EQ & OC: The Impact of K-12 Administrators Emotional Intelligence on Sustainable Organizational Change

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the key factors of K-12 administrators’ emotional intelligence as they lead their staff through creating sustainable systems as they navigate organizational change. The theoretical framework used was Daniel Goleman’s theory on Emotional Intelligence and how EQ impacts administrators as they systematically approach organizational change. The lens used to look at navigating change was John Kotter’s eight step model of creating sustainable organizational change. The study included 80 participants, who are K-12 administrators in the Southern California area.

The expectation for the research is to provide insight for administrators and districts in determining what professional learning might be needed to support administrators in leveraging their EQ to approach change in a systematic and sustainable manner. The findings revealed that self-awareness was one of the most critical factors of EQ when it comes to leading change. Results also showed that administrators can create a sense of urgency, build a guiding coalition, co-create a vision, but then they struggle in communicating the vision, empowering the employees, consolidating gains, and anchoring the change initiative in the organization. Supporting administrators in explicitly developing their EQ and how they tap into each construct as they navigate the steps of organizational change would increase the likelihood of sustainable organizational change.