Emotional intelligence and its role in leading Essay

Emotional intelligence and its role in leading - Essay Example The researcher states that the study conducted by Mayer and Salovey defined the term emotional intelligence under the category of social intelligence. They stated that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as the process through which an individual is able to understand and manage emotions of others as well as themselves. It is believed that people having high emotional intelligence are aware of their feelings and how emotions can affect others. The authors have pointed out that the definition of emotional intelligence is centred on different aspects such as social intelligence and interpersonal skills. The author has classified different types of intelligence because it is a broad field. The ability of an individual to manage or understand others falls under the social aspects of intelligence. To a certain extent it also includes the ability to understand others. The authors have however excluded other types of intelligence such as mechanical and abstract intelligence to focus on t he main purpose of their research. Mayer and Salovey postulated in their theory that emotional intelligence can be defined as cognitive aptitude which is related to general intelligence but not the same. Their theory proposed a model that identifies four different abilities – emotional facilitation, understanding, perception and management. The first level or the basic level involves an individual’s ability to distinguish emotion. This stage involves skills that are based on successful interpretation of facial expressions.