A Review of the Linkages between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in the Military Forces

Abstract

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of emotional intelligence (EI) in the military leadership. Extant literature indicates the possibility that emotional intelligence improves leadership capabilities and ethical conduct of military leaders. However, military leadership has historically been averse to leveraging EI, primarily due to concerns about a potential weakening in task orientation that it would cause. The neglect to nurture EI results in adaptability issues when military leaders try to engage in social relationships in their roles as members of the civil society. It is possible that tapping into EI can help our Veterans gain resiliency against posttraumatic stress, relationship dysfunction, sexual issues, attachment disorders, among other issues. Helping veterans re-integrate into civilian life should be a priority and is an ethical necessity. Investigation in the paper is carried out in the following logical sequence: identification of the scope of study, based on the generic literature on leadership and EI; defining specific issues and associated problem statements, primarily based on surveying gaps in the literature on military leadership; proposition of solutions, based on theories and models in the literature. The views presented here gains additional currency, given the fact that the presence of armed forces in non-combat peacekeeping missions globally suddenly has recently increased. Also, while this research highlights problems specific to the US military forces, we believe its findings have global applicability.