Ch.5: Emotional Intelligence
This chapter discusses the four elements or components of emotional intelligence. This post discusses EQ and which element is most essential to being an effective leader.
When I was in graduate school for my Marriage and Family Therapy and Community Counseling at JBU, I had an amazing professor that utilized the concept of emotional intelligence. Dr. Gary Oliver came up with the Emotional & Relational Intelligence Questionnaire just a few years prior to me starting the program, which utilized the elements of emotional intelligence. He also used these concepts in various books that he wrote. His desire for his students to increase their emotional intelligence was evident in his lectures, as well as in the many posters in the halls and bathrooms on the campus that discussed EQ and how to increase it. To this day there is not a week that goes by that I haven't mentioned EQ to a client and the importance of it.
When emotional intelligence was brought up in our text, I was excited. I was used to seeing it in counseling and psychology, but understanding the importance in leadership does make perfect sense. The text identified the four components of emotional intelligence as self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management (Daft, 2018).
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When I was in graduate school for my Marriage and Family Therapy and Community Counseling at JBU, I had an amazing professor that utilized the concept of emotional intelligence. Dr. Gary Oliver came up with the Emotional & Relational Intelligence Questionnaire just a few years prior to me starting the program, which utilized the elements of emotional intelligence. He also used these concepts in various books that he wrote. His desire for his students to increase their emotional intelligence was evident in his lectures, as well as in the many posters in the halls and bathrooms on the campus that discussed EQ and how to increase it. To this day there is not a week that goes by that I haven't mentioned EQ to a client and the importance of it.
Dr. Gary Oliver
When emotional intelligence was brought up in our text, I was excited. I was used to seeing it in counseling and psychology, but understanding the importance in leadership does make perfect sense. The text identified the four components of emotional intelligence as self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management (Daft, 2018).
All of these components are very important for leaders and all individuals are capable of increasing in any of these areas if they attempt to do so. I also see these components as being on a continuum, beginning with the component of self-awareness. It's really hard to manage oneself or be socially aware if you're not capable of completing a self-assessment and be aware of your own emotional capabilities and blind spots. Once an individual gets a basic grasp of that themselves then they can work on managing biases and emotional dysregulation. Doing this can increase adaptability and initiative and other self-management traits.
A good self-awareness will lay a foundation for becoming socially aware. This is where leaders utilize empathy, practice "professional intimacy", and understand divergent points of view (Daft, 2018). As these components come together an individual can better grasp the component of relationship management. This is the aspect of EQ where we have the ability to connect to others, build relationships, influence and inspire others, build teamwork, and use their understanding of emotions to inspire change in others (Daft, 2018).
When it comes to which of these elements I consider to be the most essential to being an effective leader, it's not an easy answer. I think they are all equally important components. However, in order to be an effective leader one must be able to successfully manage relationships. So if I had to put more emphasis on one, that would be it. However, I do not believe one can attain that without first increasing the other three elements. So, if you have mastered relationship management, then you have mastered them all, if any elements can be truly mastered at all when it comes to EQ. I think the whole idea and concept of EQ is built on the fact we can always improve ourselves in all of these domains.
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