Emotional Intelligence Competence and Leadership Theories: Transformational and Servant Leadership
In commemoration of Black History Month, the Church of God is pleased to present a series of articles, features, and devotionals written by pastors and ministry leaders of African descent within the denomination.
By Dr. Olivia Roberts
“Great leaders move us. They ignite our passion and inspire the best in us. When we try to explain why they are so effective, we speak of strategy, vision, or powerful ideas. But the reality is much more primal: Great leadership works through the emotions.”
Many leaders find themselves under severe scrutiny due to their leadership style or leadership teams’ adverse outcomes. These unfavorable results are not limited to academic institutions, health, and profitable organizations, but also religious leaders, laity, and ministers. Leaders of faith-based initiatives, congregations, and religious communities cater to people who are often confronting various life issues, different emotional levels of stress, and personalities and must be equipped to address and solve ongoing issues effectively. Why read or write about emotional intelligence and its importance as a leadership skill? On a practical level, increased measures of emotional intelligence in Leadership result in increased productivity and financial return measures. And increased transparency of operation and stress on the importance of a more pro-social work environment increases job satisfaction and employee retention. What once seemed to be the hallmark of female leaders is now being touted as a critical skill for all leaders – in any field – to master. The importance of emotional intelligence in effective Leadership is a vital topic today, and the book offers in clear, concise, and readable language, an excellent framework to enlighten and equipment leaders about the critical component necessary to become effective and efficient leaders in the ecclesiae, academia, and the corporate place.
Dr. Olivia Roberts
Emotional intelligence aids leaders in developing a good understanding of others and, at the same time, manage their own emotions. As a critical component in leadership, emotional intelligence drives self-awareness, which is the ability to understand all aspects of a person’s feelings, both strong and weak. Hence, self-aware leaders embrace criticism or appraisal from others and often construct strong teams. It is a critical feature of strong and effective leaders. A large portion of the descriptions presented for emotional intelligence includes the capability to articulate oneself; the ability to understand and empathize with others; the ability to manage and control emotions; the potential to manage change, adapt and solve problems of personal and interpersonal nature; and to create positive dispositions and self-motivation. From a theoretical perspective, emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor the emotions of oneself and the feelings of others and to use the information to guide decisions.
Throughout the scriptures, several instances reveal how bible characters’ emotions brought good and bad consequences. For example, in the book of Exodus, Moses expressed angry emotions with the children of Israel (Exodus 32:19; Numbers 20:1-13). Upon Moses’ return from the mountain, he observed his followers singing and dancing and worshiping a golden calf. He threw down the tablets with the commandments, he crushed the calf into powder and tossed it in the water. He then summons supporters to go throughout the camp and kill all involved in creating the calf. Moses was outraged and displayed a sense of hostility and resentment against the people. His emotions were justifiable. The Bible declares, “Be angry, but sin not.” God wants people to express emotions (in this case, anger); however, avoid sinning in the process. In this instance, Moses’ anger was justifiable. The children of Israel did something utterly displeasing which stirred up his righteous indignation, and he decided to eradicate those who sinned against God.
However, in another instant, Moses’ allowed his emotions to hinder him from entering God’s promise. Numbers 20:1-13 record a synopsis as to how anger can lead to sin. The Israelites frequently complained to Moses as they journeyed through the Desert of Zin and experienced great thirst. They grumbled to Moses and Aaron about the lack of water and hinted at their desire to return to Pharaoh’s Egypt. Moses and Aaron became agitated, and they inquired of the Lord what to do about the Israelites and their complaints.
God instructed Moses to take his staff, go in front of the Israelites, speak to the rock, and pour from the rock. Moses gathered the people, but instead, he allowed emotions to get the best of him, or he failed to manage his emotions and the emotions of the people and got upset, disgusted, angry, resentful, and hostile towards the people and struck the rock twice after condemning the actions of the Israelites. The act of disobeying God because of poor self-management—a component of emotional intelligence, prevented the leader from obtaining the promise. From an emotional intelligence perspective, Moses also demonstrated low levels of emotional intelligence when he failed to handle the stress brought on by the Israelites’ constant complaints.
If Moses had advanced levels of emotional intelligence, he would have been able to resist his impulses and defer any urges to act in such an undesirable manner. In the same manner, pastors, ministers, and laity must be mindful of their emotions and most importantly assess the emotions of others prior to making leadership decisions. Moses’ error was not merely becoming angry at a nagging set of people but allowing his personal emotions to escalate out of control. When leaders allow emotions to get out of control, their leadership style becomes jeopardized. When leaders serve from anger, sarcasm, and belittling and are not aware of such behaviors, three things will occur: elevated blood pressure or ulcers, violation of standards and values, and followers will leave. The impact of low emotional intelligence can also be irreparable and destructive.
Dr. Olivia Roberts is an adjunct business instructor and a Senior Strategic Account Executive of a leading energy company in Southern New England. She serves as president of the Mount Carmel-Shiloh Women’s Discipleship and Director of Leadership Development and Advancement. Dr. Roberts is an ordained minister in the Church of God. She is married to Bishop Oral Roberts, senior pastor of Mount Carmel-Shiloh Church of God in East Hartford, CT.
