Leadership has been discussed for years, but has been around since the beginning of time. At the foundation of any movement exists a leader or group of leaders.
Before going any further, what is a leader? A leader could have a position, but at times people in positions of leadership may not be effective leaders. The real leader is the one with influence. A position can give influence, but our leadership quotient determines if we maintain that influence.
I don’t have time to go in depth on this idea of a Leadership Quotient, but I will share the main components that I believe create it. Robert Service1 goes in depth with twelve components that create a leadership quotient, but I am going to suggest five.
Others have researched some of these concepts more in depth. Most of these ideas come from the thinking of people such as Daniel Goleman2,3, Shirzad Chamine4, and others. Their books are at the bottom of this post and I would recommend any of them. Let me dive in.
IQ
An effective leader must have some level of intellectual intelligence. This quotient is a measure of an individual’s ability to reason and solve problems. A leader’s job is to solve problems so he or she must have a reasonable amount of this type of intelligence. He or she does not need to be the smartest person in the room and an effective leader often is not. A secure leader will surround him or herself with people smarter than him or her especially in areas of weakness.
EQ
Regardless of the position a leader fulfills, the ability to relate and connect with people is essential. Daniel Goleman introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in the 1990’s and one of his best resources on leadership and emotional intelligence is the book Primal Leadership. A leader must have the emotional self-awareness to be able to manage him or herself appropriately to connect with those he or she leads.
SQ
No one is an island. Even if we run a business as a solopreneur we still interact socially. Social Intelligence is the ability to understand the dynamics of a group. Leaders with this type of intelligence can lead teams with intelligence on how to naturally escalate and de-escalate a situation. This essential skill shows up in team meeting interactions and the ability to move the group forward.
StQ
We can be great with people and smart, but if we have no strategy or fail to execute on that strategy I would suggest we have a low StQ. This is how well we create plans to move a team toward the vision. Not only how well we can create it, but how effective are we at executing the plan. A lack of strategy intelligence will prevent us from accomplishing the vision.
PQ
A friend of mine introduced me to the idea of Positive Intelligence through the work of Shirzad Chamine. I can explore this concept more in depth in a future post, but this is how successfully we lead ourselves. What inputs do we dwell on as leaders? Are we allowing the judge in our mind to be in charge or the thoughts that provide positive feedback? This intelligence can determine if we excel and continue at a high level of leadership or burnout.
After looking at these five intelligence areas on a scale of one to ten where would you rank yourself? Which one of these areas do you need to develop? Need help thinking into this? Contact me and in the meantime, lead well.
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- Service, Robert. “The Leadership Quotient: Measuring Toward Improvement.” The Business Renaissance Quarterly.
- Goleman, Daniel. Primal Leadership.
- Goleman, Daniel. Social Intelligence.
- Chamine, Shirzad. Positive Intelligence.
