Emotional Intelligence is an Ineffective Leadership Tool

Question: Discuss about theEmotional Intelligence is an Ineffective Leadership Tool. Answer: Introduction Leadership affects the life of every individual. It is not confined to a selected group of people. Emotional intelligence is an art of managing emotions (Stanfield, 2009). When the leader becomes emotional and start empathizing with the employees, they might start taking undue advantage of this empathy. When leader tries to position himself in the shoes of his employees, he takes decision based on emotions which affect the efficiency of the organization. Most of the greatest revolutions in the history were fueled emotionally, but emotions are only advantageous while delivering political speech. Emotional intelligence has a situational responsibility to practice leadership. Leaders need to practice reasoning based knowledge in practical life. Success is not possible when decisions are taken emotionally. A leader can only succeed if he follows evidence based model. The power to lead depends on the knowledge of the leader rather than his personal feelings. A new study has shown, that pe ople with good emotional intelligence excels in manipulating others. It is true, when one is good in controlling his own emotion he can disguise others true feelings. They try to misuse the emotions of their peers for their self gain. Emotionally intelligent people try to produce the information for their own benefit (Feyerherm, Rice, 2002). The professional relationship of leader and subordinate is hampered due to emotional bond that exist in between them. The leaders might not be able to correct the subordinate a few times because of the emotional connect. This will create a negative impact in the work performance of the team and will put down the efficiency of the organization. Managererial skills require better quality of work which can only be delivered if carried with a vision. Most of the managerial decisions are taken keeping aside the emotion. Renowned leaders have achieved their goals due to persistent hard work. Business decisions are based on individual intelligence rather than emotions (Mc Crimmon, 2009). Jobs which requires regular innovation depends on the skills of the leaders. A leader has to exhibit qualities which are necessary to drive the followers. Emotional intelligence equips the leader with good social skills. A leader tends to become more diplomatic in such scenarios. The emotional behavior might encourage biasness in the organization. This will lead to an unhealthy work environment and a negative impact on the performance of the team, when one employee is favored over the other. An emotional leader has a weak decision making power. A leader tends to take weak decision if he thinks emotionally. A good leader uses his insight to shape the organization in everyones benefit. The study indicates that emotional intelligence has a neutral to negative impact on the team performance. It may be good to work with the highly emotional and intelligent people, but this does not necessarily mean that it results in high performance (Grant, 2014). The decision making power is the most essential skill that a leader possess. It involves critical thinking and strategical planning. When the leader is emotionally involved with his team it might hamper his ability to make planned and good decisions. The decision making power reflects the strength of the leader and is a crucial part that paves the way for the success of the organization. High emotionally intelligent people use their qualities to deceive other people. The problem of emotional intelligence is moral detachment. People use it as a tool to achieve their selfish ends (Cummins, 2014). Moreover good leadership can be achieved through continuous hard work and dedication, rather using emotional intelligence at workplace. References Cummins, D.2014.The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence. Online. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/good-thinking/201408/the-dark-side-emotional-intelligence Accessed on 17 September 2016 Feyerherm, ARice, C.2002.Emotional intelligence and team performance: The good, the bad and the ugly. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 10(4):343-362. Grant, A.2014.The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence. Online. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/the-dark-side-of-emotional-intelligence/282720/ Accessed on 17 September 2016 Mc Crimmon, M.2009. Why Emotional Intelligence Is Not Essential For Leadership Online. Retrieved from: https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/why-emotional-intelligence-is-not-essential-for-leadership/ Accessed on 17 September 2016 Stanfield, A.2009.Defining Effective Leadership: Lead in Whatever You Do. Tate Publishing