I wouldn’t say that the Army’s Leadership Requirement Model directly accounts for emotional intelligence. The two models fall together in tandem well and emotional intelligence is almost necessary to effectively develop yourself as a leader in these areas. It’s very obvious that the army as a whole does not really focus on development in emotional intelligence, whether out of ignorance or to let leaders develop the area by themselves. This semester was the first time that I had really heard of the concept emotional intelligence.
Whether or not you actually have heard the term of emotional intelligence and know what it is, it’s very possible that you have developed the skill naturally as a growing leader and person. I speak from personal experience when I say I’ve thought about interactions with others on the level of emotional intelligence, even if I didn’t know it yet. Natural experiences can only take you so far though, and I believe at some point it’s necessary to acknowledge emotional intelligence and to always take it into full account when addressing situations as a leader.
It’s too easy to allow ourselves to become ignorant and forget about emotional intelligence due to many contributing factors, but we must take it upon ourselves to consider it as much as we can now that we know. I don’t think the army should try to incorporate training emotional intelligence as there is no way to directly do that, and it’s more based upon a soldier’s individual experiences. I believe that it is more of an individual leader’s responsibility to develop emotional intelligence, but it should at least be incentivized and informed about by the organization we are part of.