Title: Emotional intelligence and self-leadership in connection to leadership effectiveness: A study made on more and less profitable organisations within the retail industry. 

Authors: Annie Gunnarson and Emilia Törn

Level: Master Thesis, 30 credits

Keywords: Leadership effectiveness, Emotional intelligence, Self-leadership

Background: The rate of change in society has never been higher than now, which has created a demand for effective leaders. Leadership effectiveness has been studied in different areas and two of them are emotional intelligence and self-leadership. However, these two concepts have only been studied separately within the area of leadership effectiveness and the employees view in combination with the leaders’ view is something that has been overlooked within the area.

Research question: How do leaders and employees work with emotional intelligence and self-leadership within the area of leadership effectiveness?

Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to, within the area of leadership effectiveness, explain and describe how leaders and employees are working with emotional intelligence and self-leadership. This, with examples from more or less profitable organisations within the retail industry.

Method: A qualitative approach has been used within this thesis, where seven interviews were conducted. These interviews were conducted with both leaders and employees from more or less profitable organisations within the retail industry.

Theoretical framework: The framework consists of three main concepts: Leadership effectiveness, emotional intelligence and self-leadership. Within these areas there are some subcategories that are presented in order to get an understanding of the concepts. The chapter ends with a model that explains the connections between the concepts.

Findings: All companies work with emotional intelligence and self-leadership in the area of leadership effectiveness, although they work with different aspects in various degrees. Additionally, there are similarities to be found between leaders and employees from different companies. Finally, the authors conclude that there are no findings in this thesis that suggest that there is a connection between emotional intelligence, self-leadership and profit margins.