Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Dissertations Graduate School Spring 2018 Emotional Intelligence and Leader Development: Measuring Trait Emotional Intelligence Scores of Mid- Career Commissioned U.S. Army Officers Stephan Lorentz Walters Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/diss Part of the Leadership Studies Commons, Military and Veterans Studies Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Walters, Stephan Lorentz, "Emotional Intelligence and Leader Development: Measuring Trait Emotional Intelligence Scores of Mid- Career Commissioned U.S. Army Officers" (2018). Dissertations. Paper 148. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/diss/148 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT: MEASURING TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SCORES OF MID-CAREER COMMISSIONED U.S. ARMY OFFICERS A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education By LTC Stephan Walters May 2018 PREFACE This study embraces the following five ideologies: (1) adaptive leadership requires both cognitive (thinking) and affective (emotional) physiological capabilities; (2) organizations that develop leaders are able to determine program effectiveness via psychometric instruments which measure individualized growth in leader attributes (what a leader is) and leadership competencies (what a leader does); (3) organizations such as the U.S. Army, that are developing adaptive leaders, require psychometric feedback instruments that inform both the cognitive and the affective domains of adaptive growth; (4) the purpose of leadership is to influence other humans, and regardless of context or setting, all humans (leaders, followers, peers, the opposition) have emotions; (5) the foundation of leader development is self-awareness, and self-report (self-efficacy) emotional intelligence instruments (and various other psychometric measurements) could provide the U.S. Army a means to both inform and shape leader identity. The overarching purpose of this study was to help all leaders throughout the U.S. Army determine if current leader development practices and instruments adequately provide individualized feedback on the leadership traits required for the organization’s sustained success. This research could influence decisions about future leader development practices (Ways) and instruments (Means), while helping the U.S. Army achieve the strategic goals (Ends) related to developing adaptive and self-aware leaders who are open to the constant changes of the modern operational environment. In addition, this research creates the opportunity to gain knowledge that may be transferable to the corporate sector, to nonprofit organizations, and to other governmental institutions. iii CONTENTS CHAPTER I: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Introduction……………………………………………………………………....... 1 The United States Army…………………………………………………………… 2 The Problem Defined……………………………………………………………… 10 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………. 15 Research Questions………………………………………………………………... 19 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………….. 20 Assumptions and Limitations of the Study………………………………………... 22 Definition of Key Terms and Concepts…………………………………………… 25 Chapter Summary…………………………………………………………………. 29 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 32 Literature Review Design Concept and Overview………………………..……….. 34 Leadership and the U.S. Army…………………………………………………….. 37 How the Human Brain Works………………………………………………….. 38 Thinking Challenges and Traps……………………………………………….... 43 Myths and Fallacies about Leadership…………………………………………. 49 Leadership Definitions…………………………………………………………. 59 iv Leadership Theory and U.S. Army Doctrine…………………………………... 68 U.S. Army Leadership Requirements Model (ALRM)………………………… 77 Military Leadership Studies……………………………………………………. 95 Adaptive Leadership……………………………………………………………. 102 Developing Others and Developing Self (Feedback)…………………………... 105 U.S. Army and Leadership Section Summary…………………………………. 108 U.S. Army Leader Development Instruments……………………………………... 109 Difference between Leader Development and Leadership Development……… 111 U.S. Army’s Leader Development Strategy (Ends)……………………………. 114 Leader Development Instruments (Ways & Means)…………………………… 130 Self-Awareness and Blind Spots……………………………………………….. 149 U.S. Army Leader Development Instruments Section Summary……………… 155 Emotional Intelligence…………………………………………………………….. 156 Human Emotions……………………………………………………………….. 158 Human Intelligence…………………………………………………………….. 162 Emotional Intelligence Models………………………………………………… 175 Social Awareness and Personalities……………………………………………. 191 Emotional Intelligence Section Summary…………………………………….... 193 Developing Adaptive and Self-Aware Leaders for a Complex World……………. 194 Chapter Summary…………………………………………………………………. 197 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 200 v Research Design and Variable Logic Model………………………………………. 201 Research Questions………………………………………………………………... 203 Evidence Influencing Hypotheses……………………………………………… 205 Instrumentation……………………………………………………………………. 209 Validity…………………………………………………………………………. 210 Reliability………………………………………………………………………. 211 Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire—Short Form (TEIQ-SF)………… 212 Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)…………………………………………. 214 Demographic Survey Questions………………………………………………... 216 Open Response Question……………………………………………………….. 216 Population and Sample…………………………………………………………….. 217 Procedures Used to Collect Data…………………………………………………... 220 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………… 225 Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………………….. 226 Chapter Summary………………………………………………………………….. 227 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 229 Actual Sample………………………………………………………………….. 231 Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………………………. 231 Research Questions………………………………………………………………... 232 Open Response Feedback from Survey Participants………………………………. 240 Chapter Summary………………………………………………………………….. 242 vi CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 245 The Study in Brief…………………………………………………………………. 247 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………. 250 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………. 255 Future Studies……………………………………………………………………… 257 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………... 258 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………… 261 APPENDIX A: Trait EI Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQ-SF)…………………... 297 APPENDIX B: Permission to use Trait EI Instrument for Research Project……… 299 APPENDIX C: Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)…………………………… 301 APPENDIX D: Web-based Survey Instrument……………………………………. 303 APPENDIX E: Western Kentucky University (WKU) IRB Application………..... 309 APPENDIX F: WKU IRB Approval Letter……………………………………….. 319 APPENDIX G: Informed Consent Document…………………………………….. 321 APPENDIX H: Command and General Staff College (CGSC) Letter of Support... 322 APPENDIX I: CGSC Researcher Responsibilities………………………………... 323 APPENDIX J: Email message to survey participants……………………………... 325 APPENDIX K: Variable Definitions and Logic Model…………………………… 327 APPENDIX L: Variable Coding in SPSS…………………………………………. 330 APPENDIX M: U.S. Army/CGSC IRB Approval Letter………………………..... 345 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Goleman’s Model of Emotional Intelligence…………………………... 17 Figure 2. Literature Review Design Concept…………………………………….. 34 Figure 3. The U.S. Army Leadership Attributes and Competencies…………….. 70 Figure 4. U.S. Army Leadership Requirements Model (ALRM)………………... 79 Figure 5. The U.S. Army Leader Development Strategy………………………… 117 Figure 6. Four-branch Emotional Intelligence Circular Model………………….. 177 Figure 7. Independent and Dependent Variables of Interest (Logic Model)…….. 202 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Mission Command Linkage to Army Leadership Requirements…..…. 75 Table 2. Summary of the Leadership Attributes associated with Character……. 80 Table 3. Summary of the Leadership Attributes associated with Presence…….. 83 Table 4. Summary of the Leadership Attributes associated with Intellect……... 86 Table 5. Core Leadership Skills………………………………………………… 94 Table 6. Adaptive Leadership Skills……………………………………………. 95 Table 7. Difference between Leader Development (Human Capital) and Leadership Development (Social Capital)…………………………….. 113 Table 8. Top 5 Gaps in Leaders Awareness as rated by others………………… 150 Table 9. List of common positive and negative emotions……………………… 161 Table 10. U.S. Army’s ASVAB composite score categories……………………. 166 Table 11. The Sampling Domain of the Trait EI Questionnaire (TEIQue)……… 180 Table 12. The Bar-On EQ-i Scales and what the Scales assess………………….. 182 Table 13. Goleman’s evolving Emotional Intelligence Model…………………... 185 Table 14. Goleman’s most recent Emotional Intelligence Model……………….. 185 Table 15. Means by Gender and Measure of Trait EI (United Kingdom Sample). 215 Table 16. Means by Gender and Measure of Trait EI (This study’s Sample)…… 235 Table 17. t-tests — Gender by Emotional Intelligence………………………….. 236 Table 18. Means by Warfighter Function and Measure of Trait EI……………... 238 Table 19. t-tests — Warfighter Function by Emotional Intelligence……………. 238 Table