Emotional Intelligence Development: Leveraging Individual Characteristics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the separate and combined effects of three individual characteristics on training gains achieved in a leadership development program designed to enhance participants\u27 emotional intelligence (EI). The overall purpose was to test heretofore untested propositions advanced by various theorists concerning the impact of openness to experience (OE), self‐efficacy (SE), and receptivity to feedback (RF) on training outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical study utilized a sample of 135 fully‐employed business students in a treatment/control group research design. Findings – The findings suggest that leadership development professionals will likely derive differential EI training gains depending upon participants\u27 status across several variables. Receptivity to feedback was directly associated with EI training gains while the SE‐RF and SE‐OE interactions were predictors of EI training gains. Practical implications – The results hold implications for organizations that seek to enhance the EI of leaders both effectively and efficiently. The application of these findings to a range of leadership development practices and to training efforts that focus on other competencies are discussed. Research implications – The paper connects EI to one of the major challenges facing leaders and leadership development professionals in the future: managing change and offers recommendations regarding research on other factors that are likely to optimize results achieved through efforts to develop the EI of leaders. Originality/value – This is the first study to investigate the impact of these three individual characteristics on training gains achieved. The paper\u27s findings suggest that some individuals are better candidates for EI training and presents a method to identify them

Developing and Measuring the Emotional Intelligence of Leaders

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically test whether it is possible to deliberately develop emotional intelligence (EI) as conceptualized in the Mayer and Salovey model. Design/methodology/approach: This empirical study utilized a sample of 135 fully‐employed business students in a treatment/control group research design in which treatment group participants underwent an intensive 11‐week EI training program. Additional samples of 270 and 130 fully employed business students were utilized to develop an EI measure appropriate for EI development. Findings: The results indicate that EI can be deliberately developed; the treatment group demonstrated statistically significant overall EI gains and across each EI dimension, while the control group did not show any significant pre‐/post‐test differences. Practical implications: In addition to illustrating EI training best practices, a new EI measure is described that is appropriate for leadership development. Research limitations/implications: Research implications are discussed for the role of EI training in leadership development programs and fertile research directions for EI training. Originality/value: Emotional intelligence training has emerged into a popular and lucrative field, but empirical evidence on the deliberate development of EI has been substantially more elusive. This study provides an empirical EI training study that overcomes the conceptual and methodological limitations of extant research on the EI development process