Abstracts

Leaders in organizations face complex situations, including how to develop valued leadership qualities to enhance an organization's performance. Research suggests improved emotional intelligence across various types of organizational leaders enhances charisma, connection, supports increased rates of promotion, and higher salaries. One measure of organizational effectiveness that has emerged more so in the research of the last decade is employee engagement. Although employee engagement has been studied, research regarding its association with the social competences of emotional intelligence has been limited. In this dissertation study I conducted research to investigate the potential relationships between emotional intelligence social competencies as representative measures of effective leadership traits in order to assess whether an association exists between relationship management and social awareness and the employee engagement scores a leader receives from his or her direct reports.