Browsing by Author "Jussila, Jaana"

This thesis studies the views of managers working in specialist organizations regarding leadership and emotional intelligence. The purpose of this study is to form an understanding of what views and concepts of the managers in specialist organizations have regarding emotional intelligence and its significance in managerial work. The purpose is to build an understanding of what the challenges are in managing specialist knowledge and to form an understanding of what the understanding and experience of emotional intelligence is in relation to leading an organization with specialist knowledge. The theoretical framework of the study was formed around three concepts: emotional intelligence, leadership and leadership of specialist knowledge. Theories of emotional intelligence, especially the concept of emotional intelligence by David Goleman and concepts of emotionally intelligent leadership were used as a theoretical framework. Concepts and definitions related to leadership and knowledge and theories in leadership of knowledge - such as the concept of transformational leadership presented by Bernard M. Bass – that have been combined with management that furthers learning by Riitta Viitala and Pirjo Kolari were also used in the study. The empirical research material was gathered by interviewing eight people who work or have worked in managerial positions in the specialist organization. The interviews were conducted as theme interviews. The methodological approach of the study was content analysis through which the research material was analyzed. Based on the material of the research, the challenges of managerial emotional intelligence in the specialist organization were the expectations and broad range of tasks related to managerial positions, substance knowledge, the management of strategic specialist knowledge, motivating, supporting and interaction. According to the study, the most important competences of emotional intelligence were emotional self-awareness, good selfassessment, self-control, transparency, ability to perform, empathy, service orientedness, inspirational leadership, ability to develop others and teamwork and collaboration skills. The conclusion of the study is that in the management of specialist knowledge in specialist organizations, matters such as interaction, individual attentiveness, empathy, ability to motivate and support, being present and enabling are highlighted. In a specialist organization a manager needs sufficient substance knowledge, purely emotional leadership is not sufficient. In specialist organizations, succeeding in knowledge management requires emotional intelligence, substance knowledge and transformational leadership. When these are combined by competent managers, they are able to motivate, focus on individuals and enable development.