The purpose of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of effective leadership characteristics. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of emotional intelligence and leadership behaviors as a predictor of group or organizational performance. This study evaluated the relationship of the Schutte (1998) 33-item Emotional Intelligence Scale and Bass and Avolio's (2004) full-range leadership model (MLQ 5X) and organizational performance in a high-performance Midwestern automotive trim and parts manufacturing organization (N = 860).
Company-wide manager/supervisor and subordinate perceptions of leadership behaviors and leadership outcomes (MLQ 5X) indicated significant positive associations for Idealized Influence Attributed and Behavior for transformational leadership styles and Contingent Reward in the transactional leadership styles. Further, Effectiveness (leadership outcome) exhibited the highest significant positive association between these groups. Additional regression analysis of Schutte 33-item Emotional Intelligence Scale against Bass and Avolio's full-range leadership model (MLQ 5X) further identified that the highest shared predictor variance of leadership patterns to emotional intelligence were Inspirational Motivation and Contingent Reward for this manufacturing population.
Post-hoc analysis of production department managers/supervisors and subordinates presented significantly higher positive associations for transformational leadership styles of Idealized Influence Attributed and Inspirational Motivation. The transactional leadership style of Contingent Reward exhibited the highest significant positive association between production managers/supervisors and subordinate personnel. Further, Effectiveness was identified as the most significant positive association of the three leadership outcomes within this group.
Recommendation for practice and further research focuses on the need for increased training and research as it applies to an environment using a formalized process improvement program.
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