Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Development of Leadership

Abstract

In different fields of knowledge, emotional intelligence (EI) has been widely researched as an important area of study, especially in leadership. Regarding leadership, it is an essential component in today’s business world. Whether organizational leadership is effective is preceded by emotional intelligence, an important predictor. This research attempts to review the literature on emotional intelligence's role in leadership development. For this, as many as 29 peer-reviewed articles are reviewed by databases from 2019 and 2023. By using the qualitative analysis method, this research aims to analyze the influence of EI on leadership development vis-à-vis certain skills ranging from self-awareness to social awareness. By profoundly reviewing the selected articles, this research has inferred that those leaders who are emotionally intelligent can better handle their thoughts and behaviours by controlling and managing those of others. It has also been drawn from this research that there is a positive correlation between emotionally intelligent leaders and overall organizational success.