INTELLIGENCE

May

2021

Intelligent Leadership

“Knowledge is power.” Sir Francis Bacon

Really? Is it? Is the smartest person really the most powerful? Is the most intelligent person the best leader? If this were true then why aren’t more university PHD’s leaders of organizations or in government?

I am not discrediting the hard work and amazing achievement these individuals have accomplished and many of them are great leaders. What I am suggesting is there is a myth that the smartest person is the leader. This is what leadership expert John Maxwell calls the “knowledge myth” in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

An article in the Journal of Applied Psychology that studied the relationship between intelligence and leadership agrees with John’s law. They found “the relationship between intelligence and leadership is considerably lower than previously thought.”¹ I am not making a case that intelligence is unnecessary for a leader, but this intelligence is one part of the leadership quotient and here are a few things intelligence does bring for leaders.

Clarity of Thought

Intelligence is gained from formal education but continues with lifelong learning. The ability to think deeply and analyze subjects from multiple vantage points provides clarity of thought. Many of us have been in meetings where the leader either rambles mindlessly sounding unintelligent or speaking over our heads with technical jargon. Both demonstrate a lack of clear thinking. An effective leader must have an intelligence quotient that enables him or her to think clearly and communicate simply.

Clarity of Understanding

Creating time to think requires intellectual capacity and will clear space to better understand. Leaders solve problems, but in order to solve them we must understand them. Some leaders have a specific place they go not only to think into their problems, but they will take a notebook to write down their thoughts. The discipline of writing helps clarify challenges and provides greater understanding which leads to the third way IQ factors into effective leadership.

Communication Ability

One of the leader’s greatest challenges is communicating in a way that connects. As leaders think and understand they must have the intelligence to communicate their understanding in a manner that resonates with those they lead. This ability to transfer thoughts into a spoken message that connects with people requires IQ.

As a leader I am sure you are intelligent. How are you doing at leading in a way that uses your intelligence to connect with those around you? Do you want to be in an environment to see how you are doing in this area with those you lead? Contact me about facilitating The Leadership Game with your team. Lead well.

Judge, T. A., Colbert, A. E., & Ilies, R. (2004). Intelligence and Leadership: A Quantitative Review and Test of Theoretical Propositions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 542–552.

Oct

2020

What Is Your Leadership Quotient?

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 Goleman^2,3, 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.

Service, Robert. “The Leadership Quotient: Measuring Toward Improvement.” The Business Renaissance Quarterly.
Goleman, Daniel. Primal Leadership.
Goleman, Daniel. Social Intelligence.
Chamine, Shirzad. Positive Intelligence.