Emotionalizing Leadership in a Cross-Cultural Context

In this paper, we explore the emotion work of leadership, which is defined as the need to manage one's own emotions and to influence the emotions of others. First, we review the recently renewed interest in emotions in the field of organizational behavior, as demonstrated in recent research that focuses on emotion in the workplace, emotional intelligence, and the emotional aspects of transformational leadership. Then we discuss the challenges that global leaders face when dealing with emotions and emotional displays in unfamiliar cultures. Finally, we suggest ways that increasing cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003) might help global leaders meet these challenges.