What is your IQ?
If you are like me then you have no clue . . . maybe that means my IQ is low. At times people think the smartest person is the best leader. . . . . maybe . . . maybe not.
Leaders must have some form of intelligence, but there is something else that is equally if not more important . . . emotional intelligence.
Allow me to share a picture with you that will be a part of a book I have coming out providing a simple guide to leadership theory.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_d5n8ghzut5g/SYd8GGY1wII/AAAAAAAAAIk/a3o_ze4lGF0/s400/katz2.png
As you can see in the picture, no matter one’s position in an organization or team the human skill needs are the same. This is evidence of the need for emotional intelligence.
In one of my early leadership roles, I was what Daniel Goleman1 would call a dissonant leader. I was out of touch with the feelings of others. I had my agenda and the task we needed to do as a group and we had to drive ahead. I saw one of my colleagues approach it differently and realized there was a more effective way.
Self-awareness
“How well leaders manage their moods and affect everyone else’s moods . . . becomes . . . a factor in how well a business will do.” Daniel Goleman
Goleman discusses this as the foundation of emotional intelligence. What is it though? This is the ability to recognize our own emotions and therefore the emotions in others. An experience I had early on made me realize the importance of not only being aware of my emotions, but the need to learn how to control them. I recognized if I did not grow in this area I would severely limit my leadership ability.
Resonance
The opposite of a dissonant leader is a resonant leader according to Goleman. This was the co-worker of mine who had developed his ability to understand others at an emotional level and motivate them in a way I could not yet. His ability was a sign of personal self-awareness, and being attuned to the feelings of others. This ability helps leaders accomplish the next concept.
Heart Leadership
“Gifted leadership occurs where heart and head – feeling and thought – meet.”
Daniel Goleman
Think of a great leader, coach, teacher, or public figure you know. What is it that makes that individual so influential? Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln both had the ability to connect with the hearts and minds of those they were seeking to influence. They combined a felt need with a logical path for solving the challenge the people were facing. This takes IQ, but IQ without EQ I would suggest limits us greatly.
How is your EQ? Do you connect not only logically with others, but on an emotional level? What barriers are keeping you from raising your leadership level? Contact me for a thinking partner session to help you raise your leadership. Lead Well.
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- Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., and McKee, A. Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. #ad Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
