Relationship between emotional intelligence, resilience, and transformational leadership in the Singapore military.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and resilience and transformational leadership. This paper also seeks to find out if resilience acts as a mediator between EI and transformational leadership in Singapore’s military context. A group of 106 males who had undergone military training were asked to complete three self-report questionnaires which measured their levels of emotional intelligence, resilience and transformational leadership. It was found that emotional intelligence is positively related to resilience, and resilience is positively related to transformational leadership. Furthermore, the results also showed that resilience partially mediated the positive relationship between emotional intelligence transformational leadership. The implication of this finding for the military and businesses is that transformational leadership capabilities could be built up by working on individuals’ emotional intelligence and resilience.