INTRODUCTION

Emotional Intelligence is a term created by three

researchers John Mayer, David Caruso and Peter
Salavoy and popularized by Dan Goleman in his 1996
book of the same name.
We define EI as the ability to:
1) Recognize, understand and manage our own
emotions.
2) Recognize, understand and influence the emotions
of others.

It is the ability to perceive and express

emotions, to use emotions to facilitate
thinking, to understand and reason with
emotions, and to effectively manage
emotions within oneself and in relationships
with others.

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Mahatma Gandhi
(1869-1948)

The principles of emotional intelligence can be applied to

the leadership style of Mahatma Gandhi, which he modeled
in his quest to liberate the people of India from British rule.
The use of self-motivation and determination Gandhi built a
movement for Indian independence by leading the people of
India through the use of non-violent civil disobedience. This
approach to leadership would later come to be essential
during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s in the United
States.
Gandhis words touched millions of his countrymen. Use
of empathy, a key trait used in emotional intelligence, was a
major proponent for his success in gaining the admiration of
the people of India. They followed him because he was

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fighting their fight, he was one of them, and he lived in such

a manner that reflected their lives.
A leader who is familiar with others feelings is able to
feel what others are feeling, which allows the leader to
facilitate positive outcomes by directing the group based on
their common principles. This ability is manifested in the
turbulent aftermath following the massacre at Amritsar,
where hundreds of unarmed demonstrators had been
gunned down. In reference to the staggering ratio of 4,000
Indians to 1 British, the Indians could have enacted an
unprecedented retaliation that could have eliminated the
British in a matter of days. Aurun Gandhi reported it was his
grandfather who stepped in and said no, we cannot be to
the British what General Dyers been to us. We have to show
them that we could rise beyond that kind of hate. Through
his integrity and his ability to remain steadfast in his
convictions of nonviolence, especially in situations which
challenged his resolve, Gandhi began to win the hearts of
not only those in India, but throughout the world.
Subsequently, this would lead to the British withdrawal.

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Steve Jobs
(1955-2011)

In the April 2012 Harvard business review, biographer

Walter Isaacs on summarizes the keys to jobs success:

Focus
Simplify
Take responsibility end to end
When products before profits
Dont be a slave to focus groups
Bend reality
Impute
Tolerate only A players
Engage face to face
Know both the big picture and the details

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 Combine the humanities with the sciences

Stay hungry, stay foolish.
You will notice obvious omission such as treating others
with respect, coaching and developing others, personal
integrity, flexibility and adaptability, teamwork, effective
negotiation and interpersonal relationships. In fact jobs
was well known for his lack of emotional intelligence-if he
was self aware he didnt use that awareness to self
regulate and to build collegial relationships. Instead he
shamelessly manipulated others, threw tantrums,
screamed insults and provoked controversy.
But he was very emotionally attuned able to read people and
know their psychological strengths and vulnerabilities. He
intuitively knew when someone was faking it or truly knew
something. He had the uncanny capacity to know exactly
what your weak point is ,know what will make you feel small,
to make you cringe.

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Nelson Mandela
(1918-2013)

Nelson Mandela famously forgave the people who

imprisoned him, an extraordinary thing especially since they
were willing actors in an abusive system, one that imposed
decades of indescribable suffering and violence on millions
of his people. He forgave Ronald Reagan and Margaret
Thatcher for doing business with the apartheid regime and
would probably forgive members of the U.S. Congress and
political pundits who labeled him a Communist and terrorist
even upon the announcement of his death.
There were American diplomats who ignored the ignored
the brutality and violence of the apartheid government and
supported his imprisonment. Most of us would find that hard
to take. Most of us struggle to accept being misjudged or
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unfairly labeled even when the consequences are simply

emotional tensions. And in our sound bite culture, there is a
rush to idolize a person with such a remarkable emotional
capacity. We might miss the ways he was exactly like the
rest of us and in doing that miss also the opportunity to learn
how we might be more like him.
Mandela didnt reconcile with white South Africans out of
some kind of Christlike purity, writes Peter Beinart at The
Daily Beast. He always insisted on something in
return. When he was offered release from prison on the
condition that he renounce violence six times by apartheid
leaders, he responded by saying he would renounce
violence when the white government did the same. The
African National Congress did not suspend the armed
struggle for another six years," states Beinart, "until Mandela
had been unconditionally released from prison and the ANC
unbanned.

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REFERENCE
http://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2013/09/22/emotionalintelligence-of-gandhi/
http://blog.haygroup.com/nelson-mandela-the-emotionallyintelligent-leader/

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