Tracy Lyons - 2005

Emotional Intelligence: An Element to Successful School Leadership or Does It Matter?

This research addresses elements of effective school based leadership, specifically, for vice-principals and principals. With an emphasis on the interpretive approach, it identifies the factors of emotional intelligence that contribute to the overall success of principals and vice principals and the resulting implications for pre-service and in-service professional development.

Data collection was qualitative in nature utilizing two methods: survey and focus group discussions. Study findings strongly indicated the importance of emotional intelligence for being effective in their roles as principals. Competencies including self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management were identified as essential components for principals to possess.

Study Conclusions

This study was designed to address the question: To what extent do administrators perceive emotional intelligence is a critical element in successful school leadership and what implications does this have for pre-service and in-service development of school administrators? Participating administrators, employed by Pembina Hills Regional Division (PHRD), through a survey and small focus group interviews, identified particular skills and competencies that they believe are critical for success in their school based roles. Following are the conclusions drawn from the findings of this study.

Conclusion one:

Emotions are involved in all facets of the principals’ role. This research demonstrates that when principals have an opportunity to reflect and discuss actions that they have taken, both their conclusions and their insights into their actions are emotions manifest through language.

Conclusion two:

To become a successful principal requires formal training and mentoring with what is perceived as both the hard skills (managerial functions) and the soft skills (emotional intelligence). Dealing efficiently with tasks and dealing effectively with people are required elements of successful school leadership.

Conclusion three:

Principals set the emotional tone of the learning environment. Dissonant environments create stress and undue stress creates a conflict ridden atmosphere where learning is hampered – the power of negative emotion permeates. Stress is often perceived as motivational, yet the notion that pressure or stress is a persistent and an inherent product for continuing to strive for excellence could be an error in thinking. The continual and escalading type of stress to which the participants are referring has much more to do with meeting other organizational demands placed upon them then the tension that we require as individuals to meet our own expectations. An environment which is established through emotionally intelligent strategies and led by emotionally aware and intelligent individuals provides a much more positive, constructive environment in which individuals, through self awareness, may be able to keep the external negative catalysts in perspective.

Conclusion four:

Emotional intelligence is a critical factor in the success of school based administrators – both in awareness and understanding. Findings reveal that participating administrators saw their roles as premised on a clear social and personal awareness. Data from the survey revealed that participants deem interpersonal and intrapersonal skills as essential to their school based roles.

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