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This paper describes research into the relationship of emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, and follower behaviors. The research is part of an ongoing initiative to recognize and understand followers in the transportation and service industries. Behavioral complexities such as emotions are paramount in the intricacies of management and leadership and are widely studied. Emotional intelligence has become a standard concept in business settings while its predictive powers relative to personnel performance forecasting abilities are still being researched. An ability to interact with a diverse employee population, a complex environment, and multifaceted decision requirements would seemingly require leaders and followers to have a fully developed emotional presence. This presence is necessary for workers at all levels to be able to accommodate unpredictability, demonstrate adaptability, and perform flexibly within the workplace.

In established organizations, leadership involves followers and leaders. Leader roles are primarily assumed and assigned by and to older organizational members, i.e., baby boomers. Follower roles are populated with members of all generations. As baby boomers attrite and retire, Gen-Xers move into organizational leadership roles. Demographers tell us the Gen-Xers will be replaced by the Gen-Y. Each generation is thought to possess unique characteristics that impact performance in the workplace, positively and negatively. Proactive management is required to meld the inter-generational workforce into a cohesive, performing unit. This paper reports on research studying differences in commitment across the follower component of leadership in the transportation industry. The paper concludes with organizational strategies for managing the inter-generational workforce within the organization as each generation transitions into leadership roles.