| In recent years, there has been a call for more research on the "softer" side of leadership. Emotional intelligence and leader-member exchange are two constructs which represent the emotional and social aspects of leadership. Few, if any, studies have linked emotional intelligence and leader-member exchange. The purpose, then, of this study was to investigate whether emotional intelligence can be an antecedent of the quality of leader-member exchange relationships and leader effectiveness. Sixty leaders completed a measure of emotional intelligence, their subordinates completed a measure of the quality of the leader-member exchange relationship, and their supervisors completed a measure of leader effectiveness. The results suggest that high emotional intelligence leaders had better exchange relationships with their subordinates than low emotional intelligence leaders. In addition, high emotional intelligence leaders received higher ratings of effectiveness than low emotional intelligence leaders. |
