Emotional Intelligence Essay Example for Free

aflame Intelligence stressThe article titled, The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders, written by Daniel Goleman, emphasizes on the unrestrained word case of lead and discusses various points regarding turned on(p) intelligence in leadership and in concourse in general. There is a clear separation of raw intelligence adept expertise from that of emotional intelligence. It is explained that raw intelligence and technical expertise atomic number 18 the basic skills and capabilities required of a leader, plainly that emotional intelligence is the element that, combine with the basic skills, makes up a successful leader. It implys demonstrating qualities of the heart, in that leaders should be able to connect with people on a human level, in addition to bearing the basic lead skills. Following the discussion of the skeletal frame of emotions, the article describes that there are five main elements of emotional intelligence that are explained in the article, includi ng self-awareness, managing emotions, propel others, demo empathy, and staying connected, which is then proceeded by a discussion of raising your EQ.In the discussion of the anatomy of emotions, the amygdaloid nucleus is said to be a structure in the limbic system that stores emotional memory and perceptions. several(prenominal) of these memories can include being happy, sad, and angry. When a situation occurs, you go back to your emotional memory to accomplish a response or reaction.The first main element of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. In impairment of leading, self-awareness is described as a cap dexterity that allows one to fix and to practice self-confidence and self-assessment. Self-assessment allows you to establish attending and properly assess the natural feelings that occur when faced with situations or decisions as a leader. It is important for a leader to have these natural gut feelings and to appropriately process and incorporate these feelings i nto leadership decisions. In doing so, a leader will possess a sense of self-confidence in their actions and decision making. It is what gives a someone the sense of gallantry in their leadership role.The second element of emotional intelligence is managing emotions, which is explained as the ability to deal with ones own stress and impulsivity,especially in terms of anger, anxiety, and sadness. In doing so, one can pay more attention to situations and decisions that they are faced with as a leader, and less attention on the emotional disturbance that is faced with being rudderless in managing their emotions. By managing your emotions and practicing self-control, leaders can avoid short decision making and will raise improved leadership abilities.The next element described is need others, which involves management and leaders to be able to emotionally motivate and inspire others. Optimism is explained to be an important aspect of motivating others. It is said that the optimist c an deal with setbacks cleanse than the pessimist. In the event of a setback, an optimist leader would be able to overcome the issue and try again, learning from the setback and striving to push forward toward the intention or mission. Whereas the pessimist would give up, demonstrating a lack of ability to motivate their team. The ability to motivate others is a sound quality of emotional intelligence in leadership.Another element described in the article is showing empathy, which is the ability to read emotions of others, and again, connecting with people on a human level. Empathy shows your team a sense of community and that you care about what they are feeling. Often, when empathy is not present, people can feel unappreciated and disconnected, leaving them overwhelmed and belike not at their best performance. It is crucial that leaders stay connected and in tune with their workforce.The sound element is staying connected, which describes the ability to make and maintain a co nnection with your people. A leader should demonstrate a positive presence, and show their keenness and optimistic attitudes as this will reflect on their team and, close likely, will have a direct affect on how their workforce reacts. Expressing these kinds of emotions will surely have an influence on the team. Additionally, this will also contribute to the teams potential and performance, which is always a goal of a manager or leader.The final separate of the article explains the ability to raise your EQ oremotional intelligence. It is the qualities of the heart that make up ones emotional intelligence, and although much of it comes naturally, some can still be taught. It takes desire, dedication, and teach to success amply increase your emotional intelligence.In summary, it is emotional intelligence and the ability to connect with people on a human level, including understanding peoples emotions as well as expressing your own in an appropriate leadership manner, that gives le aders the fully rounded skill set to effectively lead people. Leaders should certainly possess raw intelligence and technical expertise, but more importantly, they must know how to connect with their teams and stay in touch with their emotions, as well as demonstrate positive emotions themselves. Emotional intelligence is something that can be learned, but is also a human ability that can come naturally to m any(prenominal) at a young age. Leaders, in any environment, should understand the importance of emotional intelligence and the effects that it has on themselves, their teams, and the overall performance within their groups.The article titled, pattern Leadership a radical departure from traditional, positional leadership, written by Mitch McCrimmon, discusses the differences of shared or distributed leadership, leaderful organizations, and purpose leadership, while focusing on thought process leadership as a new and emerging leadership style that is shaped differently from t he traditional positional leadership style. There are three main sections of the article, including new leadership, what is thought leadership, and the key characteristics of thought leadership.In discussing _the new leadership_ style of thought leadership, the article explains that, unlike leaderful organizations and shared leadership, thought leadership does not involve the traditional managerial roles that are identified as leaders. Rather, the thought leadership involves mortal innovative employees that demonstrate an ability to challenge a current status or process and provide new ideas to better a project or an organization as a whole.The discussion of _what is thought leadership_ provides insight of the abilities of a thought leader, and describes some skills that thought leaders do not need to possess. A though leader has the abilities to advocate new ideas that merit attention, whether by corporate management, co-workers, customers, and even market industries. An individua l possessing this type of leadership style can be thought of as innovative individual and a thinker. Thought leaders, however, do not need to possess the traditional positional managerial skills, and can even lack the natural leadership skills, such and motivational skills. In fact, thought leaders to not need to oversee projects, be decision-makers, or manage task execution. The new idea can be presented in discussion, argument, and by presentation. It is usually up to a hierarchical management team to actually execute the new idea.The final section consisted of the _key characteristics of thought leadership_, in which some key points are identified. Just to name a few, thought leadership does not always start with management and work shineward. In fact, it can start with employees and move upwardly to a management level. It is not limited to internal sources, and can originate from external sources outside of an organization. Thought leadership is typically not tasked or ident ified as a position in an organization, but is a naturally organic ability. However, in close cases, it requires some ability to influence or move people that the new idea will provide value.In summary, thought leadership differs from the traditional positional leadership, such as shared leadership and leaderful organizations, in that it does not require the typical managerial and leadership skills. It relies on individual innovativeness and the ability to convey your new ideas and convince that your ideas will provide value.Of the two articles summarized, I believe that the article on emotional intelligence was more convincing. I say this because the article on thought leadership was more informational and provided a different outlook on leadership styles and abilities, whereas the article on emotional intelligence pointed out a type of intelligence that is required to be a favorable leader. Emotional intelligence allows us to connect with our emotions, and the emotions of our te ams, which I believe is critical in almost any leadership role where a group of people report to one first-line leader. That one leader should be able to relate to the human senses that drive people, and motivate them as employees and people, as well as sanction them to excel.In my own personal experiences, I have seen an extreme lack of ability in leaders to connect with people and deal with emotions, whether their own emotions or their teams emotions. This has surely led to my perception of incompetence in these particular leaders. In one situation, I had a leader that I felt very complaisant of and very confident in their ability to lead, until one day they showed a moment of breaking down (actually crying in the office) and it left me feeling a poor sense of morale in the organization and the leadership at hand. I think the emotional display was unnecessary and should have been handled privately. In this case, the individual lacked the ability to manage their emotions.With res pect to thought leadership, I have not had any prior excogitation to the topic, but in reading and understanding the article, I believe that I possess some thought leadership abilities. I say this because I often offer new ideas to improve processes and operations. In my most recent job, I came on board and within two weeks, identified several areas that needed improvement and offered ideas to improve these processes. With approval from management, I began to execute these new processes. Understanding that it is not necessarily up the thought leader to actually execute, I was faced with a lack of resources and decided to take the initiative to fully execute.In comparison, I believe that emotional intelligence is required to be a good leader, and a thought leader is not required to be emotionally intelligent however emotional intelligence should be a quality of most leaders. As stated in the Thought Leadership article, emotional intelligence is not essential for thought leadership. () As both aspects of leadership are great abilities to possess, they are not both required to be any particular type of leader. Personally, I believe that as a thought leader can live inanyone, it takes a special ability to be in touch with your emotions and the emotions of the team, an ability that I believe is especially crucial in leading people.REFERENCESGoleman, D. (1998). The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders. _Leader to Leader_, (10), 20-26. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.McCrimmon, M. (2005). Thought leadership a radical departure from traditional, positional leadership. _Management Decision_, 43(7/8), 1064-1070. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.