Examining Leader and Employee Emotionally Intelligent Behavior Profiles in Relation to Creativity

The Research Project

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions in oneself and others (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Within organizational contexts, decades of research have shown that EI helps leaders and employees navigate emotionally demanding situations, communicate effectively, build productive interpersonal relationships, and respond adaptively to workplace challenges (Côté, 2014; Lopes, 2016; Miao et al., 2018).

Existing research has focused predominantly on EI as an individual ability or trait (Brackett et al., 2011). However, recent theoretical developments note that EI ability or trait do not necessarily translate directly into workplace behavior (Ivcevic et al., 2025; Levitats et al., 2025).

To better capture the practical aspect of EI in organizations, we focus on emotionally intelligent behavior (EIB), which refers to observable actions indicating that individuals accurately perceive, understand, use, and regulate emotions in everyday workplace interactions (Ivcevic et al, 2025). For example, supervisors with high EIB will acknowledge employees’ emotional experiences, respond constructively to interpersonal tensions, and foster emotionally supportive work.

This investigation is meaningful because EIB are socially embedded and shaped by both individual capabilities and workplace environments. Thus, examining workplace EIB profiles may provide more practical and actionable insights than studying EI solely as a personal attribute. Moreover, this study links workplace EIB profiles to employee creativity, which may be especially sensitive to emotions at workplace (Ivcevic et al., 2023). Creativity often requires employees to navigate uncertainty, take intellectual risks, and persist despite challenges, making emotionally supportive environments particularly important. In today’s rapidly evolving AI era, creativity has also become a critical driver of organizational adaptability, innovation, and long-term flourishing.

Relevance to t2pRI’s Mission

The proposed study closely aligns with t2pRI’s mission to advance emotionally intelligent leadership through research and practical application. First, rather than conceptualizing EI solely as a stable ability or trait, this study focuses on observable EIB enacted by supervisors in real organizational contexts. This behavioral focus aligns with think2perform’s emphasis on translating scientific research into actionable leadership practices and skill-development initiatives.

Second, the proposed study advances leadership research by examining how supervisor EIB foster or hinder employee innovation and creativity. This focus aligns with t2pRI’s broader commitment to purposeful and effective leadership. As highlighted in Return on Character (Kiel, 2015), leadership effectiveness is closely tied to how leaders shape organizational environments and long-term organizational outcomes. Similarly, the present study investigates how emotionally intelligent leadership may contribute to employee innovation and creativity.

Last, methodologically, the proposed study aligns with t2pRI’s commitment to thought-leading and organizationally relevant leadership research by considering EIB of supervisors and employees jointly rather than independently. In this way, we are directly taking into account that individual employees are embedded in and influenced by social environments (and most importantly their immediate leaders). By capturing the relational and context-sensitive nature of workplace interactions, this approach more closely reflects the realities of organizational life, which was emphasized in The Power of Purpose (Leider & Shapiro, 2025).

Research Questions

1. What distinct workplace EIB profiles can be identified based on employees’ perceptions
   of their supervisors’ EIB and employees’ own EIB self-efficacy?
2. How are different workplace EIB profiles associated with employees’ innovation and
   creativity.

Citations

Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., & Salovey, P. (2011). Emotional intelligence: Implications for
personal, social, academic, and workplace success. Social and Personality Psychology
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Côté, S. (2014). Emotional intelligence in organizations. Annual Review of Organizational
Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 459–488.
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091233

Ivcevic, Z., Hoffmann, J. D., & Kaufman, J. C. (Eds.). (2023). The Cambridge handbook of
creativity and emotions. Cambridge University Press.

Ivcevic, Z., Levitats, Z., & Brackett, M. A. (2025). Building opportunities for emotionally
intelligent behavior in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal. 77(3), 253-268.
https://doi.org/10.1037%2Fcpb0000297

Kiel, F. (2015). Return on character: The real reason leaders and their companies win. Harvard Business Review Press.

Leider, R. J., & Shapiro, D. A. (2025). The power of purpose: To grow and to give for life.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Levitats, Z., Ivcevic, Z., & Brackett, M. (2025). Emotionally intelligent behavior in
organizations: When ability, motivation, and opportunity meet. Emotion Review, 17(3),
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Lopes, P. N. (2016). Emotional intelligence in organizations: Bridging research and
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Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter
(Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp.
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Miao, C., Humphrey, R. H., & Qian, S. (2018). Emotional intelligence and authentic leadership: A meta-analysis. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(5), 679-690. https://www.emerald.com/lodj/article/39/5/679-690/289703