Emotional Intelligence, Organizational Social Architecture, and Black Male Leadership

The Problem. The leadership of Black male leaders is an under-studied topic in the leadership literature and more so in the field of human resource development. Moreover, traditional and contemporary leadership theories are universalized and have not adequately captured social and emotional issues encountered by leaders within their social identity location. A closer examination of this phenomenon is needed to close the gap in the human resource development literature as well as contemporary leadership theory. The Solution. A qualitative study was used to examine the experiences of Black male leaders in an organizational setting using the frameworks of emotional intelligence and social architecture. Findings suggest that emotional intelligence explains why Black male leaders desire mentorship, need increased organizational support for psychological safety, use specialized strategies to deal with social and emotional distress, face barriers to acculturation into the workplace culture, draw on authentic leadership skills to face obstructions to leadership, and use code switching to navigate multiple identities. Recommendations are made for more inclusive mentoring programs that consider the needs of this underrepresented group. The Stakeholders. HRD researchers, scholars, educators, practitioners, organizational leaders and others involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion work.