Transformational Leadership
Transformational Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
All individuals who aspire to become great transformational leaders must master their own emotions. After all, would you want to follow someone who has anger management problems?
Effective transformational leaders understand how another will respond to a persuasive or motivational attempt. And when they do not correctly anticpate, they have enough empathy to adjust.
One might say this this theory is a correction for the assumption made in business schools that humans are rationally. If fact, this is a key assumption underlying the dominant theories held by the field of economics.
Transformational leaders cannot assume logic and rationale in responding to change, one will have to deal with illogic and negative emotions. And so, the importance of being high on emotional intelligence.
Five Elements of Emotional Intelligence
Technically, emotional intelligence is not about leadership. The Emotional Intelligence approach stresses five developmental areas:
a. Self-regulation
b. Social Skills
c. Empathy
d. Self-Awareness, and
e. Achievement Motivation
Is Emotional Intelligence Genetic or Learned?
Unlike IQ, it is thought that your EQ can keep growing throughout life—and in some it does. However, since most of us will never be a diplomat, we don’t develop our human relations skills fully. A macho male (or female) will not develop empathy since it’s too “touchy feelly.” And partly lack of growth has to do with inbuilt problems associated with an immature Ego, one symptom of which is low self-awareness and self-discipline. Of course, many of us would like to make self-improvements, but there never seems to have enough energy left over at the end of the day.
Resources
What does a psychologist know about leadership? Quite a lot in this case. Of the many psychologists who wrote in this area is Daniel Goleman. His name is most associated with this concept primarily because of two widely read books he wrote. He has also written a third book on emotional intelligence called, “Primal Leadership.”
A Classic Book on Transformational Leadership
Transformational Leadership, 2nd Edition
by Bernard M. Bass, Ronald E. Riggio
This is a book written from the academic side of view–strong on theory and strong on research. Bass, has developed a very strong reputation as an expert in the area of transformational leadership. You will see his name mentioned from time to time in a number of different blogs and journals.
