Emotional Leadership: Leadership Styles and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Leadership: Leadership Styles and Emotional Intelligence

Katherine P. Bergethon (Illinois State University, USA) and Daniel Cochece Davis (Illinois State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9970-0.ch004

Abstract

Although past research readily acknowledges emotions exist in organizations, and even acknowledges that leaders benefit from having “emotional intelligence,” fully understanding leadership's role in addressing the emotional dimension of organizational experience, especially during the typically high emotion situations of organizational conflicts, remains understudied. This chapter provides greater awareness of how leadership styles, especially transformational or charismatic leadership, relates with emotional intelligence to facilitate “emotional leadership” within organizations to achieve positive follower effects.
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Emotional Leadership

Recently, leadership theorists have urged the exploration of leaders’ personalities or inner emotions (e.g., Campbell, 2007). Emotional management is being described as a crucial component of leadership. Boal and Hooijberg (2001) proposed that managerial wisdom is mandatory for successful strategic leadership: a component called social intelligence or emotional intelligence, or the ability to understand others’ emotions and to act fittingly in context.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership has received substantial research attention over the last two decades (Pawar, 2003). Transformational leadership theories focus around leaders as instruments of change, by motivating others toward valuable change (Antonakis, Cianciolo, & Sternberg, 2004). Transformative leaders are able to balance both rewards and leadership requirements, while simultaneously motivating followers, and forsaking self-interest for the good of the organization (Abeysekera & Jayakody, 2011; Bass, 1985; Sahaya, 2012). Additionally, this orientation seeks to move other organizational members beyond their personal goals and specific conflicts with other organizational members, and focuses them toward macro organizational-level goals. Burns (1978) characterized transformational leadership as an approach that encourages followers by appealing to higher ideals and moral values (Burns, 1978; Tracey & Hinkin, 1998). By empowering followers, transformational leaders can gain higher personal investment from those individuals, which will then create better organizational cohesion and success (Thompson, 2012; Tracey & Hinkin, 1998). Thompson (2012) outlined how transformational leadership can improve workforce competencies using Kouzes and Posner’s (1995) practices (i.e., challenging the process, enabling the other to act, modeling the way and encouraging the heart). Thompson (2012) proffered that these practices can improve issues in staffing and training areas.

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