What Makes a Leader?
Daniel Goleman’s article “What Makes a Leader?” was a very interesting analysis of the traits that make a leader. The article provides an examination of the relationship between emotional intelligence and the effective performance of leaders in organizations. His article looks at each component that makes up emotional intelligence and describes how to recognize these characteristics and their manifestations in the work environment.
Goleman tells us that leaders need basic intelligence and job pertinent knowledge to be successful. He summarizes that although intellect is definitely a driver of outstanding performance, emotional intelligence plays an increasingly important role as a person reaches the highest levels of an organization.
In reading this article, I immediately began to evaluate the leadership qualities of some of the people I have worked for and put them side by side with the characteristics Goleman dissects. This analysis made me immediately understand that of those supervisors that I admired during my years on active duty, they probably possessed a high level of emotional IQ. Of those I did not emulate, I would consider them to fall low on the emotional intelligence scale.
Therefore, in this opinion paper, I will compare and contrast the five components of emotional intelligence as identified by Daniel Goleman with my experiences as a junior officer.
The first component of emotional intelligence is Self Awareness. Self-Awareness is “a consciousness of ones emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives”. A self aware person is able to understand their own emotions and how they affect themselves, other people, and their job performance (Ott p. 99 rt). Someone who is self-aware is not afraid of attributing failure to themselves rather than the organization.
I feel that majorities of people in the service are very success oriented (intentionally replacing the word goal oriented) but lack a true self-awareness. Policies and decisions
Goleman tells us that leaders need basic intelligence and job pertinent knowledge to be successful. He summarizes that although intellect is definitely a driver of outstanding performance, emotional intelligence plays an increasingly important role as a person reaches the highest levels of an organization.
In reading this article, I immediately began to evaluate the leadership qualities of some of the people I have worked for and put them side by side with the characteristics Goleman dissects. This analysis made me immediately understand that of those supervisors that I admired during my years on active duty, they probably possessed a high level of emotional IQ. Of those I did not emulate, I would consider them to fall low on the emotional intelligence scale.
Therefore, in this opinion paper, I will compare and contrast the five components of emotional intelligence as identified by Daniel Goleman with my experiences as a junior officer.
The first component of emotional intelligence is Self Awareness. Self-Awareness is “a consciousness of ones emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives”. A self aware person is able to understand their own emotions and how they affect themselves, other people, and their job performance (Ott p. 99 rt). Someone who is self-aware is not afraid of attributing failure to themselves rather than the organization.
I feel that majorities of people in the service are very success oriented (intentionally replacing the word goal oriented) but lack a true self-awareness. Policies and decisions