Emotional Intelligence

What is it?

Early leadership thinking promoted the traits theory, which focused on identifying different personality traits and characteristics that are linked to successful leaders. The theory argued that leadership is pre-determined and that you cannot be a leader if you do not possess these traits. Many different lists of traits were devised which were often contradictory and contained far too many traits for one person to possess them all. Traits theory fell out of favour as it became clear that successful leaders can display a range of different traits and that leadership skills can be developed.

More recently the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has gained ground. This recognises that, although successful leaders can display a range of different personality traits, there are certain emotional characteristics which are common to them all. EI is the possession of emotional awareness and emotional maturity: the ability to be aware of and regulate one’s own emotions, to understand how others are feeling, and to deal with situations with resilience and persistence.

EI, pioneered by the research of Goleman, supports the situational view that effective leaders need to master and use different leadership styles depending on the contingent circumstances. However, EI focuses on the core personal and interpersonal skills that all effective leaders display. Rather than personality traits, which are innate, EI skills can be learned and developed.

Goleman identifies five domains of EI:

Every interaction is an opportunity to engage, empower and inspire those around you. Nurturing relationships eliminates obstructions to progress, and reinforces trust and loyalty. Managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively enables people to work together smoothly toward their common goal. 

What does it look like?

Emotional intelligence entails understanding your own emotions (self-awareness), being able to manage them (self-regulation), and using them to achieve your goals (motivation). You also need to be able to understand the emotions and feelings of others (empathy) and use this to influence them (social skills).

How does it work in practice?

There are a number of examples that demonstrate the importance of high EI within procurement:[1]

Procurement as a function. Procurement as a function tends to have an inherent degree of conflict built into it. Internal customers often reflexively view procurement as a restrictive function that seeks to limit their ability to effectively procure goods and services. Procurement managers with high EI can shift the conversation to one of collaboration and become trusted advisors to internal customers rather than organisational policemen.

Strategic sourcing initiatives. Most successful strategic sourcing initiatives require early collective input and collaboration from diverse sets of stakeholders. Effective procurement leaders can adeptly leverage interpersonal relationships to build coalitions.

Stakeholder resistance. A high level of EI enables the detection of interpersonal factors that may fuel a stakeholder’s internal resistance. A procurement manager will often need to engage highly resistant stakeholders (for example, those who want to know ‘what’s in it for them’) in strategic sourcing initiatives. An adept leader with high EI is skillful at turning opponents into advocates.

A study of public-sector senior managers in South Africa found that EI is an enabler of leadership, directly affecting leadership decisions and creating a positive environment.[2]

The effective managers in the study agreed that when they are in a positive mood, they are able to overcome obstacles and solve problems, they recognise their emotions as they experience them, they know why their emotions change, and they have control over them. They seek out activities that make them happy and present themselves in a way that makes a good impression on others. These managers motivate themselves by imagining a good outcome to tasks they take on.

In relation to others, the effective managers said that they arrange events that others enjoy, complement them when they have done something well, are aware of the non-verbal messages other people send, can recognise the emotions that others are experiencing, and understand why people feel the way they do. When another person tells them about an important event in his or her life these managers almost feel as though they have experienced this event themselves.

A study of EI in the healthcare sector[3] found that there was a gap between the importance that senior medical managers attribute to EI competencies and their actual performance in relation to them. In particular, the managers ranked their ability to solve problems with integrity and empathy higher than their ability to express and articulate their feelings.

There is a tangible tension in medicine concerning the whole field of emotion in practice. Traditionally, detachment has been valued, reflecting a belief that emotions will somehow interfere with a medic's ability to carry out his or her job. Medical managers are very smart in using their intellect, tenacity and analytical problem-solving to find solutions. However, they are not necessarily as smart on the soft skills. This gap needs to be recognised in the healthcare sector, where medical specialists are often responsible for procurement decisions.

[1] https://www.sdcexec.com/sourcing-procurement/article/21049035/emotional-intelligence-key-to-successful-procurement-leadership

[2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323112925

[3] https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301458384.pdf