Abstract
Transformational leadership has been found to be related to emotional intelligence. There has been limited research on emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in the field of social work. This study sought to explore the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership within a social service organization. Seven individual interviews were held with LICSW social workers that were leaders of an organization for at least one year. The major themes that emerged were: mentoring is an important component to being an effective leader, personality can impact transformational leadership behavior, transformational leadership can be learned, emotional intelligence means tuning into staff, and relationships are an important factor in effective leadership and organizational commitment. Implications for social work and recommendations for future research are discussed.