The Effect of an Emotional Intelligence Training Program on Use of a Transformational Leadership Style Among Nurse Managers

Background: Leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence have been associated with transformational leadership styles, which have been found to directly impact leader effectiveness. Emotional intelligence training has been deemed the most effective method for improving nurse manager emotional intelligence and transformational leadership by providing participants with the tools they need to be successful. Conceptual Framework: Transformational leadership was used as the conceptual framework for this study and is defined as ‘‘a leadership process that is systematic, consisting of purposeful and organized search for changes, systematic analysis, and the capacity to move resources from areas of lesser to greater productivity to bring about a strategic transformation.’’ Methodology: Seventy-four nurse managers from the system organization were invited to participate in the study. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) were used to assess participant emotional intelligence levels and leadership styles. Results: A total of 45 participants completed the pre-survey, 19 participants completed the post-survey, and nine participants completed all study requirements. Pre and post scores for the TEIQue-SF and MLQ-5X were not significantly different for the nine participants. Discussion: Overall, the educational training intervention implemented in this study did not prove to be an effective method for improving emotional intelligence or utilization of a transformational leadership style. Conclusion: Despite high scores overall, study results did not show any statistically significant change from pre to post intervention, with many post-intervention scores being lower than those collected in the pre-survey. Further research is recommended