Beyond the brain: the intelligence of leadership
Posted on January 17, 2017 by Brad Ward, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Among my favorite keys to leadership are self-mastery and social mastery. Here's what I learned about myself along the way...
At the tender age of 35, I was hired as the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization. It was the realization of one of my highest professional goals, and it quickly taught me that I had some growth to do to be an effective leader.
I began a journey that started with becoming aware of how I showed up with people. I’m an extrovert and thrive on engaging with the world around me. I’m also energetic and exude a “youthful energy” when I enter a room. As the newly appointed leader, I discovered those traits sometimes meant I came across as intense, sharp, and overbearing. I had never been in a position to look at myself as others see me and it was enlightening.
I stumbled onto a Daniel Goleman article about emotional and social intelligence. He suggested these innate types of intelligence were categorized into four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill. I was immediately hooked and started learning about me.
In coaching leaders, I touch on the topic of emotional and social intelligence early in the engagement. I start with my own lessons – how I integrated the concepts into life in a leadership role. It helps my clients see for themselves that this kind of growth is within reach, and it demystifies the process of self-mastery and social mastery. Here’s how it worked for me.
I decided I had to understand myself better. I started by finding tools to help me dissect the person I’d known all my life. My favorite was the Values in Action Survey of Character Strengths. It helped me frame traits in affirming statements and helped me see as strengths some things I had viewed as flaws. I had a new appreciation for self-awareness.
Then I reviewed the elements of self-management to determine where I should focus my efforts to improve. I saw exactly what I needed to tackle: adaptability. My Meyers-Briggs Type is ENTJ, so I’m a big fan of order and routine. I also have a keen focus on the goal, whatever task I’m doing. That sounds great until something comes along that shakes up the way I need to go about getting to my goal. I’ve improved in this area, and find that the more I’m open to changes along the path to our goal, the happier I am with the experience as a whole.
The third domain, social awareness, is where I am most comfortable. When I’m in a position to meet the needs of the people around me, I’m happiest. I noticed that observing what happened around me – how people interacted, who helped influence decision making, and what responses people had to my appreciation of their work – allowed me to navigate my workplace relationships more easily. I had an innate talent for active involvement, but observation, followed by integrating what I saw gave me an edge.
The last and, in my mind, most important domain for leaders is social skill. This is the realm of nuanced communication that influences and inspires without demanding. It’s the capacity to listen for resolution to conflict while it happens and swiftly resolving the problem without escalating it. And it’s nurturing relationships that allow people to flourish while cultivating new ones for the future. Those who have these skills innately are natural leaders. The rest of us have to work at it!
The intelligence of leadership goes far beyond the realms of emotional and social intelligence. But in my practice, this is the place where my clients and I see the greatest returns on our work together. When I become a partner in my client’s goals, we are able to do what we do, better!
Bradley K. Ward, ACC
