Electronic Business Journal Volume 12, Issue 1, 2013

LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

THE EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Víctor Pinos, McNeese State University
Nicholas W. Twigg, McNeese State University
Satyanarayana Parayitam, McNeese State University
Bradley J. Olson, University of Lethbridge

ABSTRACT

We developed a model in which transformational leadership mediated between emotional

intelligence and workplace performance. This paper states the effect of emotional intelligence on
transformational leadership style in the 21st century. It is proposed that the emotional intelligence
concepts of self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, and relationship management
contribute to enhance a leader’s sense of self and others in order to accomplish organization’s
goals. Transformational leadership characteristics are also reviewed to understand how leaders
can aim their efforts towards specific objectives. Moreover, a leaders and managers’ overview in
the current millennium is also included in this paper to obtain links between transformational
leadership and emotional intelligence. A discussion of research issues and future direction is also
reviewed for new analyses, as well as conclusions.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this paper is to propose relationships between emotional intelligence and
transformational leadership. In the current millennium, companies need leaders who are able to
operate in multicultural environments, are aware of global marketing issues, and recognize the need
for diversity because these will allow organizations to remain competitive and survive in
multicultural environments (Pool & Cotton, 2004). Leaders around the world need to consider
personal, social, business, and cultural aspects of global literacy (Rosen & Digh, 2001) as well as
social literacy issues such as, trust, listening, constructive impatience, connective teaching, and
collaborative individualism (Pool & Cotton, 2004). In addition, Rosen and Digh (2001) state that
business literacy must include, among other skills, the ability to create leaders, manage difficult
situations, and be a real link between leaders and followers. In short, global literacy and social
literacy relate to emotional intelligence through motivation, adeptness in relationships, and self
regulation of emotions.
Burns (1978) first proposed that transformational leaders demonstrate high levels of moral
conduct, ethical conduct, self-sacrifice, determination, and far-sightedness. Transformational

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leadership behaviors consist of four dimensions: idealized influence (TLii), individualized

consideration (TLic), inspirational motivation (TLim), and intellectual stimulation (TLis).
Transformational leaders give individualized consideration through developing and mentoring
followers (Bass & Avolio, 1994). They provide inspirational motivation (TLim) by giving meaning
to work, encouraging pro-social behavior, and emphasizing social goals instead of individual goals.
They also promote intellectual stimulation (TLis) by encouraging innovation and creativity in
approaching old situations in new ways. Transformational leadership is based on the perception of
subordinates, therefore the more that subordinates feel that the leader is a transformational type,
the more that the leader’s vision is ingrained in followers. Emotional intelligence plays a crucial
role here. Leaders with high EI help organizations create and maintain competitive advantage
through increased performance, enhanced innovation, effective use of time and resources, restored
trust, teamwork, and motivation (Goleman, 2000) Transformational leadership theory provides a
model where leaders can develop their skills to coach, mentor, and facilitate in the workplace in
addition to the traditional leadership functions of planning, directing, organizing, and controlling.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as one’s ability to manage and monitor one’s own
emotions; recognize different types of emotions in others; distinguish the difference between one’s
emotions and those of others; and possess the ability to direct information towards one’s decision
making actions (Mayer & Salovey, 1993). In fact, EI has been identified as a real measure for
distinguishing superior leadership skills and abilities (Pool & Cotton, 2004), and in recent years
has become an important topic in social and organizational science (Fineman, 1993; Mayer &
Salovey, 1997). Moreover, the influence of emotional intelligence on popular culture and the
academic community has been rapidly growing (Emmerling & Goleman, 2003). Therefore, the
study of EI has stimulated a great number of research initiatives under a wide range of
psychological patterns that have created a gap between what we know and what we need to know
(Emmerling & Goleman, 2003). In the same way, emotional intelligence has caught the attention
of business leaders and scholars (Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee, 2002); and its concepts are
within an area of interest for executive development consultants (Connor & Mackenzie-Smith,
2003). While technical skills and core competencies are essential for sustainable competitive
advantage, the ability to outperform other organizations largely depends on how employees manage
their relationships with others. In other words, emotional intelligence helps an organization commit
to a basic strategy, build relationships inside and outside that offer competitive advantage, promote
innovation and risk taking, provide a platform to shared learning, maintain balance between the
human and financial side of the company’s agenda, and develop open communication and trust-
building among employees and leaders. Research suggests that leaders possessing EI create a work
climate that further develops EI at the subordinate level (Yammarino & Atwater, 1997). Although
some researchers point out that EI helps in building a successful organization, to date very little has
been done to explain the mechanism through which EI increases work-place effectiveness. More

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precisely, EI is proposed as an antecedent of transformational leadership behaviors. EI enhances

workplace performance by enhancing a leader's transformational leadership behaviors.
The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical model that enables us to understand how
EI relates to leadership. We first present a short background of EI and a definition of EI. Second,
we discuss social information processing theory and goal setting theories in their relevance to EI
and workplace effectiveness. The implications for future research are discussed in the final section.

LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN THE CURRENT MILLENNIUM

Leaders and managers are aware that the current interest in emotional intelligence is its
potential utility in forecasting a range of criterion among different populations (Emmerling &
Goleman, 2003). In the same way, many authors have debated the legitimacy of the emotional
intelligence construct. Lanser (2000) refers in his article to EI as how people who use its principles
find a different way of being smart, allowing leaders to cooperate with followers within circles of
influence. Moreover, the predictive validity of emotional intelligence will likely depend on the
context, criterion of interest, and specific theory used. For instance, traditional measures of
intelligence have not been able to perform in accurate ways for a large portion of the variance in
work performance and career success (Emmerling & Goleman, 2003).
Despite the importance of EI, psychological issues related with EI have led to a great deal
of controversy and debate among people who research and practice principles associated with
emotional intelligence. As goes with any emerging topic, such debate is an inherent part of any
process of theory development and scientific discovery (Emmerling & Goleman, 2003).
Researchers have begun to acknowledge the importance of EI in organizational behavior and
human relations research; however, there has been very little empirical work in analyzing EI and
its effects on workplace issues such as performance, job satisfaction and leadership issues (Rozell,
Pettijohn, & Parker, 2002). Thus, researchers have paid little attention to how EI of leaders enhance
work place effectiveness. Figure 1 presents a proposed framework of EI and work place
effectiveness.

Figure 1 - A proposed framework of emotional intelligence and workplace effectiveness.

Emotional Transformational W orkplace

Intelligence Leadership Effectiveness

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TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS

From a general point of view, leadership is defined as the art, act, or function of going
before or showing the way. In fact, the concept of guiding and stimulating direction is associated
with leadership (Stanley, 2004). Therefore, leaders must understand the current reality. “Leaders
size up the current situation as it really is, not as it used to be or as they would like it to be” (Tichy
& Cohen, 1997). However, effective leadership requires us to know how well we are doing,
thereby, determining a vision for the future constitutes a strategic thinking to develop the ability
to focus on external factors and the people served (Stanley, 2004). In the same way, building a
strong team will also constitute a crucial part in any organization. Strong leaders and managers
know how to encourage strong candidates to apply for specific positions in the firm (Stanley, 2004).
Moreover, Crane (2001) states that coaching skills are also a prerequisite for success and defines
transformational coaching as “the art of assisting people to enhance their effectiveness, in a way
they feel helped.” Therefore, one of the most important skills required for successful coaching is
an accurate use of language and word choices. In the same way, Boverie and Kroth (2001) suggest
that there are three keys to creating passion in the workplace and thereby, stimulating
transformational leadership. These are love of work, meaningful work, and a nurturing workplace.

Love of work

If employees and team members enjoy their jobs, they will become most productive.
Teammates should be enthusiastic in creating a positive atmosphere towards work. Moreover, it
is widely known that people do well when they are placed in jobs for which they are well-suited.

Meaningful work

Employees and team members are aware about the internal communication’s importance
because potential supporters need to hear about all ups und downs institutions do. It just helps to
remind employees why they work so hard. Boverie and Kroth (2001) propose that a nurturing
workplace is a key to creating a caring, understanding, and flexible environment; a concern for the
work, caring for and being considerate of coworkers, respecting employees’ ideas, treating
employees and colleagues as a viable force, and having compassion for human beings. Furthermore,
communicating the organization’s vision must be a very important issue for leaders and managers
because employees must know what the organization’s objectives are to become part in the process
to accomplish the company’s goals (Stanley, 2004). Therefore, resource development professionals
and transformational leaders work to understand their employees’ strengths and weaknesses to
improve communication ways. In the same way, inspiring others to work together to create the new
vision constitutes the framework to recruit and retain strong performers (Stanley, 2004). For

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instance, new workers will always tend to imitate former workers who perform the work in better
ways and have better salaries and benefits; not only because it means a secure job, but also because
they get inspiration from those outstanding workers and have already understood the company’s
vision.
In addition, evaluating and monitoring progress helps to measure the level of work and
level of goal accomplished (Stanley, 2004). But there are limits to evaluation tools. “No form can
accurately capture the warmth experienced when dealing with another person. However, the
outcome of such encounters can be measured. People who are kind and gracious in their dealings
with their constituents garner more support for their organization than those who never learned how
to relate well with other people” (Weinstein, 2002, pp. 319-320). Finally, celebrating victory means
that all of the company’s objectives were accomplished and after all the hard work, nothing can
compare to the exuberance and joy of victory (Stanley, 2004). Therefore, transformational leaders
not only have to maintain the winner teamwork’ success, but also to encourage new goals in order
to create a competitive environment within the organization (Weinstein, 2002). Some research is
directed at associating the transformational / charismatic leadership style of a CEO with some
aspects of emotional intelligence. For instance, research by Sosik and Megerian (1999) suggests
that some aspects of emotional intelligence (self-awareness) moderated the relationship between
transformational leadership style and managerial performance. The impact of an emotionally
intelligent CEO is expected to cascade down to the lower rungs through the CEO’s charisma
The proposed model identifies the factors that build emotional intelligence and highlights
the ways that transformational leadership behaviors promote organizations to become more open
to change and to be more emotionally intelligent.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Transformational leaders have been described as individuals who increase interest among
followers to generate increased confidence, creating an adequate environment in order to
accomplish goals (Gardner & Stough, 2002). In fact, transformational leaders are looking for new
opportunities all the time because effectiveness must be common language among their followers.
Transformational leadership is comprised of the following dimensions: idealized influence,
inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1985).
Moreover, these leaders are willing to demonstrate listening skills to understand people’s demands
related to the work environment, and to propose real solutions to both parties (Rosen & Digh,
2001).
Moreover, Barling et al. (2000) conducted research with 49 managers to evaluate the
relationship between leaders likely to use transformational behaviors and who were high in
emotional intelligence. As a conclusion, researchers found out that transformational leaders were
directly related with followers’ concerns, thereby, better able to understand personal issues. In the

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same way, using the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), Gardner and
Stough (2002) tested 110 senior level managers. The results supported a strong relationship
between EI and the transformational leadership style. On the other hand, a negative relationship
was found between EI and both laissez-faire leaders and transactional leaders because these leaders
were found to be less willing to understand their own personalities and those of others who work
in the same place (Gardner & Stough, 2002).

Figure 2 - A conceptual model of emotional intelligence and workplace effectiveness

Emotional Intelligence Transformational Leadership

Self- Idealized
Awareness Influence

Self- Individualized
Management Consideration
Workplace
Effectiveness
Inspirational (Performance)
Social Motivation
Awareness

Intellectual
Relationship
Management Stimulation

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional Intelligence is a multifaceted construct (Goleman, 2002; Thorndike, 1920)

consisting of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management
(Goleman et al, 2002). Therefore, possessing high levels of EI permits individuals have a closer
understanding of people and their surroundings (Pool & Cotton, 2004).
Wong and Law (2002) seem to agree that emotional labor will always constitute the level
of interest of people to achieve their personal goals. For instance, higher EI is required in
circumstances where emotional labor is more intense (Wong & Law, 2002), such as with advanced

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counseling training and development (Barchard, 2003). However, some authors separate abilities
related to cognitive intelligence from abilities related to traits, thereby, competencies related to
emotional intelligence remains a complex one; all definitions of EI seem to represent a combination
of cognitive and emotional abilities (Cherniss, 2001). Mayer and Salovey (1997) state that to
qualify as an actual intelligence several criteria must be met. First, any intelligence must reflect
actual mental performance rather than preferred behavior patterns, self-esteem, or other specific
traits. Second, the level of intelligence under study should describe a set of related abilities able to
show a different pattern of intelligence; and third, intelligence should develop with age.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to understand what one is feeling and how to direct those
feelings (Gardner & Stough, 2002). Self-awareness also includes being aware of one’s strengths
and limitations in determined circumstances, consequently, self awareness is a main point and
central competency of emotional intelligence (Goleman et al, 2002). In fact, being aware of one’s
strengths and limitations creates a real backbone for controlling emotions, and becoming a better
motivator in any area (Pool & Cotton, 2004). The self-awareness component of EI is important in
that it may have a profound impact on behavioral self-management and on desirable outcomes.
Self-awareness is comprised of three elements: emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment, and
self-confidence. Emotional self-awareness is the ability to recognize one’s emotions and their
effects. People who are high in this construct understand which emotions they are feeling and why;
realize the links between their feelings and what they think, do, and say; recognize how their
feelings affect their performance; and have a guiding awareness of values and goals (Goleman,
1995). Accurate self-assessment is necessary for an individual to have knowledge of his/her own
strengths and limitations. Self-assessment requires openness to candid feedback, new perspectives,
continuous learning, and self-development. People with a high degree of emotional self-awareness
exhibit a sense of humor and perspective about themselves. Self-awareness also includes self-
confidence, which speaks about self-worth and capabilities. Individuals with high self-confidence
can express their feelings, opinions, and viewpoints openly and unhesitatingly. Further, research
has demonstrated that self-confident people are more decisive, and are able to make sound
decisions (Phillips & Gully, 1997).
Self-awareness enables a leader to look at what the ideal situation may be without becoming
concerned with their ego’s and fantasizes. A leader with strong self-awareness feels fulfilled in
his/her own right and is not intimidated by others successes. Followers are allowed, encouraged
even, to take credit and reap the honors of success. Therefore, the leader invokes a strong emotional
bond from the followers that enhances the leader’s charisma (Conger & Kanungo, 1998). Charisma
is a major contributor to a transformational leader’s idealized influence (Bass, 1985). Based on the
above, the following is proposed:

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Proposition 1: Self-awareness is positively related to the idealized influence dimension of

transformational leadership behaviors (Tlii).

Self-Management

Self-management is the ability to use knowledge of self to manage and influence one’s own
emotions (Goleman, et al, 2002). Gaining a greater ability to manage self will increase self-control,
trustworthiness, conscientiousness, motivation, adaptability, and innovation (Rozell, Pettijohn, &
Parker, 2001). Moreover, people with high self-management will make more informed decisions
because they will not be controlled by their emotions, but rather control their emotions (Goleman
et al, 2002). Transformational leadership literature amply demonstrates that self-confidence is one
of the personality characteristics of transformational leaders who strive for changing the status quo
(Howell & Higgins, 1990; Wofford, Goodwin, & Whittington, 1998). Maintaining self-control in
tense situations shows followers that the leader can be trusted to make rational decisions to benefit
the organization and its members. In turn, trust builds affective commitment from followers to the
organization and the leader (Nyhan & Marlowe, 1997).
Another important ingredient of emotional intelligence is self-motivation. Self-motivation
primarily consists of achievement drive, commitment, initiative, and optimism. The achievement
drive of individuals is visible in their striving to improve or meet higher standards of excellence.
Individuals with high achievement drive are result-oriented; as such, they set challenging goals,
take calculated risks, pursue information to reduce uncertainty and find ways to do better, and learn
how to improve their performance (Campion & McClelland, 1991). Transformational leaders
actively seek out opportunities to promote the organizations agenda (Bass, 1985).
Employee commitment is another component of self-motivation. Transformational leaders
help members to find a sense of purpose in the organization’s mission. Highly committed
individuals seek out opportunities to fulfill organizational goals, and indoctrinate the group’s core
values in decision making (Levinson, 2003). Thus, commitment is concerned with the aligning
individual goals with group and organizational goals. The initiative of individuals is represented
by their readiness to act on available opportunities. Employees with high initiative seize
opportunities and pursue goals beyond what is required or expected of them. Often, they cut
through bureaucratic red tape and become flexible in bending rules to get the job done. Finally,
optimism is concerned with persistence in pursuing goals despite setbacks and obstacles.
Persistence is a motivational mechanism for pursuing goals (Locke et al., 1981). Optimistic
individuals operate from the “hope of success” rather than the “fear of failure,” and perceive
setbacks as manageable circumstances rather than personal flaws. In summary, self-management
emphasizes the “discovery of appropriate task strategies” (Locke & Latham, 1991: 234), and
facilitates acquisition and maintenance of complex skills for enhancing interpersonal
communication (Gist, Stevens & Bavetta, 1990). As a leader is goal directed, self-motivation is
important in achieving goals. Based on the above, the following are proposed:

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Proposition 2a: Self-management is positively related to the idealized influence dimension of

transformational leadership behaviors (Tlii).

Proposition 2b: Self-management is positively related to the individualized consideration

dimension of transformational leadership behaviors (Tlic).

Social-Awareness

The social-awareness dimension of EI states that a heightened state of awareness in leaders

is needed to understand both the situation and the followers’ level of comprehension (Hersey,
Blanchard, & Johnson, 1996). Once the leader understands his/her own vision and values for the
organization, they need to convey the vision and values to the other members (Goleman et al,
2002). At the heart of social awareness is empathy. A major component of transformational
leadership behaviors is the ability to emphasize with followers (Bass, 1995). Empathetic leaders
can sense when the organizational vision and personal values are being received by other
individuals. By understanding how individuals are receiving and responding to the leaders’
messages, the leaders can change their behaviors to encourage and support followers’ positive
behaviors. The leader can put forth an understanding and supportive front to the follower to
mitigate the follower’s actions. For example, the leader will be able to approach the follower in
order to assure them that everything is all right; therefore, there is no need to get too excited or
overwrought about some situation. Alternatively, a leader that lacks empathy may be perceived as
uncaring or uninterested to the needs of the follower.
The socially aware leader can also relate to diverse cultures in the workplace. Individuals
of different cultural, ethnic, political, and religious orientations may not be able to communicate
their needs and desires verbally. The socially aware leader can recognize the needs of others and
respond accordingly. When the others are customers or suppliers, the leader exhibits a greater
service or customer orientation. Within the organization, the leader with greater empathy can
recognize and respond to networks that can be used to enhance corporate goals and values. The
empathetic leader also recognizes the tacit relationships of members and can respond accordingly
(Goleman et al, 2002). A socially aware leader will exhibit more empathy towards followers,
therefore we propose that:

Proposition 3: Social awareness is positively related to the individualized consideration

dimension of transformational leadership behaviors (Tlic).

Relationship Management

Another important component of EI is relationship management. Relationship-management

includes interpersonal and social skills, such as providing inspiration, having influence, possessing
the abilities to develop others, acting as a catalyst for change, managing conflict, and encouraging

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teamwork and collaboration (Rozell et al, 2001). Just as self-awareness is related to the
intrapersonal intelligence of an individual, empathy and handling relationships are related to
interpersonal intelligence. As pointed out previously, intra-personal and inter-personal intelligence
are essentially two dimensions of social intelligence. Relationship management deals with handling
or managing emotions in others, and therefore requires social competence and social skills on the
part of individuals (Goleman et al. 2002). Transformational leaders are highly skilled in
relationship management and strive to develop others while creating synergy in workgroups.
Sometimes relationship management calls for using ‘influence’, i.e. wielding effective tactics for
persuasion. For example, leaders may use complex strategies such as indirect influence to build
consensus and support, or orchestrate dramatic events to make a point effectively (Goleman, 1995).
Followers that perceive that they are being developed to be more involved with the organization
may develop a felt obligation to the organization and be motivated to perform at higher levels than
they were before being included in the organization structures. Relationship management, when
applied to leadership studies, promotes positive affect in followers, resulting in broader levels of
thinking and enhanced capacity for self-learning (Bass, 1998; Greenspan, 1989).
Often leaders use relationship management to negotiate and resolve disagreements and to
orchestrate win-win solutions. They register emotional cues in attuning their message, seek mutual
understanding, welcome information sharing, and deal with difficult issues tactfully. One
outstanding feature of good relationship managers is that they are receptive to both bad and good
news. Because they are effective in sending clear and convincing messages, they provide goal
clarity and clear communication. Goal clarity and clear communication change an individual’s
attitude toward work. This is especially important to creating an intellectually stimulated
atmosphere in the workplace. For example, a transformational leader encourages creativity and
innovative solutions from followers. Innovative and creative solutions that challenge the status quo
are inherently unstable. Followers may not feel comfortable in trying new procedures or processes,
therefore having a leader that seems to understand their dilemma and addresses the possible
outcomes with them gives them confidence in their abilities. Research has demonstrated that the
individual’s predisposition towards effectively handling interpersonal relationships makes him/her
use emotionally expressive language and non-verbal cues associated with transformational
leadership (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997). Social intelligence theory is based on the concept that
individuals have an ability to be creative and imaginative (BarOn & Parker, 2000). The
transformational leader stimulates followers to be creative and innovative in finding solutions to
everyday problems (Bass, 1985)
The transformational leader seeks to inspire followers through creating collaborative
networks and developing followers to be creative and innovative. The leader encourages followers
to challenge the old conventional ways of doing business and take up creative and innovative ideas
(Conger & Kanungo, 1998). Based on the above arguments, the following are proposed:

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Proposition 4a: Relationship management is positively related to the inspirational motivation

dimension of transformational leadership behaviors (Tlim).

Proposition 4b: Relationship management is positively related to the intellectual stimulation

dimension of transformational leadership behaviors (Tlis).

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH ISSUES AND FUTURE DIRECTION

This paper presents a conceptual model of emotional intelligence, explaining how a set of
skills hypothesized to contribute to the accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in oneself and
in others, would increase the workplace effectiveness of an employee through it’s effect on
emotional stress and personal attitudes towards work. Although traditionally job satisfaction and
commitment were considered as attitudes of employees at work, in the present model we tried to
show the change in attitudes as a result of goal clarity and interpersonal communication. Thirdly,
there could be some moderating variables influencing the impact of emotional intelligence. The
type of organizational unit, age, gender differences, educational background, leader member
exchange quality, work-family conflicts, and organizational support programs influencing the goal
clarity and interpersonal communication could all influence both stress and the personal attitudes
of employees at work. Finally, the present model has some practical implications for organizations.
Recognizing the importance of emotional intelligence, many organizations are providing training
programs referred to as emotional competence training. Goleman (1995) has explicitly provided
some useful guidelines for effective social and emotional learning in a phase-wise analysis (running
from preparation phase, training phase, transfer and maintenance phase, and evaluation phase)
based on the assumption that it is possible to help people of any age to become more emotionally
intelligent at work. Just as there is some skepticism that emotional competencies are the result of
habits learned early in life (DeBono & Snyder, 1995) there is controversy about whether emotional
competence can be taught or learned through training. Goleman (1995) argues that one must
unlearn old habits and then develop new ones. This may sound like a bitter pill to swallow, but
emotional learning inevitably involves ways of thinking and acting that are central to an
individual’s identity.

CONCLUSIONS

There have been several theories associated with the emotional intelligence’s knowledge,
each theory represents a unique set of constructs that represents the theoretical orientation and
context in which authors have developed their theory, all have a common desire to understand and
measure the skills related to recognizing and regulating emotions in ourselves and others (Goleman,
2001). Ciarrochi, Chan, and Caputi (2000) state that although definitions may vary within the field

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of emotional intelligence, they will become complementary rather than contradictory. They also
agree that all these theories related within the field of EI seek to understand how human beings
perceive, comprehend, and work with emotions in order to achieve goals.
Furthermore, emotional intelligence is gaining legitimacy due to studies that support its
theories as a valid construct. In fact, in the current millennium there will exist a very competitive
environment not only within boundaries but also in a global market. Investigators are eager to
obtain answers to how leaders can be more successful in an ever changing business environment.
Moreover, leaders who want to improve their knowledge of EI must begin with an accurate analysis
of one’s self awareness because it constitutes the main basis that supports EI theories. Therefore,
executive coaches have found success in those organizations that have seen in EI the back bone in
total organization (Sohmer, 2000).
In short, organizations that choose EI as a real framework to achieve goals will get returns
on their investment. The more comprehensive skill sets a leader uses, the better environment to
work will be created, thereby, benefits will also appear as a real consequence. Employees not only
will be happy to share their own emotions, but also to contribute their best effort to accomplish the
company’s objectives. The interest in emotional intelligence has been escalating since 1990. We
have attempted to provide a conceptual model linking the ingredients of emotional intelligence,
social information processing, and goal setting theories in influencing the work place effectiveness
outcomes. Providing such linkages is essential if the field is to integrate knowledge across topical
areas of organizational behavior and human relations.
Moreover, we strongly believe that this effort can only succeed if theorists and researchers
are willing to test notions that include constructs of emotional intelligence at the individual, group,
and organizational level. We urge the researchers not to discard the concept of emotional
intelligence as a management fashion or fad (Abrahamson, 1996). Since the empirical work in the
field of emotional intelligence is in the embryonic stage, many gray areas must be explored before
additional models are proposed or present models are extended. The present paper is a modest
move in the direction of initiating a conceptual platform for studying the process of how emotional
intelligence affects organizations. The model also contrasts methods of promoting emotional
intelligence in organizations, i.e. the development of emotional intelligence through training
programs versus the selection of very emotionally intelligent organizational leaders who model
emotional competence and continue to implement a similar selection process vertically downwards.

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