The author of the book “Emotional Intelligence” has discussed various topics and subtopics reflecting different elements of competent leadership. Some of the components of quality leadership that appear in the book are integrity, accountability and proper management.
The book has clearly shown that a leader should be able to inspire others towards moral lifestyles. Through his or her leadership pattern, a leader should make his or her subjects wish to emulate his/her style. The authors view leaders as people who live above reproach. Any leader found behaving in a contradicting manner nullifies his or her purpose of leadership and, thus, betrays the trust that the community bestows upon him or her.
Goleman (2007) in his discussion reveals that leaders should be able to mentor the up-coming generation being conversant with the fact that the future depends on them. It would just be pointless to have a good leadership if indeed the future generation does not undergo adequate training. Any leadership structure is unsustainable regardless of its effectiveness unless it considers the priority of mentorship (Goleman, 2007). Goleman continues to elaborate that leaders are not people who are merely seeking honorable positions for their personal recognition in the society or monetary gains. Leadership, on the contrary, demands that a leader should be able to make positive changes in the society and seek positive solutions to problems in the society.
Another element of leadership, which the Goleman reflects is honesty. Leaders are people who set realistic goals and make honest promises (Goleman, 1999). They keep their words instead of making empty promises. The test of honesty is apparently the most difficult for leaders, because they quite easily make unrealistic promises. In the topics, it comes out that certain leaders driven by their selfish motives make exciting declarations, which in reality are not attainable within known standards. Of course, whenever people accuse them in failing to fulfill their promises, they readily use excuses to justify themselves.
The topics indicate that leadership and intelligence are directly related because leaders should be able to understand the personality and characters of their subjects. Instead of making hasty judgments on people, leaders should use intelligence to understand the causes of certain actions (Goleman, 1999). Leadership demands understanding and empathy accompanied by the readiness to offer necessary assistance.
According to Gardner (1995), leaders do not have to take law in his or her hands or even to handle conflicts at personal levels. It comes out that certain leaders use their positions as opportunities to exploit, intimidate and manipulate their subjects, while some of them are oblivious of their human rights. Leaders must understand that people originate from varying backgrounds and they face different challenging experiences. Without understanding and intelligence, leader may end up victimizing people by making irrational conclusions about them. This portrays a poor leadership quality.
Leadership also demands sacrifices. Intelligent leaders must pay the price of bearing consequences of their leadership styles and find relevant solutions to them. In addition, leaders have to treat all people equally. This brings into place the test of integrity. Leaders must be intelligent enough to deal with conflicts, insubordination cases and self-denial. With intelligence, a leader does not just sit and watch people working around. He or she has to take active participation in various roles and initiate critical processes. For example, being a social worker in Oklahoma in the department dealing with human service, a person may suffer insecurity as he/she interacts with the entire community.
The other ingredient of leadership, which is worth imitating is motivation through ethical practices. Intelligent leadership requires that a leader makes an emphasis on ethical behaviors of his or her subjects. He or she has to advocate for societal ethics and always be an example worth imitating. Intelligent leaders are thus role models in the society and must show integrity all the times. At the end of any term in which a leader is serving, he or she has to leave a legacy upon which people can evaluate his or her leadership.
As Goleman argues, a leader has to encourage accountability and transparency everywhere (Goleman, 1999). Only then can a leader expect his or her subjects to be responsible for the use of every resource. An intelligent leader encourages teamwork and consultation. This encourages people to work as members of a team in such a way that they are free to consult each other. An intelligent leader understands the power of synergy that comes with team-work. Besides, he or she will be able to delegate duties whenever necessary to some of his or her subjects making work easier for him or her. At the same time team work helps intelligent leaders to increase confidence in their subjects.
The administration of Oklahoma department of human services needs to realize that whenever a leadership structure of an organization is efficient, the members of the organization feel proud of it and they build a positive identity to the organization. They proudly market the organization and uphold its positive image. A leader needs to be intelligent to enforce quality leadership while managing people’s emotional and social challenges. A leader uses psychological intelligence to realize that even his or her subordinates deserve respect; hence he treats them as they deserve. This requires the leader to encourage good communication among his or her subjects and seeks to solve whichever challenges they face.
References
Gardner, H. (1995). Multiple intelligences, applied theory. Mexico: PaidĂłs Editorial S.A.
Goleman, D. (1999). Emotional intelligence practice. Barcelona: KairĂłs Editorial.
Goleman, D. (2007). Emotional intelligence: Why is it more important than intelligence quotient. Mexico: Javier Vergara, S.A.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.