Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
John F. Kennedy
Leadership is the ability to lead other people in the accomplishment of a common task. How does a leader accomplish this? What are the necessary qualities and/or traits a successful leader must possess to lead? No doubt, the task at hand with the leaders of ASPSN is to further the mission and vision of the organization. I never really thought of myself as a leader until I became actively involved in ASPSN where many of my past mentors recognized my abilities and nurtured them. When you have to do personal inventory of the qualities that you possess as a leader, it can sure by an eye opening experience. I sometimes think I know what my effective and "good" qualities are but, then again, when I look critically at my inventory, I find myself lacking. In this instance I must positively nurture the qualities I do possess as I fulfill my obligations as President of ASPSN and on my journey, develop and nurture those I did not even know I had. So, to do my personal inventory I decided to examine emotional intelligence (EI). I first heard of EI when I was participating in a formal advanced practice nurse mentor/mentee program and find EI to be simple and applicable to myself as a leader. It also appeared to encompass many of the qualities that I developed growing up: honesty, integrity, empathy, and motivation.
Emotional intelligence was originally proposed in 1990 as an effective barometer for effectively dealing with emotions within the self and others (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Salovey and Mayer (1990) described EI as the ability to perceive, appraise, and express emotion, access and process emotional information, generate feelings, understand emotional knowledge, and regulate emotions for emotional and intellectual growth. The concept of EI has been widely used in the corporate world since Goleman published his book titled Emotional Intelligence in 1995. Goleman (1995) described EI as a capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and managing emotions well within our selves and in our relationships. In other words, EI is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what they are telling you, and realize how your emotions affect the people around you. The definition was revised in 1997 to read, "Emotional intelligence involves the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotions; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge, and the ability to regulate emotion to promote emotional and intellectual growth" (Salovey & Mayer, 1997, p. 35). Emotional intelligence and the associated characteristics have been associated with successful leaders in many arenas but have not been well embraced in health care leadership (Bradbuey, Greaves, & Lencioni, 2009; Cooper & Sawaf, 1998; Goleman, 1995; Palmer, Walls, Burgess, & Stough, 2011; Renaud, Rutledge, & Shepherd, 2012). I want to explore and do a critical appraisal of my personal characteristics as a leader using the components of EI. The intent is to increase my awareness of my positive characteristics as well as identify those I need to develop. Emotional intelligence has five components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill (Goleman, 2004; Goleman, 2011).
The first recognized component of EI is self-awareness. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives as well as their effect on others. Competencies identified within this ability are self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, and self-deprecating sense of humor (Goleman, 2004). It is always good to have humor and how better than to be able to laugh at yourself and with others. One must understand one's own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. Self-awareness involves being honest with our selves as well as others. We would all like to believe that we are good at everything but, unfortunately, this is just not the case in spite of what we might think. Someone who is highly self-aware knows where they are going and why. One of my lifelong sayings has been, "I know my flaws better than anyone." Sometimes it is hard to accept those flaws but being able to recognize and accept them as a leader through self-awareness will enable me to work with the other leaders in identifying the strengths necessary for accomplishing the goals of ASPSN. Self-awareness is a mechanism for self-inventory as a leader that I will utilize it often.
Self-regulation is the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods. It also includes the propensity to suspend judgment and to think before acting (Goleman, 2004). Hallmarks of self-regulation include trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, and openness to change (Goleman, 2004). Now to me, this seems to be in conflict with EI, a bunch of women not acting and reacting with emotions. That can be a deal breaker. Self-regulation is inner conversation and finding ways to control and even channel emotions in useful and productive ways. I have always talked to myself. When my daughter was growing up and we were going to daycare and work each morning, I would talk out my whole day to myself as I was driving. My daughter got used to this and would ask me almost daily, "Mom, you talking to yourself again?" Yes, I would say, planning my day. Self-regulation fosters trust and fairness and can become contagious. This trust and fairness is essential for the growth of ASPSN. Life offers no certainty and self-regulation allows one to go with the flow, welcome change as a means for self-growth, thoughtfulness, and reflection. I like change. Change is good. Change is good for ASPSN and leadership must work toward change to better the organization.
Motivation is a passion to work for reasons that go beyond status. Motivation is also the propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence (Goleman, 2004). I have often been called an overachiever but consider that a compliment. There is nothing wrong with achieving for the sake of achieving. I love a job well done. There is no better feeling of accomplishment. Emotional intelligence identifies seeking out creative challenges, the love of learning, and taking pride in a job well done as identifiers of motivation. I proudly admit that I possess these characteristics and am committed to the growth and success of ASPSN. My job as a leader is to make motivation contagious, not only to current leaders but to potential future leaders as well.
Empathy is another characteristic of EI and a good leader. Empathy is the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and treating people according to their emotional reactions (Goleman, 2004). Empathy does not mean in the instance of leadership adopting the emotions of other people and trying to please everybody. We all know that it is not possible to please everybody. I no longer even attempt but being a leader is not about pleasing people. It is not to say that consideration of the feelings of others should be ignored but should be included in intelligent decisions. An effective leader must be able to sense the emotions and understand the viewpoints of all stakeholders. The stakeholders referred to here are the Board of Directors of ASPSN. Using empathy promotes collaboration as a team and I see this collaboration as essential in carrying out my duties and responsibilities as a leader. We can't forget coaching and mentoring that grooms and motivates our future leaders.
Now, last but not least, is social skill. Social skill involves managing relationships and building networks. Social skill also involves the ability to find common ground and build rapport (Goleman, 2004). In other words, we socialize continuously to build rapport and have the resources already in place when there is a job that needs to be done. Getting work done through other people is the hallmark of a good leader. No leader is an island (Goleman, 2004). It takes a collaborative approach to be successful. I don't believe I have ever accomplished anything without the help and support of others.
CONCLUSION
Emotional intelligence can enhance the self-inventory process of the characteristics necessary for a good and influential leader. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill are necessary components of effective leadership. A leader needs social skill to get the work done through and with other people. Motivation is necessary to communicate passion with the leaders and members of ASPSN. Managing emotions and relationships with others is imperative to further the mission and vision of ASPSN. After all, this is my purpose as President of ASPSN and one I take very seriously.
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