LITERATURE REVIEW.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
Emotional intelligence shows positive correlation with the transformational leadership style
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1LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Also referred to as emotional leadership, emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the
capacity of individuals to identify their own feelings, as well as that of others, while
discerning between varied emotions, and labelling them in an appropriate manner. In other
words, EI is typically used for guiding personal behaviour and thinking, in addition to
managing and/or adjusting emotions for getting adapted to the environment (Collins &
Cooper, 2014). This directly facilitates the accomplishment of personal goals. The concept of
empathy has often been associated with EI in terms of development of a correlation between
people linking their experiences with that of others. According to the trait model, EI
comprises of self-perceived capabilities and behavioural dispositions and is often assessed
through self-report. The mixed model also emphasizes on the fact that EI comprises of an
array of characteristics and skills that are able to drive the performance of leadership
(MacCann, Joseph, Newman & Roberts, 2014). The thesis statement of this essay is that there
exists a positive correlation between EI and transformational leadership. The assignment will
be based on a comprehensive literature review that will establish a correlation between EI and
leadership.
Need for transformational leadership
Leaders are not only required to display core competencies, with the aim of
transforming their juniors, but must also develop sound EI. Hunitie (2016) tried to investigate
the association between transformational leadership and EI by randomly recruiting 250
teachers from Jordan. The researchers also formulated a research model, based on which
there were 4 hypothesised relationships. The researchers subjected the participants to
questionnaires, and measured EI in relation to four different dimensions namely, self-
awareness, social awareness, self-management and relationship management. On analysing
the responses, the researchers suggested that EI brought about a positive impact in several

2LITERATURE REVIEW
aspects of transformational leadership style namely, idealized influence (IDI), intellectual
stimulation (INS), inspirational motivation (INM), and individualized consideration (INC).
One significant strength of the study can be accredited to the fact that it postulated that
leaders and managers are not only required to manifest competencies that will allow them to
effectively transform their subordinates, but must also demonstrate a sense of EI and
necessary skills for effective operation. However, presence of small sample size reduced the
validity and generalizability of the results. In addition, restricting the study to schools in
Amman also decreased the representativeness of the results. Hence, the research results were
able to establish EI as a crucial prerequisite for success of transformational leadership. In
other words, EI creates an impact on several aspects of transformational leadership
effectiveness such as, development of collective objectives and formulation of strategies to
attain them, inculcating the significance of knowledge, producing enthusiasm, confidence,
optimism and excitement in an organisation, and adding flexibility to the decision-making
procedures.
The effects of transformational leadership are far-reaching and helps the leaders to
stimulate, care, motivate and inspire each other. While analysing the correlation between EI
and transformational leadership amid nurse managers, an exploratory study found the
presence of a significant positive correlation with outcome measures that focused on
effectiveness, extra-effort, and satisfaction. In addition, it was also postulated that nursing
administrators should seek presence of EI characteristics at the time of nursing manager
recruitment, which in turn would increase effectiveness of the operations (Spano-Szekely,
Griffin, Clavelle & Fitzpatrick, 2016).
Over recent years, the delivery of healthcare services has faced severe criticism in
several countries, owing to the lack of compassion and care, which leads to adverse health
outcomes. According to Nightingale, Spiby, Sheen and Slade (2018) EI among