| Police leaders must often balance the conflicting values and needs of their organizational members and the communities they serve, in a constantly evolving and uncertain environment. This problem is exacerbated by the concept that ineffective leaders may tend to hold overly favorable views of themselves (Kruger & Dunning, 1999) and therefore may not comprehend the true level of their leadership abilities. The correlation between Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership were investigated in this quantitative study of police leaders. The final research sample was composed of 91 police leaders from three police departments in the United States. An emotional intelligence score for each police leader was obtained by administering the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-I 2.0). These leaders also completed the self-rater form of the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). A mean transformational score along with leader effectiveness scores were then calculated for each leader. Each leader was also rated by followers, peers, and/or subordinates, at least three of whom completed the rater form of the MLQ 5X. The self-transformational and rater transformational scores were then compared to each other. The correlation between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership was positive, Pearson's r (91) = .57, p ≤ .05. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess if the independent variables (Transformational Leadership (TFL) - self-rating and EI) predicted the dependent variable (leader effectiveness as determined by the leadership outcome scores - Generates Extra Effort, Is Productive, and Generates Satisfaction). EI and TFL were able to account for 55% of the variance in Generates Extra Effort F(2, 87) = 54.00, p < .001, R2 = 0.55; 36% of the variance in Is Productive F(2, 87) = 24.37, p < .001, R 2 = 0.36; and 38% of the variance in Generates Satisfaction F(2, 87) = 26.79, p < .001, R 2 = 0.38. The relationship between self, peer, supervisor, and subordinate transformational leadership ratings was analyzed. The correlation between Transformational Leadership self-rating and Transformational Leadership Subordinate rating was positive, Pearson's r (91) = .40, p ≤ .017. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that future leadership training programs should be developed to educate police leaders on Emotional Intelligence and Transformational leadership behaviors. |
