We all know the basic definition of intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to learn and use skills, knowledge, and information. We all know highly intelligent people. But do highly intelligent people always make good leaders? The answer to this question is, not always. There are many kinds of intelligence. Some of us have what we call book sense; some of us have common sense. We have even taken people out of the intelligence equation with artificial intelligence.
Many authorities believe that Emotional Intelligence is an important characteristic of all highly effective leaders. You have learned about Emotional Intelligence (EI) in other courses, but in this course, we will discuss it in the context of leadership. Hughes (2022) defines EI as the ability to:
Accurately perceive one’s own and others’ emotions.
Generate emotions to facilitate thought and action.
Accurately understand the causes of emotions and the meanings they convey.
Regulate one’s emotions. (p. 185)
While there are many different definitions and opinions about EI, including how to measure and how to develop EI, we can take all these different notations and work to manage ourselves and our employees more effectively. As leaders, we want to build self-awareness, empathy, and social skills that allow us to communicate, motivate and inspire those people around us.
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