COMM511 – Discussion 2

 

1. Briefly describe Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence. Explain why having a strong emotional intelligence and social intelligence is important if you hope to lead others.

2. Additionally, How will you manage your amygdala when under distressing situations? Moreover, what will be your coping strategies so that you can focus on productive and meaningful ways to manage, given stressful situations?   It will be helpful to read and review the media clips on this subject ( make sure you listen/review, Social Intelligence on Google talk–see link above). Be thorough and substantive when discussing. Feel free to use personal work-related examples. 

3. Define and describe mission, vision, and values. Why is identifying a personal (self) mission, vision, and values important for leaders? Why is identifying an organization’s mission, vision, and values important?  Should a personal mission, vision, and value be aligned with an organization? Explain why, substantively and clearly. Feel free to go outside the Module’s articles and find one of your own to help explain. 

Instruction: 

Be sure to fully cite all sources in these descriptions. 400 words minimum. Be sure to use bolded sectional headings for paragraphs. Provide the APA formatting for citations of the articles, course book, or other sources used in your writings. 

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS

Emotional Intelligence Has 12
Elements. Which Do You Need to
Work On?
by Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis

February 06, 2017

Esther is a well-liked manager of a small team. Kind and respectful, she is sensitive

to the needs of others. She is a problem solver; she tends to see setbacks as

opportunities. She’s always engaged and is a source of calm to her colleagues. Her

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manager feels lucky to have such an easy direct report to work with and often

compliments Esther on her high levels of emotional intelligence, or EI. And Esther

indeed counts EI as one of her strengths; she’s grateful for at least one thing she

doesn’t have to work on as part of her leadership development. It’s strange, though

— even with her positive outlook, Esther is starting to feel stuck in her career. She

just hasn’t been able to demonstrate the kind of performance her company is

looking for. So much for emotional intelligence, she’s starting to think.

The trap that has ensnared Esther and her manager is a common one: They are

defining emotional intelligence much too narrowly. Because they’re focusing only

on Esther’s sociability, sensitivity, and likability, they’re missing critical elements

of emotional intelligence that could make her a stronger, more effective leader.

A recent HBR article highlights the skills that a kind, positive manager like Esther

might lack: the ability to deliver difficult feedback to employees, the courage to

ruffle feathers and drive change, the creativity to think outside the box. But these

gaps aren’t a result of Esther’s emotional intelligence; they’re simply evidence that

her EI skills are uneven. In the model of EI and leadership excellence that we have

developed over 30 years of studying the strengths of outstanding leaders, we’ve

found that having a well-balanced array of specific EI capabilities actually prepares

a leader for exactly these kinds of tough challenges.

There are many models of emotional intelligence, each with its own set of abilities;

they are often lumped together as “EQ” in the popular vernacular. We prefer “EI,”

which we define as comprising four domains: self-awareness, self-management,

social awareness, and relationship management. Nested within each domain are

twelve EI competencies, learned and learnable capabilities that allow outstanding

performance at work or as a leader (see the image below). These include areas in

which Esther is clearly strong: empathy, positive outlook, and self-control. But

they also include crucial abilities such as achievement, influence, conflict

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management, teamwork and inspirational leadership. These skills require just as

much engagement with emotions as the first set, and should be just as much a part

of any aspiring leader’s development priorities.

Find this and other HBR graphics in our Visual Library

For example, if Esther had strength in conflict management, she would be skilled in

giving people unpleasant feedback. And if she were more inclined to influence, she

would want to provide that difficult feedback as a way to lead her direct reports

and help them grow. Say, for example, that Esther has a peer who is overbearing

and abrasive. Rather than smoothing over every interaction, with a broader

balance of EI skills she could bring up the issue to her colleague directly, drawing

on emotional self-control to keep her own reactivity at bay while telling him what,

specifically, does not work in his style. Bringing simmering issues to the surface

goes to the core of conflict management. Esther could also draw on influence

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strategy to explain to her colleague that she wants to see him succeed, and that if

he monitored how his style impacted those around him he would understand

how a change would help everyone.

Similarly, if Esther had developed her inspirational leadership competence, she

would be more successful at driving change. A leader with this strength can

articulate a vision or mission that resonates emotionally with both themselves and

those they lead, which is a key ingredient in marshaling the motivation essential

for going in a new direction. Indeed, several studies have found a strong

association between EI, driving change, and visionary leadership.

In order to excel, leaders need to develop a balance of strengths across the suite of

EI competencies. When they do that, excellent business results follow.

How can you tell where your EI needs improvement — especially if you feel that

it’s strong in some areas?

Simply reviewing the 12 competencies in your mind can give you a sense of where

you might need some development. There are a number of formal models of EI,

and many of them come with their own assessment tools. When choosing a tool to

use, consider how well it predicts leadership outcomes. Some assess how you see

yourself; these correlate highly with personality tests, which also tap into a

person’s “self-schema.” Others, like that of Yale University president Peter Salovey

and his colleagues, define EI as an ability; their test, the MSCEIT (a commercially

available product), correlates more highly with IQ than any other EI test.

We recommend comprehensive 360-degree assessments, which collect both self-

ratings and the views of others who know you well. This external feedback is

particularly helpful for evaluating all areas of EI, including self-awareness (how

http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2016-60248-001

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would you know that you are not self-aware?). You can get a rough gauge of where

your strengths and weaknesses lie by asking those who work with you to give you

feedback. The more people you ask, the better a picture you get.

Formal 360-degree assessments, which incorporate systematic, anonymous

observations of your behavior by people who work with you, have been found to

not correlate well with IQ or personality, but they are the best predictors of a

leader’s effectiveness, actual business performance, engagement, and job (and life)

satisfaction. Into this category fall our own model and the Emotional and Social

Competency Inventory, or ESCI 360, a commercially available assessment we

developed with Korn Ferry Hay Group to gauge the 12 EI competencies, which rely

on how others rate observable behaviors in evaluating a leader. The larger the gap

between a leader’s self-ratings and how others see them, research finds, the fewer

EI strengths the leader actually shows, and the poorer the business results.

These assessments are critical to a full evaluation of your EI, but

even understanding that these 12 competencies are all a part of your emotional

intelligence is an important first step in addressing areas where your EI is at its

weakest. Coaching is the most effective method for improving in areas of EI deficit.

Having expert support during your ups and downs as you practice operating in a

new way is invaluable.

Even people with many apparent leadership strengths can stand to better

understand those areas of EI where we have room to grow. Don’t shortchange your

development as a leader by assuming that EI is all about being sweet and chipper,

or that your EI is perfect if you are — or, even worse, assume that EI can’t help you

excel in your career.

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Daniel Goleman, best known for his writing on emotional intelligence, is Co-Director of the

Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University. His latest book

is Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence, a 12-primer set on each of the emotional intelligence

competencies, and he offers training on the competencies through an online learning platform, Emotional

Intelligence Training Programs. His other books include Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of

Emotional Intelligence and Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and

Body.

Richard E. Boyatzis is a Professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and

Cognitive Science at the Weatherhead School of Management and Distinguished University Professor at

Case Western Reserve University. He is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab and coauthor of

Helping People Change (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

Related Topics: Emotional Intelligence | Influence | Psychology

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Atul Mishra a month ago

Good and important course to build skill. And for to do better in day to day work

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6/3/22, 11:58 AM What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements?

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What is the di�erence between mission,
vision and values statements?

Each statement may be part of the strategic planning process but have a di�erent objective. These statements may be written for

organizations or for individual departments.

A mission statement is a concise explanation of the organization’s reason for existence. It describes the organization’s purpose and its

overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers,

vendors and other stakeholders. See SHRM’s Company Mission Statement Examples (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-

samples/policies/pages/missionstatementgeneral.aspx) for a variety of samples. Questions to consider when drafting mission statements

could include:

What is our organization’s purpose?

Why does our organization exist?

A vision statement looks forward and creates a mental image of the ideal state that the organization wishes to achieve. It is inspirational

and aspirational and should challenge employees. Questions to consider when drafting vision statements might include:

What problem are we seeking to solve?

Where are we headed?

If we achieved all strategic goals, what would we look like 10 years from now?

A values statement lists the core principles that guide and direct the organization and its culture. In a values-led organization, the values

create a moral compass for the organization and its employees. It guides decision-making and establishes a standard against which actions

can be assessed. These core values are an internalized framework that is shared and acted on by leadership. When drafting values

statements, questions to consider might include:

What values are unique to our organization?

What values should guide the operations of our company?

What conduct should our employees uphold?

In conjunction with a values statement, a code of ethics puts those values into practice. It outlines the procedures in place to ensure the

organization’s values are upheld. Questions to consider when creating codes of ethics might include:

What are common ethical issues in our industry?

What should someone do if he or she sees a violation of our values?

Management cannot create a new values statement or ethics code and expect immediate change. For an organization to have an e�ective

values statement, it must fully embrace its values and ethics at all levels of the company and use them daily to guide its attitudes, actions

and decision-making. Refer to What does it mean to be a values-based organization? (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-

samples/hr-qa/Pages/whatdoesitmeantobeavalues-basedorganization.aspx) for more information.

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6/3/22, 11:58 AM What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements?

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PSYCHOLOGY

Social Intelligence and the Biology of
Leadership
by Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis

From the September 2008 Issue

I n 1998, one of us, Daniel Goleman, published in these pages his first article on

emotional intelligence and leadership. The response to “What Makes a

Leader?” was enthusiastic. People throughout and beyond the business

community started talking about the vital role that empathy and self-

knowledge play in effective leadership. The concept of emotional intelligence

continues to occupy a prominent space in the leadership literature and in everyday

coaching practices. But in the past five years, research in the emerging field of

social neuroscience—the study of what happens in the brain while people interact

—is beginning to reveal subtle new truths about what makes a good leader.

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The salient discovery is that certain things leaders do—specifically, exhibit empathy

and become attuned to others’ moods—literally affect both their own brain

chemistry and that of their followers. Indeed, researchers have found that the

leader-follower dynamic is not a case of two (or more) independent brains reacting

consciously or unconsciously to each other. Rather, the individual minds become,

in a sense, fused into a single system. We believe that great leaders are those whose

behavior powerfully leverages the system of brain interconnectedness. We place

them on the opposite end of the neural continuum from people with serious social

disorders, such as autism or Asperger’s syndrome, that are characterized by

underdevelopment in the areas of the brain associated with social interactions. If

we are correct, it follows that a potent way of becoming a better leader is to find

authentic contexts in which to learn the kinds of social behavior that reinforce the

brain’s social circuitry. Leading effectively is, in other words, less about mastering

situations—or even mastering social skill sets—than about developing a genuine

interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose

cooperation and support you need.

The notion that effective leadership is about having powerful social circuits in the

brain has prompted us to extend our concept of emotional intelligence, which we

had grounded in theories of individual psychology. A more relationship-based

construct for assessing leadership is social intelligence, which we define as a set of

interpersonal competencies built on specific neural circuits (and related endocrine

systems) that inspire others to be effective.

 PLAY 10:15

Do Women Have Stronger
Social Circuits?
People often ask whether gender

differences factor into the social

intelligence skills needed for

outstanding leadership. The answer

is yes and no. It’s true that women

tend, on average, to be better than

men at immediately sensing other

people’s emotions, whereas men tend

to have more social confidence, at

least in work settings. However,

gender differences in social

intelligence that are dramatic in the

general population are all but absent

among the most successful leaders.

When the University of Toledo’s

Margaret Hopkins studied several

hundred executives from a major

bank, she found gender differences

The idea that leaders need social skills is not new, of course. In 1920, Columbia

University psychologist Edward Thorndike pointed out that “the best mechanic in

a factory may fail as a foreman for lack of social intelligence.” More recently, our

colleague Claudio Fernández-Aráoz found in an analysis of new C-level executives

that those who had been hired for their self-discipline, drive, and intellect were

sometimes later fired for lacking basic social skills. In other words, the people

Fernández-Aráoz studied had smarts in spades, but their inability to get along

socially on the job was professionally self-defeating.

What’s new about our definition of social

intelligence is its biological

underpinning, which we will explore in

the following pages. Drawing on the

work of neuroscientists, our own

research and consulting endeavors, and

the findings of researchers affiliated with

the Consortium for Research on

Emotional Intelligence in Organizations,

we will show you how to translate newly

acquired knowledge about mirror

neurons, spindle cells, and oscillators

into practical, socially intelligent

behaviors that can reinforce the neural

links between you and your followers.

Followers Mirror Their Leaders
—Literally

in social intelligence in the overall

group but not between the most

effective men and the most effective

women. Ruth Malloy of the Hay

Group uncovered a similar pattern in

her study of CEOs of international

companies. Gender, clearly, is not

neural destiny.

Perhaps the most stunning recent

discovery in behavioral neuroscience is

the identification of mirror neurons in

widely dispersed areas of the brain.

Italian neuroscientists found them by

accident while monitoring a particular

cell in a monkey’s brain that fired only

when the monkey raised its arm. One day

a lab assistant lifted an ice cream cone to

his own mouth and triggered a reaction

in the monkey’s cell. It was the first evidence that the brain is peppered with

neurons that mimic, or mirror, what another being does. This previously unknown

class of brain cells operates as neural Wi-Fi, allowing us to navigate our social

world. When we consciously or unconsciously detect someone else’s emotions

through their actions, our mirror neurons reproduce those emotions. Collectively,

these neurons create an instant sense of shared experience.

Mirror neurons have particular importance in organizations, because leaders’

emotions and actions prompt followers to mirror those feelings and deeds. The

effects of activating neural circuitry in followers’ brains can be very powerful. In a

recent study, our colleague Marie Dasborough observed two groups: One received

negative performance feedback accompanied by positive emotional signals—

namely, nods and smiles; the other was given positive feedback that was delivered

critically, with frowns and narrowed eyes. In subsequent interviews conducted to

compare the emotional states of the two groups, the people who had received

positive feedback accompanied by negative emotional signals reported feeling

worse about their performance than did the participants who had received good-

natured negative feedback. In effect, the delivery was more important than the

message itself. And everybody knows that when people feel better, they perform

better. So, if leaders hope to get the best out of their people, they should continue

to be demanding but in ways that foster a positive mood in their teams. The old

carrot-and-stick approach alone doesn’t make neural sense; traditional incentive

systems are simply not enough to get the best performance from followers.

Here’s an example of what does work. It turns out that there’s a subset of mirror

neurons whose only job is to detect other people’s smiles and laughter, prompting

smiles and laughter in return. A boss who is self-controlled and humorless will

rarely engage those neurons in his team members, but a boss who laughs and sets

an easygoing tone puts those neurons to work, triggering spontaneous laughter

and knitting his team together in the process. A bonded group is one that performs

well, as our colleague Fabio Sala has shown in his research. He found that top-

performing leaders elicited laughter from their subordinates three times as often,

on average, as did midperforming leaders. Being in a good mood, other research

finds, helps people take in information effectively and respond nimbly and

creatively. In other words, laughter is serious business.

It certainly made a difference at one university-based hospital in Boston. Two

doctors we’ll call Dr. Burke and Dr. Humboldt were in contention for the post of

CEO of the corporation that ran this hospital and others. Both of them headed up

departments, were superb physicians, and had published many widely cited

research articles in prestigious medical journals. But the two had very different

personalities. Burke was intense, task focused, and impersonal. He was a relentless

perfectionist with a combative tone that kept his staff continually on edge.

Humboldt was no less demanding, but he was very approachable, even playful, in

relating to staff, colleagues, and patients. Observers noted that people smiled and

teased one another—and even spoke their minds—more in Humboldt’s department

than in Burke’s. Prized talent often ended up leaving Burke’s department; in

contrast, outstanding folks gravitated to Humboldt’s warmer working climate.

Recognizing Humboldt’s socially intelligent leadership style, the hospital

corporation’s board picked him as the new CEO.

The “Finely Attuned” Leader
Great executives often talk about leading from the gut. Indeed, having good

instincts is widely recognized as an advantage for a leader in any context, whether

in reading the mood of one’s organization or in conducting a delicate negotiation

with the competition. Leadership scholars characterize this talent as an ability to

recognize patterns, usually born of extensive experience. Their advice: Trust your

gut, but get lots of input as you make decisions. That’s sound practice, of course,

but managers don’t always have the time to consult dozens of people.

Findings in neuroscience suggest that this approach is probably too cautious.

Intuition, too, is in the brain, produced in part by a class of neurons called spindle

cells because of their shape. They have a body size about four times that of other

brain cells, with an extra-long branch to make attaching to other cells easier and

transmitting thoughts and feelings to them quicker. This ultrarapid connection of

emotions, beliefs, and judgments creates what behavioral scientists call our social

guidance system. Spindle cells trigger neural networks that come into play

whenever we have to choose the best response among many—even for a task as

routine as prioritizing a to-do list. These cells also help us gauge whether someone

is trustworthy and right (or wrong) for a job. Within one-twentieth of a second,

our spindle cells fire with information about how we feel about that person; such

“thin-slice” judgments can be very accurate, as follow-up metrics reveal.

Therefore, leaders should not fear to act on those judgments, provided that they

are also attuned to others’ moods.

Such attunement is literally physical. Followers of an effective leader experience

rapport with her—or what we and our colleague Annie McKee call “resonance.”

Much of this feeling arises unconsciously, thanks to mirror neurons and spindle-

cell circuitry. But another class of neurons is also involved: Oscillators coordinate

people physically by regulating how and when their bodies move together. You can

see oscillators in action when you watch people about to kiss; their movements

look like a dance, one body responding to the other seamlessly. The same dynamic

occurs when two cellists play together. Not only do they hit their notes in unison,

but thanks to oscillators, the two musicians’ right brain hemispheres are more

closely coordinated than are the left and right sides of their individual brains.

Firing Up Your Social Neurons
The firing of social neurons is evident all around us. We once analyzed a video of

Herb Kelleher, a cofounder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, strolling down

the corridors of Love Field in Dallas, the airline’s hub. We could practically see him

activate the mirror neurons, oscillators, and other social circuitry in each person he

encountered. He offered beaming smiles, shook hands with customers as he told

them how much he appreciated their business, hugged employees as he thanked

them for their good work. And he got back exactly what he gave. Typical was the

flight attendant whose face lit up when she unexpectedly encountered her boss.

“Oh, my honey!” she blurted, brimming with warmth, and gave him a big hug. She

later explained, “Everyone just feels like family with him.”

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to turn yourself into a Herb Kelleher or a Dr. Humboldt

if you’re not one already. We know of no clear-cut methods to strengthen mirror

neurons, spindle cells, and oscillators; they activate by the thousands per second

during any encounter, and their precise firing patterns remain elusive. What’s

more, self-conscious attempts to display social intelligence can often backfire.

When you make an intentional effort to coordinate movements with another

person, it is not only oscillators that fire. In such situations the brain uses other,

less adept circuitry to initiate and guide movements; as a result, the interaction

feels forced.

The only way to develop your social circuitry effectively is to undertake the hard

work of changing your behavior (see “Primal Leadership: The Hidden Driver of

Great Performance,” our December 2001 HBR article with Annie McKee).

Companies interested in leadership development need to begin by assessing the

willingness of individuals to enter a change program. Eager candidates should first

develop a personal vision for change and then undergo a thorough diagnostic

assessment, akin to a medical workup, to identify areas of social weakness and

strength. Armed with the feedback, the aspiring leader can be trained in specific

areas where developing better social skills will have the greatest payoff. The

training can range from rehearsing better ways of interacting and trying them out

at every opportunity, to being shadowed by a coach and then debriefed about what

he observes, to learning directly from a role model. The options are many, but the

road to success is always tough.

How to Become Socially Smarter
To see what social intelligence training involves, consider the case of a top

executive we’ll call Janice. She had been hired as a marketing manager by a Fortune

500 company because of her business expertise, outstanding track record as a

strategic thinker and planner, reputation as a straight talker, and ability to

anticipate business issues that were crucial for meeting goals. Within her first six

The way to develop your social circuitry is
to undertake the hard work of changing
your behavior.

months on the job, however, Janice was floundering; other executives saw her as

aggressive and opinionated, lacking in political astuteness, and careless about what

she said and to whom, especially higher-ups.

To save this promising leader, Janice’s boss called in Kathleen Cavallo, an

organizational psychologist and senior consultant with the Hay Group, who

immediately put Janice through a 360-degree evaluation. Her direct reports, peers,

and managers gave Janice low ratings on empathy, service orientation,

adaptability, and managing conflicts. Cavallo learned more by having confidential

conversations with the people who worked most closely with Janice. Their

complaints focused on her failure to establish rapport with people or even notice

their reactions. The bottom line: Janice was adept neither at reading the social

norms of a group nor at recognizing people’s emotional cues when she violated

those norms. Even more dangerous, Janice did not realize she was being too blunt

in managing upward. When she had a strong difference of opinion with a manager,

she did not sense when to back off. Her “let’s get it all on the table and mix it up”

approach was threatening her job; top management was getting fed up.

When Cavallo presented this performance feedback as a wake-up call to Janice, she

was of course shaken to discover that her job might be in danger. What upset her

more, though, was the realization that she was not having her desired impact on

other people. Cavallo initiated coaching sessions in which Janice would describe

notable successes and failures from her day. The more time Janice spent reviewing

these incidents, the better she became at recognizing the difference between

expressing an idea with conviction and acting like a pit bull. She began to

anticipate how people might react to her in a meeting or during a negative

performance review; she rehearsed more-astute ways to present her opinions; and

she developed a personal vision for change. Such mental preparation activates the

social circuitry of the brain, strengthening the neural connections you need to act

effectively; that’s why Olympic athletes put hundreds of hours into mental review

of their moves.

At one point, Cavallo asked Janice to name a leader in her organization who had

excellent social intelligence skills. Janice identified a veteran senior manager who

was masterly both in the art of the critique and at expressing disagreement in

meetings without damaging relationships. She asked him to help coach her, and

she switched to a job where she could work with him—a post she held for two

years. Janice was lucky to find a mentor who believed that part of a leader’s job is

to develop human capital. Many bosses would rather manage around a problem

employee than help her get better. Janice’s new boss took her on because he

recognized her other strengths as invaluable, and his gut told him that Janice could

improve with guidance.

Before meetings, Janice’s mentor coached her on how to express her viewpoint

about contentious issues and how to talk to higher-ups, and he modeled for her the

art of performance feedback. By observing him day in and day out, Janice learned

to affirm people even as she challenged their positions or critiqued their

performance. Spending time with a living, breathing model of effective behavior

provides the perfect stimulation for our mirror neurons, which allow us to directly

experience, internalize, and ultimately emulate what we observe.

Janice’s transformation was genuine and comprehensive. In a sense, she went in

one person and came out another. If you think about it, that’s an important lesson

from neuroscience: Because our behavior creates and develops neural networks,

we are not necessarily prisoners of our genes and our early childhood experiences.

Leaders can change if, like Janice, they are ready to put in the effort. As she

progressed in her training, the social behaviors she was learning became more like

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second nature to her. In scientific terms, Janice was strengthening her social

circuits through practice. And as others responded to her, their brains connected

with hers more profoundly and effectively, thereby reinforcing Janice’s circuits in a

virtuous circle. The upshot: Janice went from being on the verge of dismissal to

getting promoted to a position two levels up.

A few years later, some members of

Janice’s staff left the company because

they were not happy—so she asked

Cavallo to come back. Cavallo discovered

that although Janice had mastered the

ability to communicate and connect with

management and peers, she still

sometimes missed cues from her direct

reports when they tried to signal their frustration. With more help from Cavallo,

Janice was able to turn the situation around by refocusing her attention on her

staff’s emotional needs and fine-tuning her communication style. Opinion surveys

conducted with Janice’s staff before and after Cavallo’s second round of coaching

documented dramatic increases in their emotional commitment and intention to

stay in the organization. Janice and the staff also delivered a 6% increase in annual

sales, and after another successful year she was made president of a multibillion-

dollar unit. Companies can clearly benefit a lot from putting people through the

kind of program Janice completed.

Hard Metrics of Social Intelligence
Our research over the past decade has confirmed that there is a large performance

gap between socially intelligent and socially unintelligent leaders. At a major

national bank, for example, we found that levels of an executive’s social

intelligence competencies predicted yearly performance appraisals more

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https://hbr.org/2008/09/social-intelligence-and-the-biology-of-leadership#

Are You a Socially
Intelligent Leader?
To measure an executive’s social

intelligence and help him or her

develop a plan for improving it, we

have a specialist administer our

behavioral assessment tool, the

Emotional and Social Competency

Inventory. It is a 360-degree

evaluation instrument by which

bosses, peers, direct reports, clients,

and sometimes even family members

assess a leader according to seven

social intelligence qualities.

We came up with these seven by

integrating our existing emotional

intelligence framework with data

assembled by our colleagues at the

Hay Group, who used hard metrics to

capture the behavior of top-

performing leaders at hundreds of

corporations over two decades.

Listed here are each of the qualities,

followed by some of the questions we

use to assess them.

powerfully than did the emotional intelligence competencies of self-awareness and

self-management. (For a brief explanation of our assessment tool, which focuses on

seven dimensions, see the exhibit “Are You a Socially Intelligent Leader?”)

Social intelligence turns out to be

especially important in crisis situations.

Consider the experience of workers at a

large Canadian provincial health care

system that had gone through drastic

cutbacks and a reorganization. Internal

surveys revealed that the frontline

workers had become frustrated that they

were no longer able to give their patients

a high level of care. Notably, workers

whose leaders scored low in social

intelligence reported unmet patient-care

needs at three times the rate—and

emotional exhaustion at four times the

rate—of their colleagues who had

supportive leaders. At the same time,

nurses with socially intelligent bosses

reported good emotional health and an

enhanced ability to care for their

patients, even during the stress of layoffs

(see the sidebar “The Chemistry of

Stress”). These results should be

compulsory reading for the boards of

companies in crisis. Such boards typically

favor expertise over social intelligence

Empathy
Do you understand

what motivates other people, even

those from different backgrounds?

Are you sensitive

to others’ needs?

Attunement
Do you listen attentively

and think about how others feel?

Are you attuned

to others’ moods?

Organizational
Awareness
Do you appreciate

the culture and values of the group

or organization?

Do you understand social networks

and know their unspoken norms?

The Chemistry of Stress
When people are under stress, surges

in the stress hormones adrenaline

and cortisol strongly affect their

reasoning and cognition. At low

levels, cortisol facilitates thinking and

other mental functions, so well-timed

pressure to perform and targeted

critiques of subordinates certainly

have their place. When a leader’s

demands become too great for a

subordinate to handle, however,

soaring cortisol levels and an added

hard kick of adrenaline can paralyze

the mind’s critical abilities. Attention

fixates on the threat from the boss

rather than the work at hand;

memory, planning, and creativity go

out the window. People fall back on

old habits, no matter how unsuitable

those are for addressing new

challenges.

Poorly delivered criticism and

displays of anger by leaders are

common triggers of hormonal surges.

In fact, when laboratory scientists

when selecting someone to guide the

institution through tough times. A crisis

manager needs both.

Influence
Do you persuade others

by engaging them in discussion

and appealing to their self-

interests?

Do you get support

from key people?

Developing Others
Do you coach

and mentor others with

compassion and personally invest

time and energy in mentoring?

Do you provide feedback

that people find helpful for their

professional development?

Inspiration
Do you articulate a compelling
vision,

build group pride, and foster a

positive emotional tone?

Do you lead

want to study the highest levels of

stress hormones, they simulate a job

interview in which an applicant

receives intense face-to-face

criticism—an analogue of a boss’s

tearing apart a subordinate’s

performance. Researchers likewise

find that when someone who is very

important to a person expresses

contempt or disgust toward him, his

stress circuitry triggers an explosion

by stress hormones and a spike in

heart rate of 30 to 40 beats per

minute. Then, because of the

interpersonal dynamic of mirror

neurons and oscillators, the tension

spreads to other people. Before you

know it, the destructive emotions

have infected an entire group and

inhibited its performance.

Leaders are themselves not immune

to the contagion of stress. All the

more reason they should take the

time to understand the biology of

their emotions.

• • •

by bringing out the best in people?

Teamwork
Do you solicit input

from everyone on the team?

Do you support

all team members and encourage

cooperation?

As we explore the discoveries of

neuroscience, we are struck by how

closely the best psychological theories of

development map to the newly charted

hardwiring of the brain. Back in the

1950s, for example, British pediatrician

and psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott was

advocating for play as a way to accelerate

children’s learning. Similarly, British

physician and psychoanalyst John

Bowlby emphasized the importance of

providing a secure base from which

people can strive toward goals, take risks

without unwarranted fear, and freely explore new possibilities. Hard-bitten

executives may consider it absurdly indulgent and financially untenable to concern

themselves with such theories in a world where bottom-line performance is the

yardstick of success. But as new ways of scientifically measuring human

development start to bear out these theories and link them directly with

performance, the so-called soft side of business begins to look not so soft after all.

A version of this article appeared in the September 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Daniel Goleman, best known for his writing on emotional intelligence, is Co-Director of the

Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University. His latest book

is Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence, a 12-primer set on each of the emotional intelligence

competencies, and he offers training on the competencies through an online learning platform, Emotional

Intelligence Training Programs. His other books include Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of

Emotional Intelligence and Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and

Body.

https://hbr.org/archive-toc/BR0809

https://hbr.org/search?term=daniel%20goleman&search_type=search-all

Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence: 12 Leadership Competency Primers – Complete Perfect Bound Bundle

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https://hbr.org/product/primal-leadership-with-a-new-preface-by-the-authors-unleashing-the-power-of-emotional-intelligence/16558H-HBK-ENG

Richard E. Boyatzis is a Professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and

Cognitive Science at the Weatherhead School of Management and Distinguished University Professor at

Case Western Reserve University. He is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab and coauthor of

Helping People Change (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

Related Topics: Developing Employees | Leadership | Emotional Intelligence

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Sergey Yatsenko 4 years ago

Followers Mirror Their Leaders—Literally. */S.Y\ Mirror of Leader. Smart Tips. Many Faces of
Constructivism. Look the Mirror of Thought Leader. You can Much Creativity on Demand.

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