Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

 Emotion: As noted in Goleman (1995), Oxford English Dictionary defined
emotion as “any agitation or disturbance of mind, feeling, passion; any vehement
or excited mental state” (Goleman, 1995, p. 289).
 Emotional Intelligence: A convergence of learned abilities that facilitate (a) the
accurate knowledge and value of self, as well as responsible actions based on
personal worth and dignity; (b) a variety of strong, healthy relationships; (c) the
ability to work well with others; and (d) productive reactions to the demands and
pressures of everyday life and work (Nelson & Low, 2011).
 Experiential Learning: Acquired knowledge of being through active
participation (Heron, 2009) between the participant’s inner self and the
environment (Beard & Wilson, 2006).
 Intelligence: According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), the most often cited
definition stems from Wechsler (1958): “Intelligence is the aggregate or global
capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal
effectively with the environment” (Wechsler, 1958; cited in Salovey & Mayer,
1990, p. 187).
 Leader Development: Entails expanding the person’s capacity to be effective in
leadership roles and processes. Leader development is usually concentrated at the
individual level of analysis (McCauley and Van Velsor, 2004).
 Leadership: “Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and
agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating
individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” (Yukl, 2010, p.
8).