Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership in Social Work

1. Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership in Social Work Dr Natalie Kenely PhDUniversity of Malta

3. The Organisation Agency - the main social work services provider in Malta. Services: aimed at addressing the current and emerging needs of the persons it encounters in the course of conducting its duties. Priority to and focus on children, their families and the community at large thus ensuring that social networks are strengthened and are more equipped in dealing with the real issues that members of our society, especially children and families, are facing.�

4. The Research Question �Do the structures and human resource functions in place at the Agency, create a climate that is conducive to an emotionally intelligent workplace?� Thus, the issues of organisational climate, human resource functions and leadership are explored in the light of their effect on relationships within the Agency, and therefore their influence on the levels of emotional intelligence within the Agency.

6. Emotional Intelligence The ability to: accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others; use emotions to facilitate thinking; understand emotional meanings and manage emotions. (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, 2002)

7. Emotional Intelligence & Leadership The most effective managers are those who have the ability to sense how their employees feel about their work situation and to intervene when those employees begin to feel dissatisfied or discouraged. Effective managers are also able to manage their own emotions, with the result that employees trust them and feel good about working with them (Cherniss, 2000).

8. Transformational Leaders Clearly see themselves as change agents. They set out to make a difference and to transform the organisation for which they are responsible; Are courageous. They can deal with resistance, take a stand, take risks, and confront reality; They believe in people. They have well-developed beliefs about motivation, trust and empowerment; They are driven by a strong set of values; They are life-long learners. They view mistakes � their own as well as other people�s � as learning opportunities; They can cope with complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity; and They are visionaries. Sadler (2003, pp 25)

9. �Although providing leadership is only one aspect of what the manager does, it is the most visible � particularly when it is lacking� (Coulshed et al, 2006, pp 89).

10. Research Design Action Research Approach - deliberately incorporates an action component into the research design; Grounded Theory Approach in its analysis of data collected - these two approaches complement each other as an effective tool for amplifying the voices of the participants in the study.

11. Timeline October 2004 - Cultural Analysis of the Agency (74% return) reveals areas of growth that need tackling : 1. A vast majority of staff do not feel that their input is appreciated and encouraged by management. 2. A discrepancy is apparent in the way staff and management view: - leadership within the Agency; - the effectiveness of teamwork within the Agency; - conflict resolution in the Agency; and - the effectiveness of training offered to the staff (especially the newer ones). 3. A vast majority of staff maintain that the Agency makes very few formal or informal employee recognition efforts.

12. Timeline August 2005 - In conjunction with Agency Management team: 1. decided to focus on and target the leadership team of the agency. 2. launched the MSCEIT (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, 2002). October 2005 � All the Managers took the MSCEIT. The MSCEIT is based on the four branch model of emotional intelligence and assesses the four areas of capacities or skills that collectively describe many areas of emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). More specifically, this model defines emotional intelligence as involving the abilities to: - accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others; - use emotions to facilitate thinking; - understand emotional meanings; and manage emotions. (Mayer, Salovey and Caruso, 2002 The MSCEIT is based on the four branch model of emotional intelligence and assesses the four areas of capacities or skills that collectively describe many areas of emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). More specifically, this model defines emotional intelligence as involving the abilities to: - accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others; - use emotions to facilitate thinking; - understand emotional meanings; and manage emotions. (Mayer, Salovey and Caruso, 2002

14. Timeline February 2006 - A Training Day with Agency Managers - a programme created and developed by the Researcher, based on the training and development needs identified through previous stages of research. May 2006 - Follow-up meeting on a one-to-one basis � for a more personalised feedback briefing session on MSCEIT results � using the MSCEIT Resource Reports (May 2006). August 2006 - Managers re-took the MSCEIT.

17. Analysis of qualitative data A qualitative analysis of the data collected using the Grounded Theory Approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1990): the recorded observations kept during the Training Day; the individual briefing sessions with the Managers; the Resource Reports issued for each participant in the study.

18. Five key variables Management Training / Preparedness Gender Organisational Culture Workload Nature of the Team

19. Management Training & Preparedness �I was thinking how much this concept of emotional intelligence has been told to managers. I�m thinking of managers, men, who are basically taught or have been cultured to take decisions, and if someone says something, they are told not to be emotional.�

20. Management Training & Preparedness �I am thinking about the type of training we received. Should we as social work managers be given the same training as managers in a factory?�

21. Gender Newell (2007) maintains that while research suggests that, in much of the European Union, women and men now comprise equal numbers in many professions such as law and medicine, and equally occupy junior to middle management positions, the top rungs of most professions and organisations remain heavily male dominated. She quotes the European Labour Force Survey (Eurostat) for 2006 which shows that in Europe, 70% of managers are men and only 30% are women. In Malta the proportion of female managers are well below average at 13%.

22. Gender �a significant gender gap still persists at senior levels in organisations, even within those sectors predominantly occupied by women � notably, the education and health and social services sectors� (Newell, 2007, pp 1).

23. Gender �We are expected to put aside our emotions and in order to show people that I am a good manager I cannot decide with my heart but only with my mind.�

24. Gender �Even if I believe that emotions are important in my role, someone, an echo behind me tells me that if I want to be a good manager, I must not let my emotions interfere, I must decide with my mind only, just see the obstacles, the financial difficulties��

25. Leadership Characteristics Humility Humanity Trustworthiness In tune Simplicity Charisma Ability to create a comfortable environment Genuineness Strength of character Influential Integrity Availability Strength of values Encouraging Discipline Considerateness Ability to bring out the best in people Comfortable with self and achievements

26. Gender �I am thinking about our perception of managers and the perception we were given of what a manager should be and how this influences others.� �I feel I am going against my own nature. I am expected to be a manager, detached from emotions in myself and in others. But that is not me.�

27. Organisational Culture The participants shared deeply the noticeable and perceptible suffering they are enduring in having to de-nude themselves of and shed the emotional competencies they had internalised as front line workers. They feel that the passage from front line workers to managers and leaders places on them the expectation of discarding the very essence and spirit of what they had become.

28. Organisational Culture The Agency�s core identity or corporate culture seems to be based on the belief that moving into a leadership position intrinsically requires of the new incumbent the need to put aside the emotional competencies previously used when the individual was still practising as a front-line social worker and behaving differently.

29. Workload �The demands are always on the increase. Expectations are increasing from all sides, not just from management�maybe this is a time of change to a different strategy or system. This is what I am focusing on as we discuss these results.�

30. Nature of the Team �Through our interventions with clients, we must manage to create a space that is different � our process doesn�t have to make a difference simply because a task is achieved, but also because we would have created a space through the helping relationship that makes a difference to the other person.� �

31. Nature of the Team � It is true that we cannot be humane only, however if above all the constraints that we have, we manage to be humane as well, I think that that is the only thing that will keep people working. If we remove this human aspect of management we are going to lose more people. I believe this strongly.�

32. Effects on Team Climate �I think that one of the major consequences is that emotions are contagious, and if we are not managing our emotions well, our teams are not managing them and probably not even the way they are transferring them to the client.�

33. Effects on Team Climate �If a person, who is a front liner, is angry and is not able to manage this frustration, and then during supervision finds a manager who is not able to contain this, what service are we giving to clients at the end of the day�if we are not even able to go through this process?�

34. Effects on Team Climate �We become alienated and lose our sense of awareness � we start linking our emotions to our vulnerabilities and this can be dangerous because it can create a block which results in extensive consequences.�

35. Effects on Team Climate �One of the major consequences of all this is staff turnover, which we already suffer from � maybe in particular services more than in others. Of course this does not reflect only on leaders, there are other factors, however I feel that leadership is an important factor.�

36. Some Recommendations A complete culture change in the organisation, with the focus on valuing, developing and caring for the workforce, as well as on organising work more sensibly; Thorough preparation towards becoming emotionally intelligent transformational leaders would result in the combination of leadership expertise of a superior manager with the people-centred focus that these managers bring with them into their new role; Increase awareness that just as outcomes in social work are important, the very processes employed to bring about change in people are also pivotal;

37. Some Recommendations Create a climate which allows social workers the freedom and space to be what they really want to be � emotionally competent and positive about the effect of their service to clients. Focus on management training � with a concentration on transformational leadership; Focus on career development for women managers � this group has proved to be frequently isolated yet highly visible within a male-dominated management culture that is preventing them from placing their particular strengths at the service of the organisation.

38. Concluding thought Those human service organisations that serve people best, �understand effective management and ensure that its practice is grounded in the humanitarian ethics and principles that should guide management and practice alike� (Coulshed et al, 2006, pp 221).

39. Concluding quotation �What made me reflect more was the statement �when you decide, don�t decide as a social worker, decide as a manager.� It is as if a manager cannot have feelings or refer to her people�s emotional state. I was made to throw all the emotions that had been expressed to the back of my mind or even forget them and not use them. Now as I am reflecting, I understand that once emotions are out, those emotions are there, they reflect what I and my staff are feeling � that is what we brought with us. What I need to do, is that in a less-emotionally charged moment, I must decide and I need to use those emotions and not put them aside or ignore them any longer.�

40. References: Cherniss, C. (2000). Emotional Intelligence: What it is and why it matters, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology, New Orleans, LA available at www.eiconsortium.org Cherniss, C., and Goleman, D., (editors) (2001). The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Coulshed, V., Mullender, A., David, J., and Thompson, N., (2006). Management in social work. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Mayer, J., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D., (2002). Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT): User�s manual. Toronto: Multi Health Systems. Newell, H., (2007). The Glass Ceiling Effect. Gender and Career Development. Available on the web at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/studies/tn0612019s/tn0612019s_2.html Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page. Strauss, A., and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research � Grounded theory procedures and techniques. UK: Sage Publications.

41. Thank you natalie.kenely@um.edu.mt