An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence, Transactional and Transformational Leadership Styles in Banking Sector

Abstract

Leadership theory and research have not adequately considered how leader's emotions influence their effectiveness. While there exists a significant amount of research on leadership, literature is comparatively thin on the relationship between leadership and emotional intelligence. A better understanding of emotional intelligence and its relationship to leadership style can address the existing gaps in literature and provide a more informed link between theory and practice. This study attempts to broaden the knowledge base of Human Resource Development through the investigation of emotional intelligence and leadership style. The total sample of 381 employees participated in the study. The findings of this study suggest that the ability perspective of emotional intelligence does not have any relationship with perceptions of leadership style. This finding is contrary to what one would expect from reviewing the literature and the associated citations. Mixed reliability results obtained within the correlations among the items, pointing to some potential construct validity problems served as a possible explanation for no significant correlations found between the undertaken dimensions.