Leaders Exhibiting High Emotional Intelligence Are More Dedicated to Their Job Performance
Affiliation(s)
School of Hospitality, Sport, and Recreation Management, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, USA. Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University, North Miami, USA.
School of Hospitality, Sport, and Recreation Management, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, USA. Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University, North Miami, USA.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of information technology leaders’ emotional intelligence on subordinate job performance. Participants consisted of information technology leaders, and were recruited from the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) and the Information Technology (IT) Specialist group in LinkedIn (a business-oriented network website). A quantitative, correlational approach was taken by an online administration of two validated instruments—the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) and Van Scotter and Motowidlo’s measures for contextual performance (interpersonal facilitation and job dedication). Findings indicated that there was a positive relationship between IT leaders’ emotional intelligence scores and subordinates’ job performance ratings. Specifically, higher IT leaders’ general mood scores, and optimism scores are associated with subordinates’ higher interpersonal facilitation and job dedication scores. Further, results provided insight on IT leaders’ EI training needs, career development, and guidelines for areas of improvement.
The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of information technology leaders’ emotional intelligence on subordinate job performance. Participants consisted of information technology leaders, and were recruited from the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) and the Information Technology (IT) Specialist group in LinkedIn (a business-oriented network website). A quantitative, correlational approach was taken by an online administration of two validated instruments—the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) and Van Scotter and Motowidlo’s measures for contextual performance (interpersonal facilitation and job dedication). Findings indicated that there was a positive relationship between IT leaders’ emotional intelligence scores and subordinates’ job performance ratings. Specifically, higher IT leaders’ general mood scores, and optimism scores are associated with subordinates’ higher interpersonal facilitation and job dedication scores. Further, results provided insight on IT leaders’ EI training needs, career development, and guidelines for areas of improvement.
Cite this paper
Beverly, D. , Williams, J. & Kitterlin, M. (2012). Leaders Exhibiting High Emotional Intelligence Are More Dedicated to Their Job Performance. Open Journal of Leadership, 1, 37-41. doi: 10.4236/ojl.2012.14006.
Beverly, D. , Williams, J. & Kitterlin, M. (2012). Leaders Exhibiting High Emotional Intelligence Are More Dedicated to Their Job Performance. Open Journal of Leadership, 1, 37-41. doi: 10.4236/ojl.2012.14006.
References
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[1] Amazon (2010a). Emotional intelligence. URL (last checked 15 October 2010). http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=emotional+intelligence&x=4&y=20 [2] Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) (2010). About AITP. URL (last checked 12 November 2010). http://www.aitp.org/organization/about/mission/mission.jsp [3] Bar-On, R. (1997). The emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i): A test of emotional intelligence. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems. [4] Bernthal, P., & Wellins, R. (2006). Trends in leader development and succession. Human Resource Planning, 29, 31-40. [5] Caruso, D. R., & Gentry, K. F. (2005). Why leadership fails. Business-IT Strategies Executive Update, 8, 1-3. [6] Coleman, V. I., & Borman, W. C. (2000). Investigating the underlying structure of the citizenship performance domain. Human Resource Management Review, 10, 25-44. doi:10.1016/S1053-4822(99)00037-6 [7] Cooper, R. K. (1997). Applying emotional intelligence in the workplace. Training & Development, 51, 31-38. [8] Coté, S., & Miners, C. T. H. (2006). Emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and job performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51, 1-28. [9] Creswell, J. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice-Hall. [10] Daus, C. S., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2005). The case for an ability-based model of emotional intelligence in organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 453-466. doi:10.1002/job.321 [11] Dawda, D., & Hart, S. D. (2000). Assessing emotional intelligence: Reliability and validity of the Bar-On emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i) in university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 797-812. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00139-7 [12] Fambrough, M. J., & Hart, R. K. (2008). Emotions in leadership development: A critique of emotional intelligence. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10, 740-758. doi:10.1177/1523422308323542 [13] Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). Los Angelos, CA: Sage. [14] George, J. M. (2000). Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional intelligence. Human Relations, 53, 1027-1055. doi:10.1177/0018726700538001 [15] Janssen, O., & Van Yperen, N. W. (2004). Employees’ goal orientations, the quality leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 368-384. doi:10.2307/20159587 [16] Johnson, B. (2001). Toward a new classification of nonexperimental quantitative research. Educational Researcher, 30, 3-13. doi:10.3102/0013189X030002003 [17] Johnson, V. (2005). Emotional intelligence: Are successful leaders born or made? The Business Review, Cambridge, 3, 21-26. [18] Law, K. S., Wong, C., Huang, G., & Li, X. (2008). The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientist in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 25, 51-69. doi:10.1007/s10490-007-9062-3 [19] Mahoney, K. (2007). Solid skills make a solid employee. Inside Tucson Business. URL (last checked 25 June 2010). http://www.azbiz.com [20] Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey, & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3-31). New York: Basic Books. [21] Morehouse, M. M. (2007). An exploration of emotional intelligence across career arenas. Leadership & Organization Development, 28, 296-307. doi:10.1108/01437730710752184 [22] Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2008). The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 392-423. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.392 [23] Pinos, V., Twigg, N. W., Parayitam, S., & Olson, B. J. (2006). Leadership in the 21st century: The effect of emotional intelligence. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 5, 61-74. [24] Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Hui, C. (1993). Organizational citizenship behaviors and managerial evaluation of employees’ performance: A review and suggestions for future research. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 11, pp. 1-40). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. [25] Sen, S. (2008). Interpersonal skills through emotional intelligence: A psychological perspective. The Icfai University Journal of Soft Skills, 2, 25-30. [26] Smith, H., & McKeen, J. D. (2005). Developments in practice XIX: Building better IT leaders from the bottom up. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 16, 785-795. [27] Tan, V., & Tiong, T. N. (2005). Change management in times of economic uncertainty. Singapore Management Review, 27, 49-68. [28] Van Scotter, J. R., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1996). Interpersonal facilitation and job dedication as separate facets of contextual performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 525-531. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.81.5.525 [29] Wong, C., & Law, K. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 243-274. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00099-1