Leadership is based on a complex interaction between the leader and the existing social and circumstantial environment, i.e. the current team and project characteristics. With continuous changes in team and project structure, the leader is expected to modify his/her efforts accordingly in order to ensure efficiency and success. Therefore, leaders find themselves in a never-ending learning experience during which adjustments in leadership style will not only be required, but will have to be sought and actively embraced. Such a constant evolution and progression of one’s leadership style also involves continuous self-assessment in order to evaluate the past and current performance and consequently improve the future leadership potential. The following four paragraphs aim to identify and discuss some of the major benefits that leaders will have when engaging in an honest self-assessment process, but will also highlight typical pitfalls in self-evaluation.
SELF ASSESSMENT CAN IMPROVE EMOTIONAL & SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence in leadership has been described by Prati et al. as “the ability to read and understand others in social contexts, to detect the nuances of emotional reactions, and to utilize such knowledge to influence others through emotional regulation and control” (Prati et al., 2003). Importantly, emotional intelligence also comprises the capability to monitor, understand and regulate ones’ own emotions (Salovey and Mayer, 1990) and evidently overlaps with
The leadership self-assessment above indicates own leadership strengths, specifically interpersonal skills. These skills include verbal and non-verbal communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and assertiveness. As a matter of point, interpersonal skills build strong working relationship among employees, hence, improving efficiency in management. Besides, political skills help to manage the organizational politics and reduce workplace conflicts (Hersey, Ken, and Dewey 15). However, self-assessment indicated some weakness in analytical and drama fairness skills that needs development.
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence outlines five areas essential to achieving a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ): self-awareness, self-regulation, social skill, empathy, and motivation (George, 2015). Possessing a high EQ is invaluable as it allows individuals to connect with others on an interpersonal and emotional level rather than in a strictly intellectual matter. However, EQ and IQ are not mutually exclusive, instead, it is essential for both to be joined together to achieve an optimal level of leadership. Leaders who lack EQ and lead only with their intellect tend to dismiss the opinions of others and dominate decision making (George, 2015). Such leaders have the tendency to surround themselves with subordinates who are complacent and submissive. As a result,
Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be perceptively in tune with emotion to present a sound situational awareness. An emotionally intelligent leader is one who has good management of his emotions through knowing, understanding and responding to the emotions so that he or she exhibits social skills to manage relationships, has social awareness, self-management, empathy, motivation, and self-awareness. In essence, emotionally intelligent leaders understand and manage their emotions along with those of their followers so that they know what they are feeling and how those feelings affect others (Palestini, 2012).
Batool, B. F. (2013) Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 84-94. (Note: Available in the Strayer Library)
In order for someone to be an effective leader, one would have to bestow certain skills and characteristics or some can be obtained over a period of time. Various assessments and questionnaires are designed to measure and give insight on certain skills or traits an individual may have. Some of those assessments include the skills inventory, leadership trait questionnaire, style questionnaire, leadership questionnaire, least preferred coworker, path goal, LMX, and the authentic leadership self-assessment. By conducting these questionnaires and assessments, not
The road to becoming an exceptional leader while rewarding, is one filled with numerous challenges. Developing the necessary skills required in order to successfully lead others is a life-long process. In this paper, I will discuss in details my leadership qualities. I will include results from my Seven Habits Profile, evaluate my strength and weaknesses and adopt leadership theories that will help guide my self-evaluation. In addition, I will analyze proven theories that will help me address skills, weaknesses, and behaviors in my leadership skills. These theories-based changes will help form and guide my set of SMART goals. I will draft a plan for success in my journey towards becoming a great leader.
The “new” leadership driver self-assessment tool was mostly accurate in evaluating my leadership style. I found that the overall scores in the four categories reflected my strengths. The tool also pinpointed specific points regarding my leadership abilities.
Leadership takes on many faces depending on the responsibilities and environments that are available (Rubino, Esparza & Chassiakos, 2014). However, some basic qualities are universal to all effective leaders. Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution skills form part of crucial leadership qualities (Parker, Sakfloske & Stough, 2009). Emotional intelligence, basically, refers to the ability of an individual to understand and interpret emotions effectively. The paper is based on a self-assessment on leadership qualities.
Emotional intelligence is a term I had never heard of before I took my first leadership class. Now that I know what emotional intelligence is and I understand how to use it I hope to apply it to benefit myself and my organizations. I recognize what a huge disadvantage those that do not understand emotional intelligence are faced with. Emotional Intelligence has become a vital part of how today's leaders meet the many various challenges they face on a day to day basis. Emotional Intelligence can help leaders lead their group or organization through the good and the bad times, something that fewer and fewer people seem capable of accomplishing. Lack of emotional intelligence is
"Emotional intelligence enables leaders to deal with their own internal responses, moods, and state of mind. Social intelligence informs how we understand and interact with others. Leaders who have developed emotional and social intelligence are effective because they act in ways that these people around feeling stronger and more capable. Emotionally intelligent leaders motivate and inspire through sharing hope and an optimistic view of the future”. (McKee, et. all, p. 26) As we have learned in reviewing this competency, it’s important to be able to promote teamwork and trust. This competency promotes enhancing relationships; this can be achieved by how you choose to interact with
"Emotional Intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the majority of our daily actions. Research suggests it is responsible for as much as 80% of the "success" in our lives." The Effective leader requires a high degree of Emotional Intelligence. In this study, the various skills of Emotional Intelligence can be related with real situations. The various skills of Emotional Intelligence are Self awareness, self regulation, motivation, Empathy, social skill. People with high self-awareness are also able
“Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage our emotions and those around us, therefore, this quality gives individuals a variety of skills, such as the ability to manage relationships, navigate social networks, influence and inspire others. Every individual possesses different level, but in order for individuals to become effective leaders, they will need a high level of emotional intelligence. In today’s workplace, it has become a highly important
The results of the self-assessments are not consistent. According to the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment, I rated low on self-awareness. This is due to my inability to recognize my strengths and weaknesses. I did, however, rate high on internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. Next, the LMX 7 Questionnaire, I rated high. This questionnaire was given to my supervisor and one of my followers. The results of my Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire, I rated average in all leadership styles. I rated highest in the directive style. The Skills Inventory Assessment resulted in a high score in technical and human skills, and moderate in conceptual skills. Having a moderate score in conceptual skills results in my inability to see the goals of the organization. I should familiarize myself with the organizations aims and objectives and align my goals with theirs. Furthermore, the Leadership Trait Questionnaire scores averaged between a 3 and 4, the highest scores being in dependability and friendly.
Emotional intelligence is an important characteristic in becoming a good leader. “Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage oneself and one's relationships in mature and constructive ways” (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p.137).Being a good leader entails more than just being smart; leaders need to be able to connect to their employees emotionally and empathetically. Organizations today not only look for leaders with the skills, but leaders that can emotionally connect to employees to obtain the organization’s goal. “Leaders have always played a primordial emotional role. No doubt humankind’s original leaders-whether tribal chieftains or shamanesses-earned their place in large part because their leadership was
Leaders today are presented with an ever-increasing reliance on unifying a team or organization to achieve goals and objectives. With this demand for higher-level leaders, the ability through which a leader is able to appeal to specific traits and qualities is never more important. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one area of focus that a leader in the marketplace today must be able to appeal to and demonstrate as a core competency.