Abstract
Within the context of corporate business emotional intelligence has become a point of research. How does a Christian approach leadership and management in a corporate setting? Emotional intelligence is a developed trait that is being found to have increasing value in the effectiveness of leaders. Knowing how to develop emotional intelligence is crucial to success as a manager and leader, determining when to begin development is important. Early development in children ensures future corporate leaders will hold a high emotional intelligence quotient. Scripture charges Christians to prepare their children for life and to live as an example of the way they are teaching their children to live.
Keywords: emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence quotient, emotional management, intelligence quotient, stress, empathy, children, leader, leadership, manager.
Emotional Intelligence: Applied to Corporate Business Leadership as a Christian Professional
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to use reason when addressing one’s emotions and to apply that emotional reason to enhance thought. (Seland) There are five dimensions of EI as applied to leadership: self-awareness, self management, self-initiative, empathy, and social skills. As a leader, EI becomes important in how one relates to subordinates. The five dimensions are not just introspective, but a measure of how well a leader or manager knows their subordinates. We can find a person’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). Two ways to test EQ are: the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Mayer ability model, considered the “gold standard” for defining EQ. (McClesky, 79)
EQ is actually being studied under the pretense of being more important than individual IQ within group intelligence. (Manos) There is a biblical precedence for placing EQ over IQ. As Jesus began His ministry, he chose twelve men as His disciples. These where not men holding the highest IQ scores, but those having great emotional abilities. (Schneider) These where blue-collar men, fishermen, a traitor, a tax collector, and business owners. How does a Christian apply EQ to their every day business life?
First, there is a difference between leaders and managers. “Management is about coping with complexity while leadership is about coping with change.” (Satterlee, 5) Leader verses manager, how do they stack up? Which is greater, more important, more sought after, or more effective? Are not leaders and managers the same thing? No. Yet both are necessary for a business to succeed. A leader has a draw; an allure to him, charisma and big vision are defining attributes. A manager has the plan and method to do a job – the practical application of a vision. Leadership is a part of management. A manager operating in a leadership capacity, addresses organizational change. One can manage, without leading, yet one cannot lead without managing. A manager may make sure that employees follow a process or oversee processes without any human counterpart. Some people are managers but not leaders. According to our definition of leadership, a leader must forecast vision and influence others towards a direction or goal. Making sure a process, task, or goal gets completed is not by definition leadership; it is management. God has provided a leader above any other and outlined a way to honor Him as Christian professionals. Colossians 3:17 says in everything we do be a representative of the Lord Jesus. If leadership is ordinary people’s ability to have influence through their choices and affect history, (McCleskey, 80) then Jesus is the paramount leader.
There is a growing concern about the upcoming generations EQ. Over the last three decades technology has exploded at an exponential rate. In a 2010 study the Kaiser Family Foundation calculated that “children age 8-18 spend more than seven-and-a-half hours ‘using entertainment medial across a typical day.’” (Manos, 2)
A key reason to a leader’s ability is their fundamental behavior. (Macaleer, 11) So when are fundamental behaviors developed? Between 2 and 10 years of age is when a child is developing their correlation of speech and body language; moreover this is when a child is also being introduced to digital technology. (Manos, 1) This is the time when EI develops. Self-awareness, self-management, self-initiative, empathy, and social skills cultivate and develop into children’s fundamental behavior. These are the up-and-coming leaders and managers of tomorrow’s world. If EQ is potentially as valuable, nay more, than IQ to corporate social success, then we must give attention to EQ. (McCleskey, 85) Parents need to develop EQ just as parents develop their children’s IQ. Proverbs 22:6 states that parents are to raise and direct children on the way to live, so that when they are old they will know where to go. Jesus said let the children come to him in Matthew 19. In Jesus Christ is where Christians find guidance for how to raise their children, how to develop a child’s EQ.
While the study of EQ is new in comparison to that of IQ, (Antonakis, 9) there is no denial that it is invaluable. Once we have a matured high EQ management force we will see effective corporate leadership. Why? Because once we have leaders with high EQs we have leaders who are not only aware of themselves emotionally, but also aware of their subordinate’s feelings. Management of one’s self is no longer the sole goal; a leader looks to also effectively manage subordinate’s emotions and impulses appropriately. When facing harsh conditions high EI leaders know the value of persistence, motivating subordinates. How a leader communicates is crucial, if a leader lacks the social skills to effectively communicate with others. Without the social skills to properly relay great vision and purpose leaders fail to effectively connect subordinates to organizational goals. Empathy is the ability to understand another’s pain or suffering. Empathetic leaders can relate to their subordinates, understand where they are coming from and respond in a way that invokes loyalty. Across all references, the prolific theme of EI is the value of empathy in a leader.
Being a manager and leader is no easy task. Many well intending people have failed in the realm of leadership. One major reason to the difficulty of leadership is stress. Life sometimes feels like it is just one stressful situation after stressful situation. While in part this is true, how we manage stress is vital within a corporation, especially, considering the notion that stress affects both the physical and mental state. (Houghton, 222) Generally the higher the leader EQ the better a leader will cope with stress.
EI is defined as the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate our own or another person’s emotions. EI is often divided into four basic dimensions: (1) perceiving emotions, (2) using emotions, (3) understanding emotions, and (4) managing emotions. The ability to perceive and understand the emotions of oneself and those of others is a necessary prerequisite for managing one’s emotional processes. Likewise, the ability to interpret the meaning of one’s emotions and the emotions of others is an important part of EI. Finally, EI suggests that one’s emotions are managed through a process of diminishing the impact of negative emotions while enhancing the effects of more positive ones. (Houghton, 223)
Within EI, emotional management (EM) directly correlates the consistency of response to stress, more positive and less negative. (Shneider, 912) Today, emotions rule society. If it feels good, it is good. To deny one’s self is not a common practice. Society teaches children at a young age to follow their heart, to pursue their passions. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitfully wicked. Paul states in Romans 7 that though he wishes to do good, evil is ever-present; his very nature causes him to do that which he wishes not to do. A person develops EM.
As Christians we are daily renewing our minds. Romans 12 encourages us to renew our mind so that we may show what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. People who have cultivated good EM manage stress well. Not to say that stress is non-existent, but just that they are able to adapt and manage stress in a more productive way. (Zijlmans, 3921) Philippians 4:6 tells the Christian not to worry but to rejoice, pray always, and give thanks to God. There is a difference between stress and worry. Worry is to give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. Stress is not harmful, but how someone deals with stress can be. The purpose of what Paul is saying to the church in Philippi speaks to this directly, don’t worry, God is in control He knows the situation. God is there to bring you through it. Studies have shown EI relates closely to a feeling verses real emotion. EM is about properly managing feelings, not just being in a stressful situation, and handling that stress in a less negative way (Zijlmans, 3921)
Possessing high EM means people are more aware of emotions and understand why they are having specific emotions, while maintaining the ability to not be distracted by intense emotions. (Antonakis, 9) In a leader, EM looks at subordinate’s ability to manage their emotions and feelings. Are subordinates being productive with the corporate goal? A good leader will assure subordinate’s roles match their talents. This EM competency develops through the right level of want, though it is much easier to learn a new skill than to develop a talent such as empathy. (Macaleer, 14) This reinforces early EQ development as a priority. In this era of social media, instant access to information, and speed of communication there is a danger of lesser EQ. Today, it is about brevity of communication over quality. (Manos, 2) In the sender-message-receiver model of communication there are three practical stages: the person creating the message, sender; the relaying of the message, mode; the person receiving the message, receiver. If there is no specific receiver, the message cannot be specifically useful. Furthermore, the sender must have the receiver in mind as they craft and relay their message. EI allows for the awareness of how the receiver will interpret the message. Effective leaders draw on the emotions of subordinates. They control their emotions and empathize to subordinate feelings and emotions. (Antonakis, 7)
Transformational leaders (TFL) rely on feeling and emotion to present their message. This affects subordinates; it stimulates them to follow the TFL’s vision. When subordinates have bought-in-to the corporate vision productivity goes up. Yet, TFL and EI are not always the best practices for all leadership contexts. Work environments which give place to a more authoritative, less relational, management style where EI is not as necessary for leadership. The construction industry is an example (Lindebaum, 1336) where EQ is not necessarily beneficial to a leader. Though true at the lower managerial levels, EI is very valuable as a company grows. A subordinate can hammer nails, pour concrete, or paint walls without perceiving their boss, job manager, cares at all about them. But that doesn’t mean that EI, especially EM is inappropriate in the construction industry. High stress jobs, jobs that have a high emotional labor demand, benefit from high EQ employees. (Zijlmans, 3921) Inspired followers breed innovation, improve productivity, and cultivate a positive working environment. Still there is a struggle with researching EI, it is hard to test. The variables and correlations shown within research between emotion, feeling, and emotional intelligence were reliant on the subjects EQ and be related to these elements to the person. (Zijlmans, 3920)
Jesus said this: “if you love me keep my commandments.” (John 14:12-15) Christians have established that Jesus is God made flesh, the Son of God, through their confession of faith (Romans 10:9). Therefore, there is no distinction between when Jesus is talking and when God is talking. Furthermore there is no distinction between God, nor Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit whom is speaking to the apostles, and all authors, of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The topic of Matthew 6:25-34 is worry. It could be titled stress management. Of 18 topics in Jesus’ first sermon worry was one and only prayer has more verses, 1 more verse. Salt & Light, the Law, Anger, Lust, Divorce, Vows, Retaliation, Loving Enemies, Giving to the Needy, Prayer, Fasting, Money, Worry, Criticizing, Asking-Seeking-Knocking, the Way to Heaven, Fruit in People’s Lives, and Building Your Life on a Solid Foundation. Worry detracts from everything else; it prevents the person who is worrying to see anything else. To be effective corporate managers and leaders need EI, specifically, the early development of EM in the form of empathy for subordinates as an instilled trait. the early development of EM will prevent the need for managers and leaders to develop new patterns of behavior. (Macaleer, 14)
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