Business Leadership: Describe What Makes a Leader? (Essay Sample)

Name Course Tutor Date What Makes a Leader? Over the years, researchers and scholars have tried to come up with evidence to support their arguments regarding what makes a leader.  This article is a reprint of Daniel Goleman’s 1998 piece of writing, which discussed emotional intelligence. From a research involving more than 200 companies, Goleman found that emotional intelligence is a common characteristic among effective leaders (Goleman para. 6). The article identifies and discusses five components of emotional intelligence; namely, self-awareness and regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. In the editorial, the writer provides ways that can be used to evaluate and identify emotional intelligence among leaders. In addition, it explains how emotional intelligence can be developed as well as describes how emotional intelligence is connected to performance. The author has successfully used the technique of rhetorical questions to make the writing interesting. The reader also feels attached to the editorial because it has subheadings that make it easy to follow the treatise step by step, as well as ensure a smooth flow of ideas (Goleman para. 8). The writer uses a table to highlight the five components of emotional intelligence, indicating their definitions and hallmarks in different columns. One of the most conspicuous concepts that are easily noticeable in the article is the importance of emotional intelligence when selecting leaders. Some people believe that academic qualifications are the most essential when picking employees but this piece of writing proves otherwise. The editorial does not try to show how the education qualifications are irrelevant or useless, but rather how emotional intelligence is equally important.  He explains in detail the five components of emotional intellect.  In addition, it elaborates how to identify a good leader easily by looking at the components (Goleman para. 13). The first three factors are concerned with the leader hi...