Emotional intelligence and its relationship to academic leadership: An analysis of Brevard Community College

Since the mid-1990s, research on emotional intelligence and its relationship to leadership qualities has become an important research topic. Leaders using an emotional intelligence approach have significantly changed the ideals of how individuals lead and what leadership framework is best suited based on an individual's leadership environment. This research provides an empirical evaluation of whether there is a correlation between the level of emotional intelligence being displayed by members of leadership at the four main campuses of Brevard Community College (BCC), which are Cocoa, Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Titusville, and the subordinate's perception of his or her leadership qualities. The results of this study are based on the administering of the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT V2.0; 2002) to the leaders at the four main campuses of BCC, and the Leadership Practices Inventory Observer (LPIO; Kouzes & Posner; 2003b) to each of the leader's subordinates at the same locations.