Week 6

Psychology of leadership; Leadership and human development



Introduction

Leadership occurs in a social psychological context and many of the topics that we have already covered can be traced back to the field of psychology. For example, personality tests, leadership theories, and traits associated with leadership are based in the field of psychology. This week we will cover additional perspectives in the psychology of leadership: 1) additional traits associated with leadership and 2) emotional intelligence.

Psychological Traits of Leaders

We have already discussed traits that are associated with effective leaders. Your readings this week feature additional traits that are associated with good leaders. I have put the specific traits below and the readings that describe the traits in further detail.

Empathy

Knowledge of context and co-group membership

Dominance and prestige

Self-awarenes, champion mindset, charisma, different forms of intelligence

Representative of the group, advancing the group's best-interests, mold the group's identity and goals, build a shared identity in a group

Emotional Intelligence

After doing reserch on the psychology of leadership, one of the traits of good leaders that came up frequently was emotional intelligencEmotional intelligence or EQ. You are most likely familiar with IQ and that it measures intelligence. EQ is, " ... is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results." (Bradberry, 2017). A person who has a high EQ might not have a high IQ, however, he or she might be able to navigate their social world in unique and creative way to become successful. According to Goleman and Boyatzis (2017), emotional intelligence has four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, and relationship management. In th Goleman and Boyatzis article, there is a chart that maps out specific competencies in the four domains of emotional intelligence. You might notice overlap in these traits to the characterictics mentioned earlier in this module and in previous weeks of this course.

I had numerous questions while reading the articles for this week's module. 1) Am I emotionally intelligent? 2) What can I do to build my emotional intelligence, and 3) How does emotional intelligence play out in the work place.

While doing my search I found an article about lacking emotional intelligence. Sometimes the best way to learn a concept is to learn what it is not. The article by Bradberry (2017) covers 11 traits that one must overcome to be more emotionally intelligent. I saw some on here that I need to work on so it is perfectly fine if you do not meet all of these criteria.

I also found an article about how emotional intelligence plays out in the workplace by Riggio and Reichard (2008). This article is a bit lengthy but it discusses the social exchange leaders and their workers have in the workplace and how it relates to emotional intelligence.

Testing Your Emotional Intelligence

After doing these readings on emotional intelligence you might be wondering how you might score on measures of EQ. I found a few online quizzes that might help give you some insights into your own EQ and how it relates to your leadership style. I am not sure of the reliability and validity of these quizzes, therefore, if you get results you do not like view it as an opportunity to learn more skills rather than a personal deficiency.

How Well Do You Read Other People

Quiz Yourself: Do You Lead with Emotional Intelligence?

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