Nursing Leadership in a Diverse Society

NSG 4029 Leadership in a Diverse Society

South University

November 23, 2020

Emotional Intelligence

To achieve success and happiness in life, it is vital for one to possess a desirable level of emotional intelligence (EI). Having a good EI will enable one to have stronger professional and personal relationships, which will be instrumental in achieving goals. Segal et al. (2020) defines EI as “the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.” Therefore, EI is crucial in a person's professional and personal life since once one understands other people's emotions, it becomes easier to make informed decisions that impact all stakeholders involved.

A person’s EI level can either enhance or hinder effective leadership in the healthcare environment. Generally, leaders are expected to have high levels of technical skills and intellectual capability. However, an outstanding leader is distinguished from an average one based on his/her self-control and emotional self-awareness. Meinert (2018) notes that the emotional component is vital as it supplements the diverse qualities of a leader. In the healthcare environment, EI is an essential component of a leader. A leader with low EI will tend to be ineffective and set poor examples to others on how to treat other individuals. In turn, this will result in toxic interactions among workers leading to high turnover and low employee engagement (Meinert, 2018). More so, the effects of a leader with low EI will be seen in the low morale among workers since the leader will lose the discretionary effort, which is normal for individuals who operate in comfortable and motivating environments.

In contrast, leaders with high EI “tend to be uplifted by their interactions with people and think it is great to have a team” (Meinert, 2018). They facilitate positive interactions, which boosts the morale of the whole healthcare environment and results in desirable outcomes. There are four major elements of EI that leaders in the healthcare industry ought to have. First, there is self-awareness. Often, many leaders fail to control their emotions when interacting with employees. The matter is made worse because their subordinates are often afraid to make them aware of their shortcomings. A good leader will make use of the 360-degree feedback technique to pinpoint his/her weaknesses when it comes to EI (Meinert, 2018). Alternatively, one can simply get direct feedback from a few trusted colleagues and friends. When a leader gets hones feedback from others regarding his EI-related behavior, he will develop himself to be a better leader who positively interacts with others.

Second, there is social awareness. A leader with poor EI will not know how to facilitate social interactions since they will focus more on themselves rather than others. However, a leader with good EI will pick on the vital cues of social interaction. This is especially crucial for leaders since subordinates tend to offer limited cues when interacting with a leader. Thus, knowing how to read nonverbal signals can help one lead others more effectively. Third, there is self-management. Once a leader understands his/her level of EI, he/she will have to focus on the achievement of a goal or two, which will enhance his EI and ensure he/she starts behaving in a better way. Finally, there is relationship management, the insights gained by a leader with regards to EI are to be used in inspiring the workforce.

To understand my EI level, I took an EI quiz from The Greater Good Science Center (2020). I got a mark of 16 out of 20. This score implies that I am relatively good at reading other people’s expressions. Nonetheless, since I did not get a perfect score, there is room for improvement, The Greater Good Science Center (2020) asserts that with practice, it is possible for people to enhance their emotion recognition skills. For instance, one can improve his/her emotional intelligence with an empathy training tool.

EI is better understood through the use of two mainstream theories. First, there is the Mayer and Salovey Model of EI. This theory asserts that EI is “a cognitive ability which is separate but also associated to, general intelligence” (Petrides & Furnham, 2000). It is characterized by four diverse abilities. The most basic one is emotional perception. It entails how one can perceive emotions in others and him/herself. Second, there is emotional facilitation. It refers to how emotions aid a person's thinking. Third, there is understanding emotions, which entails the comprehension of emotions and pertinent vocabulary; and how they interact with other emotions. Finally, there is managing emotions, which is the highest-order ability. It characterizes how one can manage his/her and other people's emotions.

Second, there is the Bar-On Model of EI. This theory is comprised of various social and emotional skills, facilitators, and competencies. Their interaction can be categorized into intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, and general mood (Petrides & Furnham, 2000). The model is concerned with the ability of a person to not only understand him/herself, but those he/she interacts with. This ability is vital for problem-solving in diverse situations. More so, it aids one in coping with daily environmental demands. As a healthcare leader, the knowledge of these two models of EI is crucial for self-development and general knowledge. They guide one in becoming a good leader who interacts positively with others.

In conclusion, this paper has concisely discussed the topic of EI with regard to leadership. EI is crucial in a person's professional and personal life since once one understands other people's emotions, it becomes easier to make informed decisions that impact all stakeholders involved. For a leader, it becomes even more important due to the relationships that such an individual has to maintain. A high level of EI is crucial in creating a leader who stands out from other average leaders.

References

Meinert, D. (2018). Emotional intelligence is key to outstanding leadership. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0318/pages/emotional-intelligence-is-key-to-outstanding-leadership.aspx

Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(2), 313-320.

Segal, J., Smith, m., Robinson, L., & Shubin, J. (2020, October). Improving emotional intelligence (EQ). Help Guide. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/emotional-intelligence-eq.htm

The Greater Good Science Center (2020). Test your emotional intelligence. Berkeley University of California. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/ei_quiz