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144 PART 3: THE PERSONAL SIDE OF LEADERSHIP

Exhibit 5.3 Emotional Intelligence and Earning Power

Most Expressive
Least Expressive

Best at Reading Emotions
Worst at Reading Emotions

0 0 50 100 150 200 250
50
100
Thousands of Dollars
Entrepreneurs who scored in the top 10 percent in these two categories earn more money than
those in the bottom 10 percent.

Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lally School of Management and Technology, as reported in BusinessWeek Frontier (February 5, 2001), p. F4.

Moreover, in a study of entrepreneurs, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute found that those who are more expressive of their own emotions
and more in tune with the emotions of others make more money, as
Action Memo
illustrated in Exhibit 5.3.
Some leaders act as if people leave their emotions at home
As a leader, you can develop emotional
when they come to work, but we all know this isn’t true. Indeed, a
intelligence and act as a positive role model
key component of leadership is being emotionally connected to others
by being optimistic and enthusiastic.
and understanding how emotions affect working relationships and
performance.
What Are Emotions?
There are hundreds of emotions and more subtleties of emotion than there are
words to explain them. One important ability for leaders is to understand the
range of emotions people have and how these emotions may manifest themselves.
Many researchers accept eight categories or “families” of emotions, as illustrated
in Exhibit 5.4. These categories do not resolve every question about how to cat-
41

egorize emotions, and scientific debate continues. The argument for there being
a set of core emotions is based partly on the discovery that specific facial expres-

sions for four of them (fear, anger, sadness, and enjoyment) are universally rec-
ognized. People in cultures around the world have been found to recognize these
same basic emotions when shown photographs of facial expressions. The primary
emotions and some of their variations follow.
• Anger: fury, outrage, resentment, exasperation, indignation, animosity,
annoyance, irritability, hostility, violence.
• Sadness: grief, sorrow, gloom, melancholy, self-pity, loneliness, dejection,
despair, depression.
• Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, concern, consternation,
wariness, edginess, dread, fright, terror, panic.
• Enjoyment: happiness, joy, relief, contentment, delight, amusement, pride,
sensual pleasure, thrill, rapture, gratification, satisfaction, euphoria.