Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

Thematic results. This section provides a brief synopsis of the themes that
emerged from this study. The six emergent themes are identified in Table 5.1, below:
Table 5.1

Inductive Themes

Theme Description

1

EI developmental experiences were manifested in different ways,

including through emotion, self-awareness, gender, personality, maturity,

and storytelling. This theme indicated there was no formulaic method for how EI-related experiences appear.

2

EI developmental experiences were socially constructed. Participant EI

experiences were oftentimes contextualized in terms of relating to and connecting with people in a social milieu.

3

Culture influenced EI developmental experiences. For example, organizational cultures were perceived by some participants as enablers or

barriers. Others cited that understanding the culture was integral to

shaping one’s EI.

4

EI experiences were inherent for effective leadership. Some participants

cited EI maturity as a leadership litmus test, and that dealing in EI

contexts is imbedded in how a leader demonstrates the ability to influence

and connect.

5

Developing EI was dependent on experiences such as defining moments

that can occur in an accidental, unplanned nature. Rotational assignments,

being receptive to learning, and experiences that challenged the

participant were notably resonant threads in the interviews.

6

EI experiences were integrated with other aspects of workplace and

personal life. EI is not isolated from the workplace and everrealities. Rather, EI experiences reside at the nexus between personal and yday life

professional settings, and in the pressures executives face in trying to

attain work: life balance.

Upon recursive reflection, the researcher concluded that these themes were not
mutually exclusive. This presented an opportunity to decide how to reconfigure the
themes into synthesized patterns representing this study’s overarching findings. Five of
the six themes were realigned into three patterns, to represent the quintessential