Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

itself so that we may see with new eyes in a naïve and completely open manner”
(Moustakas, 1994, p. 86). In addition, the Moustakas (1994) technique of
horizontalization – according equal weight to study participant statements – was used.
This study endeavored to answer the research question: What are the experiences
of effective Federal government leaders in developing their emotional intelligence? The
intent was to give the utmost priority to the voices of study participants, in order to
discover and understand the phenomenon of leaders developing their EI. Discerning the
essence of a phenomenon is the foundation for conducting a phenomenological study
(Cresswell, 2007). To achieve the research purpose, 11 participants were interviewed.
Member checks, peer reviews, coding techniques, and multiple, recursive analytical
cycles were used to bolster the study’s validity and trustworthiness (Cresswell, 2007;
Maxwell, 2005; Saldana, 2009).
This study is significant due to the relatively sparse landscape of qualitative
research on leadership and the largely untapped reservoir of research focused on effective
Federal government leadership. (This research void is astonishing, given the Federal
government workforce approximates two million employees.) Perhaps most notably, this
study promotes a greater understanding as to how development fits within EI and
leadership. To that end, this study used the technique of practicing leaders in real-world
contexts which, according to a letter written by Antonakis to Ashkanasy and Dasborough,
is a valid theoretical framework testing methodology (Antonakis, Ashkanasy, &
Dasborough, 2009). It also promotes the EI: leadership alignment called for by
Antonakis, Ashkanasy, and Dasborough (2009).