| Human service organizations are faced with severe budgetary cutbacks year after year, yet their primary mission is to provide financial benefits, social services, employment, and training services to families who are in need due to their social or economic situation. Since there are many external and internal factors (i.e., government funding, policies, regulations, and procedures) that affect the success of human service organizations, human service leaders are more dependent upon leadership competencies that inspire and motivate their subordinates.; Data for this qualitative study was collected through interviews by the researcher with five human service program managers using Goleman's emotional leadership competence framework as the foundational source for formulating the interview questions. The human service program managers were interviewed in depth to identify their current leadership practices, rank the importance of Goleman's emotional intelligence competencies as they relate to their current leadership practices, and determine the effects of these leadership competencies on the success of their program. Participants were provided with copies of the Minimum Competency Requirements for Program Managers and Goleman's Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Competencies to guide their responses. Data was also collected through the completion of a demographic questionnaire and observations of the participants' behavior, actions, comments, and workplace environments.; The participants did not place equal value on the emotional intelligence domains, however they found relative value on the specific competencies (i.e., communication, empathy, self-confidence, building bonds, developing others, adaptability and team collaboration). There was a consensus that emotional intelligence competencies influenced the success of their programs. Furthermore, there was agreement among the participants that additional leadership competencies (i.e., emotional intelligence) should be added to the minimum requirements for human service program managers, however there were variations in the specific requirements that were deemed appropriate. While the findings of this study recognized the similarities in the expectations of the participants, their variance in opinions substantiate the need for flexibility in implementing and amending the current minimum competency requirements as a comprehensive framework for human service leadership practice. |
