Inter-relationship between servant leadership, emotional intelligence and leadership performance

Inter-relationship between servant leadership, emotional intelligence and leadership performance

Marco Ben

University of Fredericton, Sandermoen School of Business

Author note

This document was created for the EMBA 7005 course, Leadership Theory and Practice

Correspondence concerning this document should be addressed to Professor Donald V. McCain,

Sandermoen School of Business, University of Fredericton.

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 Inter-relationship between servant leadership, emotional intelligence and leadership performance

Much of the thinking about leadership today implies that moral leadership involves
turning followers into leaders, thereby developing their potential rather than using a leadership
position to control or limit people (Daft, 2011). Moral leadership is an individual who will serve
people. Morals in today's organization set the benchmark for what is considered acceptable or
unacceptable traits by all within a business. It is also about abilities and aptitudes, moral leaders
can self-manage and impact personal change. Moral leaders also have a highly developed sense
of emotional intelligence and master key social skills (Bukya, 2017).

There are four basics principles in Greenleaf's model of servant leadership which aligns
with the emotional intelligence (EI) of a leader. In order to be successful, the servant leader must
possess a list of qualities that are linked directly with EI. Just as Daft suggested, emotional
intelligence can be learned and developed. The servant leader looks to develop his employees,
put the emphasis on the individuals and a decentralized organizational structure. Of the qualities
required, general awareness will reinforce the servant leader. It supports the comprehension of
problems that may arise including integrity. It allows the leader to handle most situations from a
more adjective position. "Awareness is not a giver of solace-it is just the opposite. It is a disturber
and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed" (Podsada,
2015). The components of emotional intelligence are based on self and social awareness, which
is the ability to identify our own emotions, those of others and their impact in order to understand
how these feelings will alter their leadership performance.

The servant leader will make an effort to demonstrate empathy with their employees so
they can feel recognized and valued. Similar to awareness and even though it might come more
naturally to certain people, this quality of an effective leader can be learned and developed. An
emotional intelligent leader will be able to show and practice empathy to establish compassion,
avoiding their emotions getting the best of them and clouding their judgments. Leadership
performance will be directly impacted by the ability to empathize with others, "understanding
divergent points of view and interacting effectively with many different types of people and
emotions" (Daft, 2011). The second principle of the servant leadership model is empathy and
even though if we cannot trade position with our employees, leadership performance will be
influenced by the abilities to relate with the situations or circumstances.

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 Inter-relationship between servant leadership, emotional intelligence and leadership performance

Demonstrating empathy can be developed through active listening. Another concept of

the servant leader model is to listen first to affirm others. "The servant leader seeks to identify
the will of a group and helps clarify that will. He or she seeks to listen receptively to what is
being said. Listening, coupled with regular periods of reflection is essential to the growth of the
servant leader (Podsada, 2015)." An aspect of EI is relationship management as it refers to the
opportunity to create and foster positive relationships. One component of this aspect is to learn
develop our employees by learning to listen to our audience and making them feel understood
and heard. This can help create a personal connection which builds rapport. Proper listening will
engage in purposeful conversation which will lead to a more satisfying interaction and ultimately
influence them positively.

Trust can make the difference within an organization, when employees trust your
leadership; they will eventually support your decision and apply themselves harder in their tasks
leading to higher productivity and engagement. A quality of the servant leader to be persuasive
rather than using authority in defining the decision making process. This particular element
offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of
servant leadership (Podsada, 2015). Servant leaders can develop this trust between managers
and employees by being emotionally intelligent in remaining calm, resisting to pressure, taking
personal responsibility for performance and keeping a positive outlook. Trustworthiness and
influential skills are components of the EI model which serves in the behavioral management to
inspire employees to change and increase collaboration. One leader cannot hope to develop and
grow an employee's skills without trust in his abilities to effectively do so.

As we have seen, there are many components that link directly emotional intelligence to
to the servant leader. These characteristics act as drivers of both concepts and allows for positive
return within the organization. EI is a key ingredient that impacts directly a leader's performance.
EI includes the awareness of our feelings and those of others while servant leadership
understands the employee's needs. Priorities of servant leadership are developing people,
building a trusting team and achieving positive results. Key principles are to serve first,
persuasion and empowerment by listening, delegating and connecting followers to a mission
(Iarocci, 2017). Leadership performance is tied directly to leader's ability to be emotionally
intelligent as it is required to effectively apply the servant leadership model.

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References

Daft, Richard L. (2011), the Leadership Experience, 7th Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall

Bukya, N. (2017, April 29). What is moral leadership.

Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-is-moral-leadership

Podsada, R. (2015, March 13). 10 Characteristics of a Servant Leader. Retrieved January 22,
2018, from https://www.nine10.ca/blog/10-characteristics-of-a-servant-leader/

Joseph J. Iarocci, (Atlanta: Carinway, 2017) Servant Leadership in the Workplace: A Brief
Introduction

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