Part 1: The Importance of Emotions in Leadership Communication Leadership communication depends on understanding your audience, understanding what makes them listen and what motivates them to act . This understanding requires self-awareness and greater awareness of others. The audience's openness to a manager and his message can help or hinder them from receiving the intended message. In a recent article published in Harvard Business Review, Robert Cialdini (2001) argues that “no leader can succeed without mastering the art of persuasion”. Just as creating a positive culture helps in the art of persuasion, understanding what motivates others to listen and act also helps, hence the importance of emotional understanding for every leader. Without emotions, leaders cannot communicate and manage others effectively. Bar-On developed the concept of emotional quotient in 1988. The concept states that we have emotional and social knowledge, as well as the ability to; Being aware, understanding and expressing ourselves; be aware of, understand and relate to others; manage strong emotions and control our impulses and, finally, adapt to change and solve problems of a personal or social nature (Bar-On & Parker, 2000). This concept suggests that emotions begin with the ability to identify and manage emotions in ourselves and others, but also extends to the ability to translate these emotions into actions that demonstrate flexibility and personal and social problem solving. For leadership communication, emotion is as important as the core skills of strategy development, writing, and speaking. “Emotions account for 85% of what distinguishes stars in leadership positions from low-level performers… middle of the paper… processes needed to succeed. It is essential work for anyone who wants to persuade others to achieve something useful. Works Cited Bar-On, R. & Parker, JDA (eds.) (2000). Manual of emotional intelligence. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Cialdini, R. (2001). Harness the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 79 (9), pp.72-80.Conger, J. A. (1998). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76 (3), p. 88. Gary, L. (2002). Quoting Goleman in “Becoming a Resonant Leader,” Harvard ManagementUpdate. 7(7), 4 – 6.Morgan, N. (2010). Leadership is all about emotional persuasion. Forbes.com. February 2, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2011, from http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/02/communication-emotional-persuasion-leadership-managing-speaking.html Weisinger, H. (1998). Emotional intelligence at work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.