In 1998 Daniel Goleman published a groundbreaking article in Harvard Business Review titled 'What Makes Leader?' In answering this question Dr. Goleman made the case that:
IQ and technical skills are important, but emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.
The original article was recently re-published in the Harvard Business Review's OnPoint periodical, and it still resonates. As summarized in the article, what distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones is emotional intelligence (EI), a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers' performance. The EI skills are:
- Self-awareness - knowing one's strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and impact on others
- Self-regulation - controlling or redirecting disruptive impulses and moods
- Motivation - relishing achievement for its own sake
- Empathy - understanding other people's emotional makeup
- Social skill - building rapport with others to move them in desired directions.
Dr. Goleman notes that we are each born with certain levels of EI skills, but we can strengthen these abilities through persistence, practice, and feedback from colleagues or coaches.
Click here to read the original article at the University of Washington website.
