A LEADER'S EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

''Without it (emotional intelligence) 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." - Daniel Goleman (Harvard
Business Review, Nov-Dec 1998)

What is the "must have" characteristic of highly effective
leaders? That is a question that would stir quite a bit of
debate in most leadership circles. One idea that I would
not expect to hear is that of emotional intelligence.

At lower levels of leadership the issues of ability,
intelligence, training and experience play a major role
in distinguishing good leaders from very good leaders.
But the higher you move up the leadership ladder, the less
these threshold components - ability, intelligence, train-
ing, experience - matter in terms of separating the good
from the great.

Think of professional athletes for example. When they play-
ed at the high school level, many pro athletes were head and
shoulders above everyone else in their league, let alone
their team. But when they got to college, the difference
between them and other players was somewhat diminished. By
the time they get to the pros, the difference is even less
noticeable.

The same is true for leaders. At the highest levels of leader-
ship, the distinguishing factor, which separates good leaders
from great leaders, is not primarily their training or IQ
but - according to Daniel Goleman - their emotional intelli-
gence.

Evaluating Emotional Intelligence

Goleman studied research on the competency models of 188
different companies ranging from Lucent Technologies to
British Airways. The research evaluated the competency of
leaders based on cognitive skills (analytical thinking,
big picture perspective), technical skills (accounting,
systems) and emotional intelligence (working with others,
managing change). It was through this study that he con-
cluded emotional intelligence is twice as important as other
factors and its relevance increased proportionately with
movement up the leadership ladder. Those in the study with
higher levels of emotional intelligence out produced others
both inside and outside the United States. (In other words,
they believe this research is not culture-bound.)


Five Components of Emotional Intelligence

Goleman suggests there are five basic components of
Emotional Intelligence as follows:

1. Self-Awareness - Leaders with emotional intelligence
know who they are, where they are going and why. They have
a deep understanding of their emotions, strengths, weakness-
es, needs and drives. They are honest with themselves. They
make decisions that are consistent with their values. They
set goals - short-term and long - that flow from who they
are and where they want to go. They operate with candor and
are willing to admit failure. They receive constructive
criticism and willingly ask for help.

Implications for Christian leaders: Leaders with emotional
intelligence are making progress in destiny processing. They
are refining an explicit philosophy of leadership (ministry),
which empowers their decision-making. They have a learning
posture, which fuels a teachable spirit.

Want to be a great leader? How are you doing in the area of
destiny processing? Refining your ministry philosophy?
Personal growth?

2. Self-Regulation - Leaders with emotional intelligence
are in control of their feelings and impulses. They have
mastered their emotions to the extent that they are able to
deal with the unpredictable or even disastrous circumstances
of life on an even keel. They radiate an environment of trust,
safety and loyalty. Their followers are not afraid to be the
one to bring bad news. They are thoughtful and reflective
enough to navigate the moguls of life in proper balance.

Implications for Christian leaders: Leaders who want to be
effective at the highest levels of Christian leadership are
passionate about allowing the fruits of the Holy Spirit - in-
cluding patience and self-control - to be seen in their daily
activities.

Want to be a great leader? How would your followers (including
your family) rate you when it comes to self-control? How about
patience?

3. Motivation - Leaders with emotional intelligence have an
inner drive to go beyond the minimum expectations of others.
They have a desire to improve, to do things better. They want
to keep score so as to be able to measure growth or improvement.
They have a buy in to the organization, which expresses itself
in loyalty to the cause.

Implications for Christian leaders: Christian leaders need a
passion that expresses itself in a sense of responsibility.
Passion can cover a multitude of sins when it comes to the lack
of ability or training. I have seen very average communicators
take the house down purely based on the fact they were
passionate about what they said and communicated a sense of
personal responsibility for the cause.

Want to be a great leader? When was the last time you cried
over the cause? Is your passion meter stuck on "whatever"?

4. Empathy - Leaders with emotional intelligence thoughtfully
consider the feelings of followers in the process of making
decisions. They are not governed by this empathy so as to keep
them from making the tough call. But they recognize they are
dealing with people and that actions have consequences. They go
beyond trite statements like, "Deal with it" or "Get over it"
when helping followers process change. This kind of empathy is
critical in an environment where teams bring with them complex
relationships and globalization requires cross-cultural communi-
cation. Effective mentoring and coaching on the job grows out
of the strength of relationship, which is enhanced by empathetic
interaction.

Implications for Christian leaders: What Goleman describes as
empathy could easily be viewed as servant leadership. Effective
Christian leaders realize the most preferred power base is spi-
ritual authority, which flows from strength of character and
servant attitudes.

Want to be a great leader? Try living the golden rule. What is
your default power base setting?

5. Social Skills - Leaders with emotional intelligence are
purposefully friendly. They are not necessarily sanguine in
their personality type. But they are intentional about culti-
vating interpersonal communication skills. They have an
"others" focus that makes it easy to carry on a conversation.
They readily seek common ground and ask sincere questions.

Social skills in this context are really a combination of other
aspects of emotional intelligence. These skills emerge as the
components of emotional intelligence are put to work synergistic-
ally in real life.

Implications for Christian Leaders: The social skills Goleman
describes have a common root in listening. Being a good listener
is not always at the top of the priority list of high-energy
leaders. Many times as leaders we are busy forming our rebuttal
statement after the first three words have been spoken to us.

Want to be a great leader? Cultivate good listening habits. Be
quick to listen and slow to speak.


Final Comments

Let me take you back to the opening thoughts in this article. What
is the "must have" characteristic of highly effective leaders? If
you were in a room with all the other Leadership Minute subscribers
and that question was asked, I predict none of us would have ans-
wered emotional intelligence. And as a result, few of the practical
application comments flowing from this article would have been on
our short list of action steps. Review them for a minute. Should
they be?

1. Want to be a great leader? How are you doing in the area of
destiny processing? Refining your ministry philosophy? Personal
Growth?

2. Want to be a great leader? How would your followers (including
your family) rate you when it comes to self-control? How about
patience?

3. Want to be a great leader? When was the last time you cried
over the cause? Is your passion meter stuck on "whatever"?

4. Want to be a great leader? Try living the golden rule. What
is your default power base setting?

5. Want to be a great leader? Cultivate good listening habits.
Be quick to listen and slow to speak.


Assessment and Action

1. Do you agree with Daniel Goleman's assertion that emotional
intelligence is the most important distinguishing factor between
high-level leaders?

2. Can you think of a high-level leader who is/was very success-
ful but did not have emotional intelligence? If yes, who? Did they
succeed because of this lack of emotional intelligence or in spite
of it?

3. What component of emotional intelligence is least valued by
traditional leadership paradigms?

4. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-20 in each component of emo-
tional intelligence. Then total your score for each area - a
perfect score would total 100.

5. Based on your answer to #4, which component of emotional
intelligence do you most need to develop?

Steve Moore - Global Leadership Consultant, Top Flight Leadership