Similar to an effective leader in business, a high-performance sports coach requires qualities beyond technical and tactical acumen, such as leadership and the ability to facilitate a functional leader-follower relationship. Underpinning this dynamic relationship that exists between the coach and athlete is a leader's acumen associated with emotional intelligence (EI). This article aims to highlight the utility of EI for high-performance sport coaches, and provide concrete examples as to how EI might enhance a coaches' ability to lead and direct the production of high-performance with their staff and athletes. First, a brief overview of the link between EI and leadership quality is presented. Second, Mayer and Salovey's (1997) four-branch model of EI (i.e., perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions) will be used as a framework for demonstrating how a coach may use such abilities to lead and produce high-performance.
MallettC. J., High Performance Coaches' Careers and Communities, in: LyleJ.CushionC. eds., Sports Coaching: Professionalism and Practice, Elsevier, London, 2010, 119–133.
2.
MallettC.RossiT.TinningR., AFL Research Report: Coaching Knowledge, Learning and Mentoring in the AFL, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 2007.
3.
CushionC.J., Modelling the Complexity of the Coaching Process, International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 2007, 2(4), 395–401.
4.
LyleJ., Sports Coaching Concepts: A Framework for Coaches' Behavior, Routledge, London, 2002.
5.
ChanJ.T.MallettC.J., Beyond Skills and Drills in Coaching: Developing Emotional Intelligence for Sports Leadership, Manuscript Under Review, 2011.
6.
LockeE.A., Why Emotional Intelligence is an Invalid Concept, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2005, 26, 425–431.
7.
MatthewsG.ZeidnerM.RobertsR. D., Emotional Intelligence: Science and Myth, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2002.
8.
MayerJ.D.RobertsR.D.BarsadeS.G., Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence, Annual Review of Psychology, 2008, 59, 507–536.
9.
ZeidnerM.MatthewsG.RobertsR.D., Slow Down, You Move Too Fast: Emotional Intelligence Remains an “Elusive Construct,”Emotion, 2001, 1, 265–275.
10.
MayerJ.D.SaloveyP., What is Emotional Intelligence? in: SaloveyP.SluyterD. J. ed., Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications, Basic Books, New York, 1997, 3–31.
11.
GolemanD., Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ for Character, Health, and Lifelong Achievement, Bantam Books, New York, 1995.
12.
Bar-OnR., The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i): A Test of Emotional Intelligence, Multi-Health Systems, Toronto, 1997.
13.
DausC.S.AshkanasyN.M., The Case for an Ability-Based Model of Emotional Intelligence in Organizational Behavior, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2005, 26, 453–466.
14.
GrovesK.S.McEnrueM.P.ShenW., Developing and Measuring the Emotional Intelligence of Leaders, Journal of Management Development, 2008, 27(2), 225–250.
15.
MeyerB.B.FletcherT.B., Emotional Intelligence: A Theoretical Overview and Implications for Research and Professional Practice in Sport Psychology, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2007, 19(1), 1–15.
16.
MayerJ.D.CarusoD.R.SaloveyP., Emotional Intelligence Meets Traditional Standards for an Intelligence, Intelligence, 2000, 27(4), 267–298.
17.
WinstonB.E.PattersonK., An Integrative Definition of Leadership, International Journal of Leadership Studies, 2006, 1(2), 6–66.
18.
BennisW, On Becoming a Leader, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York, 1989.
19.
KouzesJ.M.PosnerB.Z., The Leadership Challenge, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995.
20.
GeorgeJ.M., Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence, Human Relations, 2000, 53, 1027–1055.
21.
AshkanasyN.M.DausC., Emotion in the Workplace: The New Challenge for Managers, Academy of Management Executive, 2002, 16(1), 76–86.
22.
MegerianL.E.SosikJ.J., An Affair of the Heart: Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership, The Journal of Leadership Studies, 1996, 3(3), 31–48.
23.
RiggioR.E.ReichardR.J., The Emotional and Social Intelligences of Effective Leadership: An Emotional and Social Skill Approach, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2008, 23(2), 169–185.
24.
AntonakisJ., On Why “Emotional Intelligence” Will Not Predict Leadership Effectiveness Beyond IQ or the “Big Five”: An Extension and Rejoinder, Organizational Analysis, 2004, 12, 171–182.
25.
AntonakisJ.AshkanasyN.M.DasboroughM.T., Does Leadership Need Emotional Intelligence?The Leadership Quarterly, 2009, 20, 247–261.
26.
BarbutoJ.E.BurbachM.E., The Emotional Intelligence of Transformational Leaders: A Field Study of Elected Officials, Journal of Social Psychology, 2006, 146, 51–64.
27.
BrownF.W.BryantS.E.ReillyM.D., Does Emotional Intelligence – As Measured by the EQI – Influence Transformational Leadership and/or Desirable Outcomes?Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2006, 27, 330–351.
28.
DamasioA.R., Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain, Avon Books, New York, 1994.
29.
AshkanasyN.M.TseB., Transformational Leadership as Management of Emotion, In: AshkanasyN.M.HärtelC.E.J.ZerbeW. eds., Emotions in the Workplace: Research, Theory, and Practice, Quorum Books, Westport, CT, 2000, 221–235.
30.
MillsL.B., A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership, Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 2009, 3(2), 22–38.
31.
HumpheryR.H., The Many Faces of Emotional Leadership, The Leadership Quarterly, 2002, 13(5), 493–504.
32.
BarsadeS.G., The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and Its Influence on Group Behavior, Administrative Science Quarterly, 2002, 47, 644–675.
33.
DasboroughM.T., Cognitive Asymmetry in Employee Emotional Reactions to Leadership Behaviours, The Leadership Quarterly, 2006, 17, 163–178.
34.
BarsadeS.G.GibsonD.E., Group Emotion: A View from Top and Bottom, in: GruenfeldD.MannixB.NealeM. eds., Research on Managing on Groups and Teams, JAI Press, Stamford, CT, 1998, 81–102.
35.
HirokawaR.Y.DeGooyerD.ValdeK., Using Narratives to Study Task Group Effectiveness, Small Group Research, 2000, 31(5), 573–591.
36.
FrijdaN.H.MesquitaB., The Social Roles and Functions of Emotions, in: KitayamaS.MarkusH.R. eds., Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence, American Psychological Association, Washington, 1994, 51–87.
37.
WolffS.B.PescosolidoA.T.DruskatV.U., Emotional Intelligence as the Basis of Leadership Emergence in Self-Managing Teams, Leadership Quarterly, 2002, 13(5), 505–522.
38.
MoonsW.G.MackieD.M., Thinking Straight While Seeing Red: The Influence of Anger on Information Processing, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2007, 33, 706–720.
39.
EkmanP., Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life, 2nd edn., Times Book, New York, 2007.
40.
GouldD.GuinanD.GreenleafC.MedberyR.PetersonK., Factors Affecting Olympic Performance: Perceptions of Athletes and Coaches from More and Less Successful Teams, The Sport Psychologist, 1999, 13, 371–394.
41.
OlusogaP.ButtJ.MaynardI.HaysK., Stress and Coping: A Study of World Class Coaches, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2009, 22(3), 274–293.
42.
KuoF.Y., Managerial Intuition and the Development of Executive Support Systems, Decision Support Systems, 1998, 24, 89–103.
43.
GoodmanS. K., Information Needs for Management Decision-Making, Records Management Quarterly, 1993, 27(4), 12–23.
44.
AndersenJ.A., Intuition in Managers: Are Intuitive Managers More Effective?Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2000, 15(1), 46–67.
45.
Fenton-O'CreevyM.SoaneE.NicholsonN.WillmanP., Thinking, Feeling, and Deciding: The Influence of Emotions on the Decision Making and Performance of Traders, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2011, In Press.
46.
PrattoF.JohnO.P., Automatic Vigilance: The Attention-Grabbing Power of Negative Social Information, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1991, 61, 380–391.
47.
FredricksonB.L., What Good are Positive Emotions?Review of General Psychology, 1998, 2, 300–319.
48.
FredricksonB.L.BraniganC., Positive Emotions Broaden the Scope of Attention and Thought-Action Repertoires, Cognition and Emotion, 2005, 19, 313–332.
49.
GasperK.CloreG.L., Attending to the Big Picture: Mood and Global Versus Local Processing of Visual Information, Psychological Science, 2002, 13, 33–39.
50.
IsenA.M.DaubmanK.A.NowickiG.P., Positive Affect Facilitates Creative Problem Solving, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1987, 52, 1122–1131.
51.
MacLeodC.MathewsA.TataP., Attentional Bias in Emotional Disorders, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1986, 95(1), 15–20.
52.
VuilleumierP., How Brains Beware: Neural Mechanisms of Emotional Attention, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2005, 9(12), 585–594.
53.
HaninY., Emotions in Sport, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2000.
54.
RaglinJ.HaninY., Competitive Anxiety, in: HaninY eds., Emotions in Sport, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2000, 93–112.
55.
KouzesJ.M.PosnerB.Z., The Leadership Challenge, 4th edn., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007.
56.
DecetyJ.JacksonP.L., The Functional Architecture of Human Empathy, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 2004, 3, 71–100.
57.
MorrisonI.LloydD.di PellegrinoG.RobertsN., Vicarious Responses to Pain in Anterior Cingulate Cortex: Is Empathy a Multisensory Issue?, Cognitive and Affective Behavioral Neuroscience, 2004, 4, 270–278.
58.
RizzolattiG.CraigheroL., The Mirror-Neuron System, Annual Review of Neuroscience, 2004, 27, 169–192.
59.
RizzolattiG.SinigagliaC., Mirrors in the Brain: How We Share Our Actions and Emotions, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008.
60.
GaddisB.ConnellyS.MumfordM., Failure Feedback as an Affective Event: Influences of Leader Affect on Subordinate Attitudes and Performance, Leadership Quarterly, 2004, 15, 663–686.
61.
PeetersG., From Good and Bad to Can and Must: Subjective Necessity of Acts Associated with Positively and Negatively Valued Stimuli, European Journal of Social Psychology, 2002, 32, 125–136.
62.
JordanP.J.TrothA.C., Managing Emotions During Team Problem Solving: Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Resolution, Human Performance, 2004, 17, 195–218.
63.
SaloveyP.HseeC.K.MayerJ.D., Emotional Intelligence and the Self-Regulation of Affect, in: WegneyD.M.PennebakerJ.W. eds., Handbook of Mental Control, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993, 258–277.
