The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Style

Background and The emotional intelligence (EQ) includes understanding and control of emotions. The purpose of the present study was investigating the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership styles (transformation and transaction) in the coaches of sports teams of Region 9 of the Islamic Azad University. Methods and Materials: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive analytical research. The study population included male coaches of the sports teams of the Islamic Azad University Region 9, from among who 240 participants were randomly selected. Data collection was done through emotional intelligence questionnaire (Shoot, validity 0.84), leadership style questionnaire (Varner Bourk, validity 0.79) and a demographic questionnaire. The obtained data were statistically analyzed in SPSS 13 using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and Pearson Correlation coefficient. Mean emotional intelligence of the participants was 116.25±20.21; mean transformation and transaction leadership styles scores were 50.60±5.41 and 24.42±5.41, respectively. There was a positive significant correlation between emotional intelligence and transformation leadership style (p=0.001, r=0.404). Also, there was a significant negative correlation between emotional intelligence and transactional leadership style (p=0.001, r=-0.404). Investigating the effect of age, experience and educational major on the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership style showed that older age and experience of the coach highlights this relationship (r=0.475, p=0.000). However, this correlation was significant only in coaches with non-physical-training education (p=0.000, r=0.559). According to the results, it can be stated the higher the emotional intelligence in coaches, the stronger their willingness to transformation leadership style will be.