Critical Thinking Excercise

Critical Thinking Exercise

Maciej Golonka

University of Maryland University College

MBA Fundamentals

AMBA 600 E281

Gregory Evans

May 18, 2014

Critical Thinking Exercise

Part 1 – Summary of The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders

Daniel Goleman (1998), in his article The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders, contents that there is clearly a difference between “rational and emotional intelligence” (p. 20).

He starts his article by describing a personal experience when a man on a highway got out of his vehicle in traffic and helped a handicapped person. This, in Goleman’s words, defined him as a “true leader” (p. 20), who recognized a problem and took action to fix it. It showed that he had both emotional and rational qualities, of which the emotional are more important, but more scarce. Almost all leaders have high IQ, but there is a disparity in their emotional aptitude, which after all can be learned. One study of 52 senior executives from global companies showed that only about 10 percent had distinguishably higher intellectual skills, while two-thirds stood out based on emotional intelligence.

The makeup of the brain ensures that our feelings are prioritized over thoughts. The limbic center, which handles our emotions, developed much earlier than the centers for complex thinking. All of our emotional information is stored in the amygdala, which is directly connected to the thalamus. This enables us to see everything through our emotional “eyes”, and compare it to our previous experiences. Thankfully, after the amygdala reacts, the information is sent to the prefrontal cortex, where we can make a rational decision. It is imperative for our emotional and thinking brains to work together. That harmony between those two brains is the emotional intelligence. Goleman (1998) identifies five dimensions of emotional intelligence.

1. Self-awareness. Normally, we do not pay attention to our moods. We are too preoccupied with thinking and planning...