Leadership and Management Report: Reflecting on Emotional Intelligence

This report examines the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) within the context of leadership and management. It begins with a practical self-reflection exercise, including a SWOT analysis of the student's own EI strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report then delves into a case study, analyzing a scenario involving a store manager and providing recommendations on how to respond to the manager's behavior using EI principles. It explores strategies for handling diverse workforces, addressing potential misinterpretations due to cultural differences, and supporting employees who may not readily participate in teamwork. The report emphasizes the relationship between EI and business objectives, highlighting how emotionally effective individuals foster supportive work environments, manage conflicts, and drive positive change. It concludes by discussing the importance of proactive policies and procedures to manage emotions in the workplace, including the role of legislation and training in promoting a safe and productive work environment. The report also includes a comprehensive list of references.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Leadership and Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Contents
Task1: Practical: Reflect on your Emotional Intelligence...............................................................2
Task 1: Question 1.......................................................................................................................2
Task 2 Theory & Practical –Response to Emotional Intelligence-Case Study...............................3
Task 2: Question 1...........................................................................................................................3
Task 2: Question 2...........................................................................................................................4
Task 2: Question 3...........................................................................................................................5
Task 2: Question 4...........................................................................................................................6
Reference Lists................................................................................................................................8

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Task1: Practical: Reflect on your Emotional Intelligence
Task 1: Question 1
1a) SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength I can demonstrate emotional intelligence in
most situations and can handle critical situation
effectively.
Weakness I tend to demonstrate negative emotions in
workplace in situation like inequality,
stereotyping based on ethnicity etc.
Opportunities My emotional intelligence will make me good
for team-work.
Threats At times external situations trigger negative
emotions within me
2) Instances where I have felt stressed or experienced a negative emotional state at work
I experienced stress at work because of the communication barrier that existed in our
team. I responded to this situation by creating an open model of communication among team
members. I experienced a negative emotional state at work when I was stereotyped by one of my
team members who belonged to a different cultural background. I responded to the situation by
discussing with my team leader the problem and asking my team leader to introduce more

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cultural programs within the team. Another instance where I felt stressed is when I realized that
the compensation in my organization was based on seniority and not on merit and performance.
3) My personal emotional state is triggered when team-members engage in unethical
behavior like stereotyping bases on cultural diversity. My emotional state is also triggered when
team members adopt unfair means to enhance performance and engages in unhealthy
competition within the team.
4) I demonstrated positive workplace behavior when my team-member stereotyped me
because of cultural difference. I did not get adversely affection by this discrimination but
understood the cultural barrier that is the cause of the situation. In the cultural event, I introduced
my team-member to my culture through effective story-telling and skit performance. This is an
example of workplace behavior that was emulated by others.
5) I will improve my emotional intelligence by being empathetic to others. I will enhance
my emotional intelligence by controlling my negative emotions like stress and anxiety. I will
improve my emotional intelligence by increasing my emotional conscientiousness.
Task 2 Theory & Practical –Response to Emotional Intelligence-Case Study
Task 2: Question 1
 The best way to respond to the behavior of Store Manager is to absorb his negative
energy. Emotional Intelligence can be displayed in this situation and positive leadership
behavior can be modeled. For instance, I would be empathetic to the emotions of Store
manager because she had a stressful month due to shortage in sales revenue of Timber
and Plumbing & Electrical departments.

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I would provide psychological support to the managers who decided to leave the
organization. I would speak personally to the sales staff to boost their morale in this
critical situation. Thus, I could model positive leadership behavior.
 The principles of emotional intelligence stress emphasis on empathy, motivation and
social skills. 1In order to manage emotions effective, an individual should control
negative emotions like anger and should be able to recognize and empathize with
emotions of others. The store manager shouted at the department managers of Timber and
Plumbing & Electrical departments and asked them to enhance revenue. The store
manager should have understood that marketing and distributions innovation in the head
office can help the organization to counter threats of competition from smaller trade
suppliers. The store manager did not realize that forcing unnecessary sales targets on the
staffs and managers will create an environment of insecurity and negativity.
 The store manager should have communicated with the head office to develop innovative
ways of marketing and distribution. The marketing department of organizations plays an
instrumental role in increasing the footfalls of a store. Thus, if footfalls increase, the sales
target will automatically be achieved. The store manager should have discussed the
negative situation of the organization in a constructive manner with department managers
instead of yelling at them. She should have asked the department manager to
psychologically support the sales staff to achieve sales target.
1 Sadri, Golnaz. "Emotional intelligence and leadership development." Public Personnel
Management 41, no. 3 (2012): 535-548.

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 The behavior of the store manager can be connected with the store morale. The store
manager is the leader of the store and the department mangers and sales staff expects
positive leadership qualities from her. In this case, the obnoxious behavior of the store
manager created a negative ambience and adversely affected the morale of the store. 2
In this case, the behavior of the store manager imposed unreasonable sales target
on department manager and sales staff. The department managers wanted to quit from the
organization and lower level staffs in store were anxious about their job security.
However, if the store manager could have displayed positive leadership qualities, the
store performance could have increased. 3
Task 2: Question 2
 In a diverse workforce, behavior or expression is often misinterpreted. For instance, in
the Eastern culture, the communication style is subtle and indirect while the Western
2 Cavazotte, Flavia, Valter Moreno, and Mateus Hickmann. "Effects of leader intelligence,
personality and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and managerial
performance." The Leadership Quarterly 23, no. 3 (2012): 443-455.
3 Brunetto, Yvonne, Stephen TT Teo, Kate Shacklock, and Rod Farr‐Wharton. "Emotional
intelligence, job satisfaction, well‐being and engagement: explaining organisational commitment
and turnover intentions in policing." Human Resource Management Journal 22, no. 4 (2012):
428-441.

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culture prefers a direct and open communication style.4 In the Easter culture, behavior is
guided by respect towards seniority while in the West the behavior is individualistic, for
instance, compensation is merit-based.5
 I will explain to the employee that values, attitudes and behavior at workplace is often
influenced by the culture we belong. I will explain to the employee that the lady who
does not participate in social gatherings or discuss about families, movies and culture
6belongs to a conservative and religious culture. The culture in many countries is against
openness and the conservative cultural background of the lady refrain her from drinking
and not divulging personal information at workplace.
 Teams can conduct cultural programs like performance of creative art like dancing,
singing and drama to create awareness about diverse culture. Teams can celebrate a
cultural day once in a quarter where each team member can display the specialty of each
culture, for instance, team members can wear traditional outfits on cultural day.
Task 2: Question 3
4 Banks, James A. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge, 2015.
5 Goleman, Daniel, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. Primal leadership: Unleashing the
power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press, 2013.
6 Banks, James A. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge, 2015.

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 I will identify how the employee feels by setting aside my own emotions by being
empathetic towards the employee. I will try to study the attitudes, values, past
experiences and personality traits of the employee, it can happen that the employee is
highly introverted in nature and is an individual performer. Also, I will talk personally to
the employee to understand if he is going through any personal turmoil that is prohibiting
him from participating in team-work.
 The knowledge about learning styles, personality types and communication styles has
helped me to understand the employee better. Personality types can be linked with team-
work. 7People who are introverted and scores low on emotional conscientiousness often
do not turn out to be a good team player. In some culture, communication style is
indirect, subtle and conservative which can affect team-work.
o My Needs
 I will personally talk to the employee who is acting as a barrier in team-training sessions
so that the behavior of the employee does not affect other employees. This personal face-
to-face session will help me understand the deep-rooted psychological cause which is
acting as a barrier for the participation of the employee in team-buildings sessions. I will
then conduct motivational sessions for the employee to overcome this barrier. My
personal needs for team cohesiveness and performance standards will be met once I
7 Zeidner, Moshe, Gerald Matthews, and Richard D. Roberts. What we know about emotional
intelligence: How it affects learning, work, relationships, and our mental health. MIT press,
2012.

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overcome the resistance to build team-cohesiveness. I will ensure that team bonding is
not perturbed because of one single employee.8
o Employee’s Needs
 I will continue with my efforts to build a cohesive team. This will be possible once the
employee who is not cooperating in team-building sessions starts to co-operate after
providing psychological support to the employee. The other team members who feel
suffocating and want to work individually because of this employee will be pacified by
this approach. True emotional intelligence will help me to empathize with the employee
who takes no interest in team-building sessions as well as I can display emotional
intelligence by protecting the interests of the other team members who enjoy working in a
team environment.9
Task 2: Question 4
 There is a strong relationship between emotionally effective people and their ability to
attain business objectives10. Emotionally effective people can foster a supportive work-
environment because they can manage their own emotions as well as recognize with
8 Ciarrochi, Joseph, and John D. Mayer. Applying emotional intelligence: A practitioner's guide.
Psychology Press, 2013.
9 Burrus, Jeremy, Anthony Betancourt, Steven Holtzman, Jennifer Minsky, Carolyn MacCann,
and Richard D. Roberts. "Emotional intelligence relates to well‐being: Evidence from the
Situational Judgment Test of Emotional Management." Applied Psychology: Health and Well
‐
Being 4, no. 2 (2012): 151-166.

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emotions of others.11 Emotionally effective people demonstrate self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness as well as they are effective in relationship management.
They can attain business objectives by their proactive nature, by effective conflict
management skills and by their ability to act as a change agent.
 The emotional impact of decision making can result in better decision making in terms of
business objectives. This is because when emotions are managed effectively, there is
better management of conflicts. Teams feel motivated and stay focuses to attain business
objectives when they feel emotionally boosted and motivated.12
 In this case, the emotional impact of decision making is clearly reflected. Though some
performance targets are increased but this is done only where capacity exists. Though
some training programs for staffs of Wollongong store are delayed to attain business
objectives but it is ensured that health, wellbeing and safety of the staffs are taken care of.
10 Joseph, Dana L., Jing Jin, Daniel A. Newman, and Ernest H. O’Boyle. "Why does self-
reported emotional intelligence predict job performance? A meta-analytic investigation of mixed
EI." (2015): 298.
11 Farh, Crystal IC, Myeong-Gu Seo, and Paul E. Tesluk. "Emotional intelligence, teamwork
effectiveness, and job performance: the moderating role of job context." Journal of Applied
Psychology 97, no. 4 (2012): 890.
12 Druskat, Vanessa Urch, Gerald Mount, and Fabio Sala. Linking emotional intelligence and
performance at work: Current research evidence with individuals and groups. Psychology Press,
2013.

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Thus this process of decision making has a balance between practicality and factors of
emotional intelligence.
 Emotions can be managed in the workplace by following certain proactive legislation,
policies and procedures. For instance, issues that trigger emotional reaction at workplace
can be noted, an effective communication strategy should be develop, face-to-face
meetings should be conducted and company policies related to workplace violence or
discrimination should be reviewed, conflicts should be managed well and orientation and
leadership training should be conducted. 13
 OHS/WHS legislation ensures to minimize risk, fosters co-operation at workplace and
ensures to secure the health, security and safety of workers. Thus this legislation has
relevance in implementation of business decisions.14
Reference Lists
Archer, Richard John, Kerry Borthwick, Michelle Travers, and Leo Ruschena. WHS: A
management guide. Cengage Learning, 2012.
13 Goleman, Daniel, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. Primal leadership: Unleashing the
power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press, 2013.
14 Archer, Richard John, Kerry Borthwick, Michelle Travers, and Leo Ruschena. WHS: A
management guide. Cengage Learning, 2012.

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Banks, James A. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge, 2015.
Brunetto, Yvonne, Stephen TT Teo, Kate Shacklock, and Rod Farr‐Wharton. "Emotional
intelligence, job satisfaction, well‐being and engagement: explaining organisational commitment
and turnover intentions in policing." Human Resource Management Journal 22, no. 4 (2012):
428-441.
Burrus, Jeremy, Anthony Betancourt, Steven Holtzman, Jennifer Minsky, Carolyn MacCann, and
Richard D. Roberts. "Emotional intelligence relates to well‐being: Evidence from the Situational
Judgment Test of Emotional Management." Applied Psychology: Health and Well
‐Being 4, no. 2
(2012): 151-166.
Cavazotte, Flavia, Valter Moreno, and Mateus Hickmann. "Effects of leader intelligence,
personality and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and managerial
performance." The Leadership Quarterly 23, no. 3 (2012): 443-455.
Ciarrochi, Joseph, and John D. Mayer. Applying emotional intelligence: A practitioner's guide.
Psychology Press, 2013.
Druskat, Vanessa Urch, Gerald Mount, and Fabio Sala. Linking emotional intelligence and
performance at work: Current research evidence with individuals and groups. Psychology Press,
2013.
Farh, Crystal IC, Myeong-Gu Seo, and Paul E. Tesluk. "Emotional intelligence, teamwork
effectiveness, and job performance: the moderating role of job context." Journal of Applied
Psychology 97, no. 4 (2012): 890.