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Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Leadership in Healthcare

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Course Title: Leadership in a Diverse Society

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Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Leadership in Healthcare

Emotional intelligence (EI) can be defined as the ability of individuals to understand and control their emotions and those of other individuals around them (Peter, 2010). The degree of individuals’ emotional intelligence is measured by the extent to which they can control both their emotions and those of other individuals. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are like to succeed in their tasks. Leaders with low emotional intelligence are likely to shout at their subordinates when under stress while those with high emotional intelligence stay calm and in control to first make an assessment of the situation (Peter, 2010). This skill is important to healthcare leaders for it enables them to effectively manage their team by understanding their emotions through engagement thereby keeping the team motivated. It is essential in conflict resolution where the leader creates workable solutions for difficult issues facing the team (Peter, 2010). this research analyzes the impact of emotional intelligence on the enhancement of effective leadership in healthcare. Emotional intelligence is critical in enhancing effective leadership of healthcare leaders (Goodwin, 2013).

Theories of Emotional Intelligence

Goleman’s EI Performance Theory

The model was proposed by Goleman who suggested that emotional intelligence is a combination of competences and skills which are based on self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship management (Peter, 2010). He suggested that individuals with high emotional intelligence are aware of their emotions, able to control their emotions, adaptable, achievement-oriented, have a positive outlook, influential, empathetic, promote teamwork, manage conflict, inspire their teams, and are aware of their organization. These elements enable leaders to be effective in their leadership. They can build strong teams through their good communication skills, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills.

Bar-On’s EI Competencies Theory

The model suggests that emotional intelligence is an interconnected behavior developed through social and emotional competences (Peter, 2010). Competences affect an individual’s behavior and performance. This model highlights that emotional intelligence is based on stress management, decision-making, interpersonal skills, self-expression, and self-perception. The other aspects proposed are self-regard, independence, assertiveness, awareness of one’s emotions, self-actualization, problem-solving, social responsibility, flexibility, empathy, impulse control, emotional expression, interpersonal relationships, optimism, and stress tolerance. These skills are critical for the success of leaders in the field of healthcare. The skills enable them to effectively manage their teams since the issues that break most teams are conflicts and leaders who are emotionally intelligent are excellent problem solvers.

Emotional Intelligence in Healthcare Leaders

Leaders in the modern healthcare industry are faced by various complexities in their work environment which can easily derail their careers (Goodwin, 2013). It may be difficult for them to only depend on sheer intelligence to help them the anxieties of family as well as patients, regulatory complexities, challenges of diagnosis and finding the best treatment, and financial constraints. This challenging work environment faced by healthcare leaders may result in intent or word misunderstandings, difficulty in determining the impact of actions of both leaders and their subordinates, and issues of organizational culture (Heffernan et al., 2010). Despite facing financial and clinical challenges, healthcare leaders are mostly dominated by interpersonal issues with their colleagues or patients.

Healthcare leaders have two types of skills that are critical for their success, namely; hard and soft skills. Hard skills include the technical skills mostly gained in training. Examples of hard skills include administration skills in facilities management, systems, and financial matters (Tyczkowski et al., 2015). Soft skills, on the other hand, include professionalism, and interpersonal communication skills which are in most cases not formally emphasized extensively in training. Soft skills rely on emotional intelligence and are useful in all professions since they relate to individuals’ personal and social conduct which is useful in job performance (Tyczkowski et al., 2015. Emotional intelligence skills build both individuals’ personal competence as well as social competence which are critical aspects of leadership. Therefore, emotional intelligence skills form a foundation of healthcare leaders’ success both personally and professionally.

I took the emotional intelligence quiz and scored 14 out of possible 20. Results from the El Quiz shows that emotional intelligence can be improved through practice. This means that leaders will improve their emotional intelligence if they keep on practicing and get to higher levels which would improve their effectiveness in leadership further. This can be compared with Heffernan et al.’s (2010) argument that healthcare organizations should adopt strategies that build on strong emotional intelligence to help leaders to most effective leaders. Therefore, promotion of a leader’s emotional intelligence would have a great effect on building the emotional intelligence of the team members. The El Quiz would enable leaders to understand their behavior, use a constructive voice towards employees’ personal views, tolerates stress, and take into account the essential views of colleagues to succeed in their workplace (Goodwin, 2013). Emotional intelligence is, therefore, critical in the construction of effective leadership.

Conclusion

Emotional intelligence in the leadership of healthcare organizations has been said to be effective in promoting workplace success. The effectiveness of leadership is mostly measured by the performance of an organization and the inherent working atmosphere. Emotional intelligent leaders are very effective in their leadership for they understand their emotions and that of their co-workers which is critical for a harmonious working environment. Their decisions and interactions are well thought to ensure that every individual in the organization is not negatively affected by the decisions of their leaders. Therefore, emotional intelligence enhances effective leadership in healthcare environments.

References

Goodwin, N. (2013). Leadership in health care: a European perspective. New York, NY: Routledge. doi.org/10.4324/9780203970218

Heffernan, M., Quinn Griffin, M. T., McNulty, S. R., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2010). Self‐compassion and emotional intelligence in nurses. International journal of nursing practice, 16(4), 366-373. doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-172X.2010.01853.x

Peter, P. C. (2010). Emotional intelligence. Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing. New York, NY: Wiley Online Library. doi: org/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem04017

Tyczkowski, B., Vandenhouten, C., Reilly, J., Bansal, G., Kubsch, S. M., & Jakkola, R. (2015). Emotional intelligence (EI) and nursing leadership styles among nurse managers. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 39(2), 172-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000094