Emotional Intelligence Impact on Leadership and Individual Behaviour

This report delves into the multifaceted concept of emotional intelligence (EI) and its profound influence on leadership styles and individual behavior. It begins with a literature review defining EI, exploring its relationship with emotional quotient (EQ), and examining how EI shapes leadership qualities such as self-awareness, self-management, and social skills. The report investigates how EI impacts individual behavior within organizations, emphasizing its role in reducing stress, enhancing performance, and fostering positive interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, the report analyzes leadership dynamics within the defense force, discussing changes and transformations in the military system concerning EI. The analysis includes insights from various researchers like Carless, Goleman, and Batool, providing a comprehensive understanding of the practical implications of EI in leadership and organizational contexts.

Running head: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Literature review:.......................................................................................................................2
1. Emotional intelligence:......................................................................................................2
2. Emotional intelligence and emotional quotient:................................................................3
3. Emotional intelligence influencing Leadership behaviours:...........................................4
4. Emotional intelligence influencing individual behaviour:.................................................6
5. Leadership followed in defence force:...............................................................................8
6. Changes and transformation in military system:................................................................9
References and Bibliography:..................................................................................................12

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Literature review:
1. Emotional intelligence:
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the capability to identify, understand, and manage
emotions in such a manner that will help the leader or person in an effective and positive
manner. It helps the individuals to communicate in a better way with others, reduce the
anxiety or stress in the individual, clear conflicts and improve the relations with others and
also overcome the challenges in life was stated by Carless (2014). He also mentioned that it
is important to maintain its quality in daily life as it strongly influences the personal quality
of an individual by enhancing the qualities like self-control, expertise and skill management,
perseverance. The individuals who have a better EQ have a better capability to work in
groups and adjust with the changes accordingly and flexibly. It helps to monitor the
individual emotions and behaviour and also influence others with this quality. It helps the
person to identify the different types of emotions and label them appropriately. The
individuals are helped with this quality as they can use this quality later on to identify and
judge the emotional truth or reality of any other person. Being leader EQ helps the leader to
understand the reality of the emotion that is said by the subordinates and thus decide how to
take the next steps.
According to Schutte, Malouff and Thorsteinsson (2013) The leaders gets a clarity on the
strengths and weaknesses and thus can make decisions and hire the individuals who can
perform the desiring task to meet the goal. Emotional intelligence is very useful for every
role in the daily life, however, it specially affects the role of a leader and the behavioural
approach of a leader. Emotional intelligence is also termed s social intelligence and it helps
to create an image in the society. It helps to understand the thinking pattern and perception of
an individual in the social and then judge the reality of the reasons. On the other hand Van
Deursen et al., (2015) stated that the actual term of emotional intelligence arrived in the year

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1985 and was described as the faculty of consciousness. It was said that many problems in
the world are suppressed by humans and that can be a real issues for them. The study
approached for the system that instead of suppressing the emotions the individuals can meet
the problems with efficient understanding of emotions. The western civilization was highly
influenced by the thought and they started following this trend in their lifestyle. It is said that
it is impossible to supress the undesirable emotions.
2. Emotional intelligence and emotional quotient:
Carless (2014) stated that if the emotional quotient (EQ) of an individual is developed and
high then they can manage their emotion in a judicious and gentle manner. Thus, EQ has to
be developed by everyone irrespective of their role in work life or personal life. EQ is a
person’s ability to feel and understand the situation and then make judicious decision that will
be beneficial for themselves and others. This key role has to be present in leading roles like
leaders and supervisors as they tackle a few individual working under them and has to
maintain a good relation of understanding with them. Sometimes there is a violence in nature
due to lack of proper WQ in those individuals. Basically people who are sensitive and does
not know how to react has this problem. Emotional awareness is the ability to identify the
feelings and their effects on others. If any individual has this quality then it means they not
only know their own feelings but also others too. They can understand and identify the
problems or issues faced by any other persona and can help them to solve it accordingly.
Self-assessment is knowing the inside feelings of an individual and their resources and
limitations. This includes honesty, real perspective to identify the issue or emotional barriers
faced by others.
Emotional intelligence is defined as a determinant of success of an individual and a
combination of that individual’s talent and skill that understands the emotions and feelings of
themselves and others was mentioned by Castillo et al., (2013). It helps the person to control

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themselves and helps to understand others problem and help them to resolve it. According to
scientists it is said that emotional intelligence is not destiny but pure intelligence quotient
(IQ)that helps the individual to judge and understand the emotional barriers or issues faced by
themselves and others.
According to Goleman IQ was an important but there is no assurance of the skill to
understand someone’s feelings every time. It required various sourcing and data collection
sometimes to encourage individual choices, sort clashes and proper others. He also stated that
self-awareness, social skills, empathy contributes in the EI management process. He claimed
that every individual has their own strength and area to develop. However he has also
specifies that there is a difference between business leadership and army leadership. On the
other hand Bar-On developed the Bar-on model that defines EI as an array of interrelated
social and emotional competencies and behaviour. He mentioned the realms of emotional
functioning’s are perception, interpersonal, decision making, stress management. The test
was used in military system to understand the importance of ESI. The result showed a high
relation between performance among the recruiters and the EI.
3. Emotional intelligence influencing Leadership behaviours:
The behaviour of a leader and emotional intelligence (EI) are contrasting subjects that
might not look severe in general but influence the entire system in a huge scale. Various
researches have suggested that EI highly influences the role of a leader in various ways. The
leaders who have the capability to perceive their own emotions and others emotions will
affect the organization in a positive manner. The leaders must process the information in an
effective manner and judge the information before believing them. The ambiguous
information can often mislead the leader in an organization (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee,
2013). Thus the leaders must make sure that they are analysing the information and then
taking decisions. The attributes that highly affect the leadership role are self-awareness, self-

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management, social skills and awareness. These attributes helps the leaders to process the
data and respond according to the emotional information.
According to Batool (2013)theleadership behaviour has to be very unique and different
from any other role in job field as it determines the role of others working under that
particular individual. The leader has to analyse the data and identify the truth of the data and
then take any further decisions. The leader has to make sure that they are creating a real
perception about the emotion, appraisal and expression of themselves and others. Emotions
can be drawn through various sources like verbal, non-verbal communications, expressions,
and situations. According to few researches it is said that leaders who have an increased self-
awareness are more effective and in inspiring and influencing the subordinates and others.
The author also stated that a person who has the capacity to understand the emotional value
for themselves will also a have a better understanding of others emptions too. Leaders must
have an understanding of the subordinates to create a comforting work environment and deal
with the emotions in the work area.
Goleman(2017) stated that Leaders who has to capability to understand the
subordinates needs and criteria has the advantage of inspiring and influencing the
subordinates needs and expectation in the work place. There can be various challenges faced
by a workerin the work place that has to be met by someone present in that area. The leaders
take up the role to meet the requirement of the workers and assure a well-organized
management system. It is very important for the leader to understand the needs of the
followers and take decision as per the requirements. The followers are completely dependent
on the leader who forms the support structure for the organization. The more a leader
understands that their emotions influences the followers the more they can easily succeed to
reach the followers and resolve their issues. For this they might have to communicate with
the subordinates and try to understand what issues are faced by them. On the other hand

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Batool (2013) stated that for being a good leader in military it is important to maintain a
personality and dignity with the subordinates.
The leaders who has a high emotional understanding will have the ability to anticipate
that how the followers will respond in various situations. Goleman (2017) stated that an EI
leader will always focus on the need and requirement of the followers as well as the
organizations need. They are skilled with the capacity to manage the situation and
maintaining inter-personal relationships with the followers. While the leaders are interacting
with the followers they must understand the requirement of the followers and that must be
reflected in their behaviour.According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2013) the leaders
in an organization has to maintain their emotional intelligence to influence and motivate the
workers or followers and create a better place to work. Thus the importance of EI in
leadership is highly reflected from the study and it is very important to maintain it every
organization.
4.Emotional intelligence influencing individual behaviour:
The effective emotional intelligence reflects the leadership skills of an individual. It
is very important to understand the requirement of the employee or follower in every fields.
The role of the leaders determines the role of the followers.Schutte, Malouff and
Thorsteinsson (2013) state that if the leaders are not adjusting and understanding then there
will be internal chaos and instability in the organization itself. The leaders must make sure
that they are helping the followers to express their views and emotional expressions. It was
stated that the emotional intelligence could predict the potential strategies for the success for
leadership. The reason for failure to be a successful leader are being insensitive, unable to
give their best performance, express their thoughts clearly. According to a study by Chew,
Zain and Hassan (2013) it was seen that the EI in a leader increases as their ranks get higher.

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Schlaerth, Ensari and Christian(2013) stated that the leaders are determined by their
balance in the leadership skills and EI management skills. Various studies have shown the
fact that EI and leadership competency are inter-related. EI includes four main aspects such
as self-awareness, self -management, social-awareness and social management. There were
researches that compared the emotional inventory scores of every participants to the
participants of performance rating. The participant who had a high score on these aspects had
scored high for the test also. Everywhere in researches and studies have concluded that the
leaders who has a high score on EI and leadership performance are showing an increasing
performance in the organization. Chew, Zain and Hassan (2013) has shown the linkage
between the leadership, performance and emotional intelligence are expanded which
concludes to the fact that leaders who has a high score on EI performs better than them
perform who score less than them. Emotional intelligence is a factor that can reduce stress
and is likely to contribute in managing individual performance and also helping others to
meet their emotional challenges or issues.
According to Chew, Zain and Hassan (2013) the leader must assure a solution for
every problem to the followers, however, the leaders themselves has to make sure an
emotional intelligence for themselves first then only they can understand the need for an
emotional understanding for others. The emotional intelligence should be maintained in
every work place as it enhances the following environment in the work place- the employees
are more satisfies with their work life and their performance has that reflection. The
employees persist for a longer period and works with full efficiency. The workers are highly
motivated and encouraged to work. They can adopt the work place changes easily and co-
operate more with the officials. They become highly active while working and has a better
relation with the co-workers as there is complete harmony and peace in the work
environment. It is also stated by Schlaerth, Ensari and Christian (2013) that the leaders

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demonstrate a better organizational behaviour and contributes to the organizations climate in
a more positive manner. There is less work rivalry or competency in the work place and thus
the workers are able to work more efficiently and effectively.The emotional intelligence in
an individual highly affects the entire working system. The leaders influences the followers
and creates a better working place for them. The work place is influenced by the behaviour of
the individuals approach to the followers that determines the work environment of that
particular area.
5.Leadership followed in defence force:
The term leadership is generally termed as an art of influencing human behaviour to
meet the target in a desired manner by the leaders. The leaders are responsible for the success
of the entire organization that might be a group, organization or force trying to achieve a
certain target or mission. The leaders in military force assists the non-military people by
explaining them different posts in the system. It is said by Goleman, Boyatzis and
McKee(2013) that a leader must demonstrate the leadership at lower level with different
group and situations. However,Ciarrochi and Mayer (2013) stated that the military leaders
too are not supposed to express their personal problems and emotional interfere with anyone
in the group or subordinates. In the other hand the followers consider their leader as the
person who will satisfy their requirement and need in the work area and also guide them to
achieve their goals.
The leaders form the backbone of the subordinates and encourages them to achieve
thetarget and meet the goals. Thus the leaders forms a vital part in the military force. The
subordinates follows the guidelines of the leaders and they canachieve the target. According
to Ciarrochi and Mayer (2013) it is stated clearly that leadership in military depends on
various factors. It is also said that the leadership factors of an individual are not only
depended on his behaviour but his way of approach towards the subordinates during a crisis

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period and the way he handles the entire situation and reach the goal. Thus, a good military
leader must know how to handle situation and convince others to meet the crisis and come
out of the bad situation. Therefore a military leader must be able to flaunt his leadership style
and traits in situations which are not in his control. Effective leaders must behave in a manner
that suits their personality and situation. Batool(2013) stated that there are different types of
behaviour expected from a leader at different situation. A good military leader must be able
to succeed his team in the mission with complete efficiency and skills.The effectiveness of
the leaders is measured according to the success or failure of the team in general. The better
strategies the leader brings, the better it is for the team.
Leaders are not only guides to accomplish the mission in the military force but they
are also the teacher for the subordinates. They teach the subordinates how to tactically deal
with the situation, how the handle their fear, how to keep calm and have patience and also
teach them to meet their target from the leaders past experiences was claimed by Karimi et
al., (2014). He also said that the authority of the military comes from the authority of a
leader. The military leaders has to play a very strict and firm role to abide by the general
forms and also motivate the subordinates to follow them for the entire life. The role of a
general leader and a military leader is not same. The military leaders has to maintain the
dignity, authority and personality in their every single step and also motivate the subordinates
to do the same. The traits of a leader that are considered to be the best one are: association
with wise people and being sincere, being trustworthy, being a caring person and taking
responsibility of all the subordinates. Thusit can be said that the military leaders are always
very considering and self -dependent when it comes to perform their role in work life. They
have to maintain a certain dignity and consider the issues of all the subordinates.

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6.Changes and transformation in military system:
As per Sookermany(2013) there are many changes that has occurred in the society and
environment. Among the changes military change is one of the prominent change. In an
institution it is important to identify the mechanism and make required changes. The target of
the institution is not only to give a proper definition for the change but also to give a proper
description for the requirements to make the changes. Few attributes are effected due to
transformational changes: 1) The institution needs to be an expert for the change., 2)
Leadership has to be continued., 3) The other leadership’s specially the senior leadership
must accept the change., 4) Everyone should be aware and accept the changes., and 5) Trials
and experiments must be conducted by the institution (Naveh, 2013).
Sookermany also stated that the military transformation was guided by few rules that helps
them to reorganize the army efficiently. Change is important as leaders must conduct the
present operations and also develop the organization.Leadership is related to evaluation as the
leaders uses these values to identify the constants in the organization thus providing a
stability and direction at uncertain times.Leadership is possible only with team support.
Effective transformational leaders form team to empower themselves with the sense of
responsibility and effort.One of the most difficult aspect in military transformation is to
improve the organization while operating during peace time, war or conflict. The fact
requires a lot of time, resources and people to contribute in the process else the
transformation will not be of any help. They tend to focus on the future and make continuous
changes. A leader focus in future prospects and think beyond the scope for future
improvement. They should not only think for such prospect themselves but also encourage
the subordinates and others to do the same.
Ruffa, Dandeker & Vennesson (2013) claims that managing change is important and
without a competent management the entire process might get out of control. Only leadership

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can access through the many sources of such criteria. Transformational leadership can be a
mixture if the skills such as: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, consideration of the
individual, intellectual stimulation. All these aspects combines to form a better leader and
leadership skills. The leaders must consider these skills for a better performance and utilize
the sources for a productive outcome. It is stated that charisma is an important part of this
kind of leadership. These leaders are the one who are capable of creating perspective on the
followers and then motivate them to reach the desired goal. The second dimension talks about
the inspirational motivation. They leaders are capable of motivating and inspiring the
followers to meet the goal of the organization. If the leaders can express their view point
effectively then they will attain the trust of the followers and that will help them to assist the
followers to meet the goal. The leaders use their EQ not only for motivating the followers but
also to overcome the barriers that comes in between the goal and them. Whereas Chase et al.
(2015) claims thatthe term intellectual stimulation defines the stimulation as leaders
enhancing the intelligence, solving the problems, and helping in critical thinking. It
constructs a primary difference between the two types of leadership which are
transformational and transitional.It is related to EQ as the transformational leaders have to
control their emotion and analyse the reality of the follower’s emotions. The individual
consideration defines the capability to forma supportive environment in the organization
where the leaders pay attention to the needs of individual and find out solution to their issue.
The leaders work as coaches for the individuals and guide them to do their work accordingly.

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References and Bibliography:
Batool, B. F. (2013). Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Journal of Business
Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 84.
Carless, D. (2014). Narrative transformation among military personnel on an adventurous
training and sport course. Qualitative health research, 24(10), 1440-1450.
Castillo, R., Salguero, J. M., Fernández-Berrocal, P., & Balluerka, N. (2013). Effects of an
emotional intelligence intervention on aggression and empathy among
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Chase, M. S., Engstrom, J., Cheung, T. M., Gunness, K. A., Harold, S. W., Puska, S., &
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power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.

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Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the
power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
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