This study aimed to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership effectiveness in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The emotional intelligence model used in this study consisted of four sub-variables: self-emotion appraisal, others emotion appraisal, regulation of emotions, and use of emotions. The study found that emotional intelligence has a strong positive and significant relationship with leadership effectiveness. The results of the regression analysis showed that emotional intelligence positively relates to leadership effectiveness. The study concluded that emotional intelligence is an indicator of leadership effectiveness, and employees in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria are emotionally intelligent. Self-emotion appraisal and use of emotion were the most emotional intelligence factors impacting leadership effectiveness in the organization. On the other hand, emotion regulation seemed to be difficult to control, thus it’s the least factor in affecting leaders’ effectiveness. The findings further show that use of emotion accounts for more of the variance in leadership effectiveness.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Nigeria, University of Ibadan, effective leadership, team performance