Beyond Emotional Intelligence Competencies: Exploring the Complex Social-Emotional Meta-Competencies of Global Leaders
Abstract
Emotional intelligence is a primary driver of enhanced organizational performance. Therefore, organizations should strive to select and train global leaders with emotional intelligence. However, organizations are becoming predominantly multicultural, and the concept of emotional intelligence is challenged by cultural differences when it is applied to leading global teams and organizations. The current literature is still heterogeneous regarding the exact comparability of culture-bound emotional intelligence and its cross-cultural counterpart, emotional intelligence across cultures. However, there is some consensus in past studies regarding the potential universality of emotional intelligence competencies across cultures separately. The cultural distinction appears with the specific behaviors manifesting these competencies. This research originally explored the missing link between emotional intelligence competencies and their culturally specific behavioral manifestations. Using a qualitative approach, this exploratory study was able to identify five main complex social-emotional meta-competencies that potentially enable leaders to correctly use their emotional intelligence in global environments and perform across cultures: transparency, empathy, emotional comfort, and self-control, authenticity, and humility. First, transparency is a key meta-competency for leaders in order to make their emotional intelligence competencies’ intentions transpire across cultures. Empathy is a second key meta-competency for leaders to create a direct connection with individuals across cultures. Third, authenticity is a key meta-competency for leaders to balance their cultural adaptation with their core values and identity. Fourth, emotional comfort and self-control are key meta-competencies for leaders when facing new and unknown cultural behaviors across cultures. Finally, humility is a key meta-competency for leaders regarding their permanent and long-term learning process across cultures. Overall, these five additional meta-competencies combined should allow leaders to use their emotional intelligence competencies across cultures effectively and become effective global leaders. Ultimately, the key findings of this study could unlock the full potential of emotionally intelligent global leaders when working in multicultural organizations and hopefully, therefore, start expanding the popularity of complex social-emotional meta-competencies in future cross-cultural studies.
Subject Area
Management|Organizational behavior
Recommended Citation
Forget, Maurice, "Beyond Emotional Intelligence Competencies: Exploring the Complex Social-Emotional Meta-Competencies of Global Leaders" (2022). Dissertations available from ProQuest. AAI29259214.
https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI29259214