Leadership is as much about the heart as the head. It is emotions that energize followers and motivate them. It is passion that inspires. Followers often match their emotions to the emotion of the leader. It is much like the two tuning forks in high school science. Tap one to get it vibrating and place it near another. Shortly the second will vibrate at the same frequency. The new leader must recognize that emotional resonance is part of effective leadership. Passion recruits passion. Joy recruits joy. Anger may very well recruit anger. A leader who is unable or unwilling to exhibit emotion will be short of followers.
The new leader must be emotionally intelligent. The concept of emotional intelligence was popularized by Daniel Golman based on the pioneering work of Peter Salovey at Yale. Emotions play a role in orchestrating our responses to events. Fear leads to running away from danger which can be a very intelligent thing to do. Anger leads to social or even physical aggression that can be very valuable for survival. Emotions help organize our reactions and, in fact, work in full partnership with thinking. Effective leaders appeal to both the head and the heart.
Salovey believes that emotions actually help us prioritize, by directing attention to options that have higher survival value. Happiness can actually facilitate reasoning and creativity. Changes in mood can signal a need to review what is happening around us. Emotions help us remember and can help us in making judgments. In short, according to Salovey, the notion that thinking is good and feelings are bad is pure nonsense. We need both.
The emotionally intelligent leader is able to recognize and properly identify emotional states in themselves and in others. Those who cannot recognize emotional states in others are very likely to make big mistakes in judgment about people and motivation.
The ability to manage emotion in oneself, by moderating negative emotions and enhancing positive ones, is essential to effective leadership. Leaders who cannot control the experience and expression of anger are condemned to be significantly less effective. Emotionally intelligent leaders can regulate their negative emotions.
Emotional intelligent leaders are capable of empathy. They can appreciate what other people are feeling and identify with those feelings. They can use that understanding to develop strategies for influencing that person in the service of the organization. A lack of empathy renders the leader much less effective. Empathy helps the leader make better judgments.
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyaters and Annie McKee have applied the concept of emotional intelligence in a book entitled Primal Leadership. They say that the emotional task of the leader is primal, or first, and is “…the most important act of leadership.” They make a persuasive argument that, throughout history, leadership is effective because it was emotionally compelling. The new leader recognizes this.
