through the use of emotional intelligence.