preview

Essay about The Development of Emotional Intelligence

Decent Essays

DEVELOPMENT OF EI
The development of Emotional Intelligence requires a recognition of one's own strengths and limitations, an exploration of how current decisions are framed through beliefs and prior experiences, and the actualisation of potential by using the greater self knowledge gained. However, in a report by the Institute of Management (2002) research showed that the quality of leadership in the workplace was poor. Further, the research reinforces a positive relationship between financial turnover and the priority given to leadership development (Institute of Management, 2002). Fifty-five percent of those questioned gave the characteristic of being inspiring as the most important attribute of leadership, but only eleven percent say …show more content…

Leadership's underlying constructs are inspiration and individualised consideration, entailing shifts in the beliefs, needs and values of the followers (Fiedler, 1996). The transforming leaders' behaviours emanate from deeply held beliefs and values, such as justice and integrity (Fiedler, 1996). Fiedler (1996) argues that past research into leadership has been focused on traits and abilities, and that the most important lesson over the past forty years is that the leadership of groups and organisations is a highly complex interaction between the individual and the social and task environment. Therefore, it could be argued that Leadership research has overlooked Leadership being a social process. How well the leader's particular style, abilities, and background contribute to performance is largely contingent on the control and influence the leadership situation provides. As Feidler (1996) states, if leadership was easy to understand, we would have all the answers long before now. The leadership processes are highly complex.
This principle still has to be translated into practice. Fiedler (1996) goes on to say "we cannot make leaders more intelligent or more creative, but we can design situations that allow leaders to utilise their intellectual abilities, expertise and experience more effectively. In this highly competitive age, this is likely to be of considerable practical importance." Nevertheless, as Goleman (2000) argues, effective leadership still

Get Access