Emotional Intelligence: From Analytical to Relational Leadership (A Proposition)

Transcription

1 Emotional Intelligence: From Analytical to Relational Leadership (A Proposition) Margaret Chapman, BSc ( BSc (Hons), AdvDipEdn,, MSc, MEd Chartered FCIPD, C.Psychol, AFBPsS Senior Fellow (Leadership)

2 4-Mat of the Proposition 1 My aim? To explore ways in which EI and emerging discourses signal shifts in ways of thinking & talking about leadership 2 Why? To highlight the role and impact of W/O psychologists as knowledge entrepreneurs 3 How? By drawing on empirical and theoretical evidence, that is stories from research and practice 4 What else? Overall, to emphasise the importance of discourse in shaping the identities of Irish leaders in the Celtic Tiger Economy

3 Positioning Discourse Rooted in post modernist philosophy Reality is socially constructed Primacy of language The talk and text of social life

4 Discourse Defined A set of connected concepts, expressions & statements that constitute a way of talking or writing about an aspect of the world; thus framing and influencing the way people understand and act (Watson, 2002) ways of thinking and talking about issues (Phoenix, 2002)

5 Discourse The Key Principles Discourses drawn from culture Stories Description is construction Metaphors Discursive Practices Discursive Framing Talk is where the action is Discourse is rhetorical Discursive Resources Stake and voice are central Emotion/Cognition Images Clichés

6 W/OP As Knowledge Entrepreneurs Knowledge entrepreneurs create, process and disseminate concepts and ideas that inform leadership discourse and practice and are important for fashioning leadership thinking and action by using the right vocabularies and telling the right stories that reach into the very heart of the organizational psyche. Knowledge entrepreneurs use cognitive and emotional intelligence in equal measure to sell their message. (Chapman, 2004)

7 Psychologists as Knowledge Entrepreneurs: EQ A Case In Point

8 What Makes Effective Leaders Tales From The Field Have a clear personal vision Offer their vision to others in a powerfully persuasive way Declare their beliefs & values & act in accordance with these in pursuit of their vision Are passionate & emotional people who inspire & enthuse others Engender trust by their openness, authenticity, integrity; build confidence & energise others They take a stand for what they believe in and take action Are self-aware and prepared to challenge own beliefs & assumptions

9 What Makes Effective Leaders Tales From The Field (cont d) Are aware of others needs, emotions & concerns & know when to push and when to pull Build good relationships with their followers Take personal risks, make themselves vulnerable & sometimes make mistakes, but learn from them Don t t lead all the time but empower others Are confident & tenacious & resilient Are positive & optimistic; see opportunities rather than problems Respect others views

10 EI Discourses That Shape(d) Leaders Identities The new breed of successful manager is markedly different in nearly every aspect of the role as leader and motivator of people, successful managers place daily emphasis on elevating emotional intelligence and developing emotional competencies (Miller, 1999 in Chapman, 2004)

11 EI The New Leadership Imperative Emotional intelligence is the hidden competitive advantage. If you take care of the soft stuff, the hard stuff will take care of itself. As leaders worldwide are discovering attention to emotions has been shown to save time, expand opportunities, and focus energy for better results (Cooper, 1997) By not dealing with emotionally dumb managers who destroy their own team members, leaders lose momentum or money (Johnson, 1999) Bosses and leaders need high EQ because they represent the organisation for the public, they interact with the highest number of people within and outside of the organisation and they set the tone of employee morale (Murray, 1998 in The Monitor, Journal of the American Psychological Association) Profitability is linked to the ways in which employees feel about their job, colleagues and the company. As organisations have shifted to a more team-based workplace, they are asking their employees for commitment and passion to bring their brains and their hearts to their job emotional intelligence is the hidden advantage (Johnson & Indvik, 1999) Emotional intelligence is essential to a productive workplace. Success depends on more than just intellectual excellence or technological prowess. Emotional intelligence is crucial to excel at the job or assume a leadership role. (Smigla & Pastoria, 2000)

12 Impact on leaders talk Evidence From The Field I think for to be successful in the future it not only has to have good, strong, solid technically capable people, it also has to have people who can walk and talk and chew gum at the same time also importantly it needs people who were understanding of others from an emotional viewpoint, so that you can actually lead teams I thought that was the objective to try and turn out more rounded individuals, not just task oriented people (Senior Executive in Leadership Development Programme Global Financial Services in Chapman, 2004)

13 Leaders Talking About EI I see it as having immense value and I think what I if I m doing just that and they should have done it in school if I look around the business, there are clearly people in a senior position who have who have got (laughing) emotional intelligence, very high, but not the understanding of the business intelligence. Likewise there are people who have got, I would say, business intelligence and not much emotional intelligence, I guess the ultimate is to get both and value both You know, you can be very aware of people s needs you know, say as a tax person, you could, you know, love everybody [half laughs] but, at the same time you ve got to be able to do your job as well. I think what it is (EI) I I think it s a gloss so that if you ve got the basic attributes to do the sort of technical side of your job, I think you can only go so far with that because that will limit you if you don t have the Emotional Intelligence side. So I think it s, er, you know, the the whole thing. I think it would be, erm... organisationally destructive to have a lot of people who are very emotionally intelligent, but don t have the the rest of, er, the range of skills that they need. So I think it s a sort of like a balance, yeah (in Chapman, 2004)

14 In-House Developers Talking About EI I think it very much links to leadership, I mean if I am doing anything to do with leadership development, then EQ would form a framework for that, I mean what is leadership at the end of the day? When you start to break it down it is about behaviour, it is about how people are led by you and that involves you understanding them as people and understanding yourself, understanding the impact you re your behaviours have and understanding the behaviours that are productive in business and unproductive at the end of the day and how you demonstrate those I must have read it and thought this really applies to leadership, this is what is all about... I think emotional intelligence is really about competencies to me, that combine the thoughts and feelings of an individual, more than the cognitive processes. It is this argument between heart and mind and the cognitive processes the mind, the emotional intelligence is what drives your thoughts and feelings, or your heart, it comes from the heart as such and ultimately that helps you to conduct your life by way of your behaviour and your social interaction, your interaction with other people

15 EI Is About Taking Risks & At The End Of The Day It Is Leadership Some of the leadership competencies we need to build here are around that emotional resilience, being able to tell people bad news and being able to deliver good news as well, not being frightened, we are very risk averse here as well, in lots of ways, not just with people, but risk averse with business decisions, so you know it is developing the competencies that help them take risks in a more managed way or calculated, not take risks for the hell of it but you know, take managed risks certainly in order to progress the business, be a lot more creative, again they are not innovative here because they are frightened of taking risks, well you can t have one without the other. So there is something around, if I want to build innovation, then there are certainly emotional intelligence competencies that need to be developed within the organisations and in individuals, in order to get innovation I really believe a leader, a leader s competencies are all emotional intelligence, I don t believe that people, you know the task element and the skills element and the professional technical competence element diminishes the higher you go

16 Stakeholder Discourses For Managers: Personal Development Academics: Emotion as a Commodity A new form of Org Control EQ: A discursive resource That frames & shapes Leader talk & action For Programme Implementers: EQ Is A (Leadership) Performance Technology For Consultants: EI As a basis for product development

17 Emerging discourses - a shift from analytical to relational leadership (that is, leadership is contextual and a social process) Transformational Leadership Bernard Bass (U.S) Beverley Alimo-Metcalf (UK) Servant Leadership Robert Greenleaf (see Spears, 1995) Inspirational Leadership Rob Goffee & Gareth Jones Authentic Leadership Goffee & Jones (2005, 2006) Relational Leadership Goffee & Jones (2006) Cranwell-Ward et al (2002) Principle-Centred Leadership Stephen Covey Resonant Leadership Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman (US) Vic Dulewicz & Malcolm Higgs (Henley, UK) Appreciative Leadership Diana Whitney & Amanda Trosten-Bloom (informed through Cooperrider, Srivastva & others) Spiritual Leadership Deepak Chopra

18 Developing 21 st Century Leadership Resonant Meta Competencies Cognitive Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Relational Intelligence Contextual Intelligence Specific Objectives Servant Appreciative Inspirational Self-Assessment 360-degree Multi-rater feedback Clear Performance Management Blended Learning Authentic Transformational Executive Coaching

19 Final Thoughts on 21 st Century Leadership (1) Passion, emotion, love and spirit are hardly words that readily spring to mind when one thinks of leadership behaviours that proliferate global organisations however in an age of chaos, complexity and constant change, the only means of corporate survival is to recognise that leadership comes from within as a vocation and an energising force (April et al Rethinking Leadership )

20 Final Thoughts On 21 st Leadership (2) Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? Goffee and Jones (2000, 2006) Leaders are there to give people what they need, rather than what they want. They communicate tough empathy which balances respect for the individual, the task at hand and, ultimately, the higher purpose. This is a difficult balancing act a and the personal costs are often higher for the leader than the led (MBA Business, accessed at As we counsel the executives we coach: Be yourselves more with skill. There can be no advice more difficult to follow than that (HBR, Sept-Oct, 2000)

21 Why Discourse Is Important to W/OP Talk Is Not Cheap People learn through relationships that facilitate dialogue, the manager s world is a verbal world (Chapman, 2004) The primary leadership role is talk. It is vital that leaders engage in quality conversations and promote shared sense-making (CIPD Psychology of leadership conference, 2003) Careless talk from W/OP costs leadership identities be careful what discourse(s) you draw upon!

22 Thank you Open to Dialogue