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Skyline Business School |
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Skyline Business School |
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Issue:8
What makes a Leader?
By Daniel Goleman
It's often found that a highly intelligent, highly skilled executive is promoted into a
leadership position only to fail at the job. On the other hand someone with solid - but
not extraordinary - intellectual abilities and technical skills is promoted into a similar
position and he soars.
Such anecdotes support the widespread belief that identifying individuals with the
"right stuff" to be leaders is more art than science. Some leaders are subdued
and analytical; others shout their manifestos from the mountaintops. Also different
situation calls for different types of leaders. The writer finds that the most effective
leaders are alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of emotional
intelligence. Without it a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive,
analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won't make a great
leader.
Evaluating Emotional Intelligence
Most of the companies today have employed trained psychologists to develop what are known
as "competency models" to aid them in identifying, training, and promoting
likely leaders. The writer too, has analyzed competency models from 188 companies. His
objective was to determine which personal capabilities drove outstanding performance
within these organizations, and to what degree they did so. He grouped capabilities into
three categories: purely technical skills like accounting and business planning; cognitive
skills like analytical reasoning; and competencies demonstrating emotional intelligence,
such as the ability to work with others and effectiveness in leading change.
When he analyzed all this data, he found dramatic results. To be sure, intellect was a
driver of outstanding performance. Cognitive skills such as big - picture thinking and
long-term vision were particularly important. But the ratio of technical skills, IQ, and
emotional intelligence as ingredients of excellent performance, emotional intelligence
proved to be twice as important as others at all job levels.
In short, statistics tell us a persuasive story about the link between a company's success
and the emotional intelligence of its leaders. And just as important, research is also
demonstrating that people can, if they take the right approach, develop their emotional
intelligence.
Self - Awareness
Self-awareness is the first component of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness means
having a deep understanding of one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives.
People with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful.
Rather they are honest with themselves and with others.
People who have a high degree of self-awareness recognize how their feelings affect them,
other people, and their job performance. Self - awareness extends to a person's
understanding of his or her values and goals. Someone who is highly self-aware knows where
he is headed and why. A person who lacks self-awareness is apt to make decisions that
bring on inner turmoil by treading on buried values. The decisions of self-aware people
mesh with their values; consequently, they often find work to be energizing.
How can one recognize self- awareness? First and foremost, it shows itself as candor
(ability to be truthful and honest especially about a difficult or embarrassing subject)
and ability to Asses one-self realistically. People with high self-awareness are able to
speak accurately and openly - although not necessarily effusively or confessionally -
about their emotions and the impact they have on work.
Self - awareness can also be identified during performance reviews. Self-aware people know
- and are comfortable talking about - their limitations and strengths, and they often
demonstrate a thirst for constructive criticism. By contrast, people with low
self-awareness interpret the message that they need to improve as a threat or sign of
failure.
Despite the value of having self-aware people in the workforce, research by the writer
indicates that senior executives don't give self-awareness the credit it deserves when
they look for potential leaders. Many executives mistake candor about feelings for
"wimpiness" and fail to give due respect to employees who openly acknowledge
their shortcomings. Such people are too readily dismissed as "not tough enough"
to lead others. In fact the opposite is true. In the first place, people generally admire
and respect candor.
Furthermore, leaders are constantly required to make judgment calls that require a candid
assessment of capabilities - their own and those of others. People who assess themselves
honestly - that is, self-aware people - are well suited to do the same for the
organizations they run.
Self - Regulation
Biological impulses drive our emotions. We cannot do away with them - but we can do much
to manage them. Self-regulation, which is like an ongoing inner conversation, is the
component of emotional intelligence that frees us from being prisoners of our feelings.
People engaged n such a conversation feel bad moods and emotional impulses just as
everyone else does, but they find ways to control them and even channel them in useful
ways. An executive with self-regulation, instead of shouting or scolding his subordinates
for a failed project, acknowledges their failure calmly without making hasty decisions. He
then steps back and looks into the reason for failure and finds a solution to the problem,
which will be easily accepted.
Why does self-regulation matter so much? First of all, people who are in control of their
feelings and are reasonable are able to create an environment of trust and fairness. An
self-regulation has a trickle down effect - that is fewer bad moods at the top mean fewer
throughout the organization.
Second, self-regulation is important for competitive reasons. Everyone knows that business
today is dynamic. People who have mastered their emotions are able to roll with changes.
When a new program is announced, they don't panic; instead, they are able to suspend
judgment, seek out information, and listen to the executives as they explain the new
program. As the initiative moves forward, these people are able to move with it.
Like self-awareness, self-regulation often does not get its due. People who can master
their emotions are sometimes seen as cold fish - their considered responses are taken as a
lack of passion. People with fiery temperaments are frequently thought of as
"classic" leaders - their outbursts are considered hallmarks of charisma and
power. But when such people make it to the top, their impulsiveness often works against
them. In the writer's research, extreme displays of negative emotion have never emerged as
a driver of good relationship.
Motivation
Motivation is one trait that all leaders have. They are driven to achieve beyond
expectations - their own and one word else's. The key word here is achieve. Plenty of
people are motivated by external factors, such as a big salary or the status that comes
from having an impressive title or being part of a prestigious company. By contrast, those
with leadership potential are motivated by a deeply embedded desire to achieve for the
sake of achievement.
While looking for leaders, how can you identify people who are motivated by the drive to
achieve rather than by external rewards. The first sign is a passion for work itself -
such people seek out creative challenges, love to learn, and take great pride in a job
well done. They also display an unflagging energy to do things better. People with such
energy often seem restless with the state of affairs. They are persistent with their
questions about why things are done one way rather than another; they are eager to explore
new approaches to their work. They are forever raising the performance standards, and they
like to keep a track of it.
Interestingly, people with high motivation remain optimistic even when are unable to
perform well. In such cases, self-regulation combines with achievement motivation to
overcome the frustration and depression that come after a setback or failure.
Empathy
Of all the dimensions of emotional intelligence, empathy is the most easily recognized.
Empathy means thoughtfully considering employees' feelings - along with other factors - in
the process of making intelligent decisions. Empathy is important as a component of
leadership because of three main reasons: the increasing use of teams; the rapid pace of
globalization; and the growing need to retain talent.
Teams are always bubbling with emotions. Even in groups with few members, alliances form
and agendas get set. A team leader must be able to sense and understand the viewpoints of
everyone around the able.
Globalization is another reason for the rising importance of empathy for business leaders.
Cross-cultural dialogue can easily lead to miscues and misunderstandings for which empathy
is an antidote.
Leaders have always needed empathy to develop and keep good people, but today stakes are
higher. When good people leave, they take the company's knowledge with them. Leaders with
empathy do more than sympathize with people around them: they use their knowledge to
improve their companies in subtle but important ways.
Social Skill
Social skill is not as simple as it sounds. It is friendliness with a purpose: moving
people in the direction you desire. Socially skilled people tend to have a wide circle of
acquaintances, and they have a knack for finding common ground with people of all kinds -
a knack for building rapport.
People tend to be very effective at managing relationships when they can understand and
control their own emotions and can empathize with the feelings of the others. Even
motivation contributes to social skill, as people who are driven to achieve tend to be
optimistic, even in the case of setbacks and failures.
Bt sometimes social skill shows itself in ways the other components of emotional
intelligence does not. Some people tend to seem to be not working while at work. They seem
to be chatting, joking with their colleagues or people who are not related to their real
jobs. This is because they don't think it makes sense to arbitrarily limit the scope of
their relationships. They build bonds widely because they know that in times passing by
they may need help from someone they are just meeting.
It would be stupid to think that IQ and technical ability are not important elements in
strong leadership. But it would not be complete without emotional intelligence. It is
fortunate that emotional intelligence can be learned. But the benefits that come from
having a well-developed emotional intelligence is worth the effort, both, for the company
and the individual.
Reviewed & Summarized From Harvard Business
Review - January.2004
by Prithish Ghosh BBA-MAHE-LEVEL I
Comments and questions: info@skylinecollege.com
URL: http://www.skylinecollege.com
