Emotional Leadership According To Daniel Goleman

Knowing how to lead is one of the most important skills for people who work with teams. Whether it is a manager of a company, or someone who needs to motivate others, having the ability to  inspire and lead is essential to achieve all kinds of objectives. And while there are many ways to do this, one of the most effective is emotional leadership.

This concept was introduced by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee in their book  Primal Leadership . In it, they talked about six types of emotional leadership. Each of them is useful in a certain situation, but the good news is that all can be developed with effort and involvement.

However, emotional leadership  is not the only way to lead a team or group. In this article we will see what exactly it consists of and what are its main advantages and disadvantages compared to a more rational approach.

What is emotional leadership?

The leadership styles described by Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee differ from those described by other authors in  their marked effects on the emotions of the people on whom they are used. Thus, each of the six will have a different impact on the way a team or group feels; thus, therefore, depending on the results to be achieved, it will be more efficient to use one or the other.

One of the most important concepts in the Primal Leadership  book  is that  no one style of emotional leadership is better than the others. Each of them has a series of advantages and points that do not fit well in all occasions; it is necessary to know them when deciding which one to use at all times. A good leader must be able to master them all and choose the most appropriate for each situation.

The six types of emotional leadership are as follows:

• Authoritative
• Coach.
• Affiliative.
• Democratic.
• Coercive
• Helmsman.

Despite the fact that each of them has quite different characteristics,  they are all based on understanding other people’s emotions. That is precisely where the name “emotional leadership” comes from. However, is it always the most appropriate to use one of these six styles to lead a group? The answer depends on the circumstances we are faced with.

Advantages and disadvantages of emotional leadership

The reality is that, like virtually any other skill or approach,  this view of leadership has both negative and positive sides. Here we will see some of the most important. This will help us decide in each situation if appealing to emotions is the most appropriate, or if on the contrary it is necessary that we use an approach based more on logic and less on empathy.

Advantage

It is undeniable that leading a team based on good emotional intelligence will provide us with all kinds of benefits. One of the most important is that  doing so will help us strike a balance between meeting our goals and building good relationships at work. This probably means sacrificing the efficiency of the company to some extent, but in return it will provide greater well-being and happiness to all workers.

On the other hand, a good emotional leader  will be able to enhance the positive characteristics of his entire team. Using the teachings of this style of group leadership, you can help others discover their talents and develop fully. In addition, it will ensure that employees are more motivated, something essential for the good management of a company.

Disadvantages

However, employing an emotional leadership style  may not be optimal in all circumstances. Doing so can sometimes have a number of negative repercussions, such as those listed below:

• It can lead the leader to act impulsively. This could be detrimental to the company and its goals, as running a business generally requires a more rational approach.
• It causes self-control problems. Sometimes a leader has to make tough decisions, which can be emotionally tough. If you have an excess of empathy, the execution can be complicated, turning against the process itself.

• It slows down or worsens the results. At certain times, it is necessary for a leader to focus exclusively on what he has to achieve. However, for someone who cares excessively about the emotions of others, this will be tremendously difficult.
• It can cause emotional fluctuations. Finally, an excess of empathy and connection with your own emotions can cause them to influence your own mood too much. In general, a leader has to be an example of solidity and stability; However, achieving this can be very difficult when you are under the siege of uncontrolled feelings.

Generally adopting one of the six styles of emotional leadership will be very beneficial for a company or work team. However, it  is sometimes necessary to examine whether doing so is actually the best for the workers and for the stated objectives. As in almost all areas of life, the answer is not so simple.