Purpose - To assess the relationship between leadership style, intuition, and emotional intelligence (EI) measured by a general and a workplace specific measure of EI in female managers. Design/methodology/approach - The study consisted of 176 female managers from several industries across Australia who completed a questionnaire battery consisting of the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), the cognitive style index (CSI), the trait meta-mood scale (TMMS), and the workplace Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (workplace SUEIT). Findings - The results indicated that female managers displaying transformational leadership behaviours were more likely to display higher levels of EI and intuition than female managers displaying less transformational leadership behaviours. The workplace measure of EI was found to be the better predictor of transformational leadership behaviours than the general measure of EI, which was attributed to the workplace specific nature of the workplace SUEIT. Research limitations/implications - The implications of this research suggested the greater utility of workplace specific EI measures when concurrently assessing workplace outcomes. Research into leadership, EI and intuition may increase our understanding of effective leadership and could lead to the development of better tools for the selection, training and development of leaders. Originality/value - This paper extends upon prior research that has identified a relationship between transformational leadership and EI, and also explores their relationship to the construct of intuition in female managers. It also addresses the important issue of the utility of two measures of EI in light of the workplace nature of the research. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.