| Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between leadership skills as reported by one's self and his or her raters, and the emotional intelligence ability among managers. Particular interest was paid to emotional intelligence as it related to leadership effectiveness, success, and derailment.; Managers were pooled from participants enrolled in two leadership development programs at the Center for Creative Leadership. The 103 volunteers took the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT(TM)), an ability measure of emotional intelligence. MSCEIT results were correlated with Benchmarks RTM, a 360-degree measure of leadership skills and abilities. Results revealed a few weak relationships between Benchmarks and the MSCEIT. With two exceptions, when correlations were found, leadership indicated a relation with the Facilitating Thought and Managing Emotions branches of emotional intelligence.; Facilitating Thought is the ability to use emotions to enhance the thought process. This branch indicated correlations predominately by the self rater group. Leadership success behaviors related to this emotional intelligence ability include dealing with resistant employees, being open to input, not blaming others or situations for one's own mistakes, and managing others from different racial or cultural backgrounds. Leadership derailment behaviors associated with this branch include being arrogant or bullying, and not encouraging nor adapting.; Managing Emotions is the ability to be open to emotions and use them judiciously rather than acting without thinking. This branch indicated correlations by the self, boss, peer, and direct report rater groups. Some of the leadership success behaviors related to this emotional intelligence ability include coaching, motivating, listening, finding common ground, and respecting and valuing diverse people. Some leadership derailment behaviors associated with this branch include resisting input, being dictatorial, adopting a bullying style, ordering people around, not motivating others, not adapting to different people, and not using feedback to make behavioral changes.; There are a few weak significant correlations between MSCEIT(TM) and BenchmarksRTM. Where there does appear to be a relationship, the abilities to use emotional and cognitive information, and to act upon that information appropriately, are associated with leadership. |
