The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Conditions of Trust among Leaders at the Kentucky Department for Public Health

Abstract

There has been limited leadership research on emotional intelligence and trust in governmental public health settings. The purpose of this study was to identify and seek to understand the relationship between trust and elements of emotional intelligence, including stress management, at the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH). The KDPH serves as Kentucky’s state governmental health department. KDPH is led by a Commissioner and composed of seven primary divisions and 25 branches within those divisions. The study was a non-randomized cross-sectional study utilizing electronic surveys that evaluated conditions of trust among staff members and emotional intelligence among supervisors. Pearson correlation coefficients and corresponding p-values are presented to provide the association between emotional intelligence scales and the conditions of trust. Significant positive correlations were observed between supervisors’ stress management and the staff members’ trust or perception of supervisors’ loyalty (r = 0.6, p = 0.01), integrity (r = 0.5, p = 0.03), receptivity (r = 0.6, p = 0.02), promise fulfillment (r = 0.6, p = 0.02), and availability (r = 0.5, p = 0.07). This research lays the foundation for emotional intelligence and trust research and leadership training in other governmental public health settings, such as local, other state, national, or international organizations. This original research provides metrics to assess the public health workforce with attention to organizational management and leadership constructs. The survey tools could be used in other governmental public health settings in order to develop tailored training opportunities related to emotional intelligence and trust organizations.

Emotional intelligence and knowledge management: A necessary link?

“…Kessel et al () explain that individuals will feel safe, and will be able to build trust so knowledge can be shared between coworkers if self‐management, empathy, and relationship‐management skills are present (see also Goleman et al, ; Knight et al, ). For this reason, EI can have a profound indirect positive effect on individuals' knowledge‐processing behavior.…”

Editorial: Leading People – Managing Organizations: Contemporary Public Health Leadership

“…A group of four original research articles rounds out the research topic. In an investigation into the impact of emotional intelligence on the conditions of trust found in a public health setting, Knight et al ( 10 ) measured emotional intelligence including stress management among supervisors in the Kentucky Department of Public Health (USA). The study found significant positive correlations between supervisors’ stress management and the staff members’ trust or perception of the supervisors’ loyalty, integrity, receptivity, promise fulfillment, and availability.…”

Are Emotionally Intelligent Employees Less Likely to Hide Their Knowledge?

“…Training and management practices that build EI have been proven to increase interpersonal trust , teamwork , and employee organizational commitment (Peng, ). Individuals who display high levels of EI have been shown to be perceived as being more trustworthy, more committed to their organization, and work better in teams (Luca & Tarricone, ; Lee et al, ; Gujral & Ahuja, ; Gurbuz & Araci, ; Mustafa et al, ; Knight et al, ). Notably, these same three factors (i.e., interpersonal trust , teamwork , and employee organizational commitment ) have been shown to decrease KH (Peng, ).…”

“…According to the literature, three EI competencies, namely empathy , self‐management and relationship‐management, are crucial tools in implementing trust (Barry, ; Goleman et al, ; Knight et al, ). By demonstrating integrity, fairness, respect, credibility, competency, and expertise, an empathic leader is able to gain their followers' trust (Bock et al, ; Mineo, ).…”

“…Barry's () study of educational administrators further confirms this, suggesting that supervisors who display strong relationship‐management skills (e.g., conflict management, coaching/mentoring, inspirational leadership, teamwork) are more likely to be trusted by their subordinates. Finally, Knight et al () argue that supervisors with high self‐management competencies (e.g., capacity to deal with stress) also positively influence staff members' trust in them.…”