Emotional Intelligence: A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the literature and traces the origins of the Emotional Intelligence (EI) construct, its definition, measurement and its relationship to leadership and job performance, and other related variables. A discussion of various EI instruments, their relative strengths and weaknesses, psychometric properties and utility are presented. Several studies of EI and their relationship to leadership and job performance are examined. The author concludes by suggesting the EI construct be abandoned and that charisma and maturity are more accurate descriptions of the putative EI construct.