Developing emotionally intelligent leaders within a chapter of a student pharmacist organization

Abstract

Introduction: Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to an individual’s awareness, management, and use of emotions, which has been shown to correlate with successful leadership. The objective of this study was to facilitate the development of emotionally intelligent leaders amongst the student officers within a chapter of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists. Methods: During the 2012-2015 academic years, the chapter officers (n=27) participated in a leadership development program that included self-assessments, group discussions, reflection activities, and/or individual mentoring sessions based upon the concepts of organizational management, strengths-based leadership, team dysfunction, and continuous professional development. The officers also completed the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® at the beginning and end of the program, and a perception survey after completing the program. Results: The officers’ initial and final EI scores ranged from 54-100 and 59-100, respectively. In addition, their final mean overall, self-awareness, self-management, and relationship-management scores were higher than their corresponding initial scores (P 0.05). Most officers (89-100%) also rated each of their developmental experiences as being either very beneficial or beneficial. Conclusion: The implemented program appears to be an effective method for increasing the EI of student organization officers and provides a model for similar efforts in other health professions settings.

Keywords

• emotional intelligence
• leadership
• student professional organization
• pharmacy