Emotional dimension to leadership

Emotional dimension to leadership

Murali Vijendran

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Emotional dimension to leadership

Table of Contents
Purpose of this document ........................................................................................................................ 3 Emotional dimension of leadership - Overview ................................................. 4 Emotional Competency Framework ................................................................. 5 Leadership Styles ......................................................................................... 7 Becoming a resonant leader ........................................................................ 11 Case studies from the professional experience of the author ............................ 13

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Emotional dimension to leadership

Purpose of this document

This document explains the concepts of emotional intelligence and their impact on organizational leadership. It provides the models, case studies and references of various aspects of the emotional dimension in modern leadership theories.

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Emotional dimension of leadership - Overview

People consist of mind, body and emotions. The usage of these may differ from person to person but these three are key aspects of every individual. Emotions, thus, are integral parts of human beings. In fact, some of the ancient eastern books, including the Yoga Sutra by Patanjali, one of the great saints who lived more than 2100 years ago, makes mention in his book about being emotionally intelligent by living in the present, and planning the future, and not living in future. He says that one should keep ones emotions under control without getting emotionally hijacked. It is important to have a mind well balanced between emotions and duty that would enable oneself to make balanced decisions. Thus the concept of the management of emotion has been acknowledged in one way or another for thousands of years. The great leaders of history have always faced various challenges and have handled them through optimal management of emotions. Therefore, the concept of emotional management was always been there in the past; however it has been modeled scientifically only during the last few decades. The concept of emotional intelligence gained prominence after Daniel Goleman published his famous book called Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence principles provide a different way of looking at people and treats people as humans instead of resources. Mayer and Salovey defined emotional intelligence, in page 5 of their famous article published in 1990 on emotional intelligence, as Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth. The acceptance of emotional intelligence is so wide that when we search in Google for the term emotional intelligence it returns more than 2 million pages (as of August 2007). Great leaders always work through emotions. For example, Mahatma Gandhi of India united more than 200 million people to a common goal, by sheer capacity of working through emotions. Without driving emotions, their mission would generally be unsustainable. Great leaders are skilled in transmitting emotions. A leaders mild anxiety would matter a lot, as it can have a ripple effect and move throughout the organization. In contrast to the earlier beliefs of IQ (Intelligent Quotient) being of prime importance for leadership, EQ (Emotional Quotient) has become prominent, especially since the release of the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman in 1995. The book mentions that EQ is twice as important as IQ in sustainable leadership. Thus, emotion becomes the underlying factor which needs to be managed and optimized to lead any large organization. Thus, the success of leadership is always based on arousing peoples interest, capabilities, and enthusiasm to achieve a common goal.

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It is important for leaders to have a sound emotional balance. The objective is simple: Feeling good increases mental efficiency and every person in the organization should feel good, to produce maximum results.

Emotional Competency Framework

The Consortium of Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, an organization founded to aid the advancement of research and practice related to emotional intelligence in organizations, has developed a comprehensive framework on emotional intelligence. The details can be found in a paper published in its website https://www.eiconsrtium.org and the same could be summarized as given below.

Emotional competency Framework

Personal Competence

Social Competence

Self Awareness
1. 2. 3. Emotional awareness Accurate self assessment Self confidence

Social Awareness
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Empathy Service Orientation Developing Others Leveraging diversity Political awareness

Self Regulation
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Self Control Trustworthiness Conscientiousness Adaptability Innovativeness

Social Skills
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Influence Communication Leadership Change Catalyst Conflict management Building bonds Collaboration and Cooperation Team capabilities
ch on emotional intelligence in organizations

Self Motivation
1. 2. 3. 4. Achievement Drive Commitment Initiative Optimism

Note: Based on emotional competence framework of Consortium of resear

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Personal competence
Personal competence consists of self awareness, self regulation and self motivation. Self awareness means having a deep understanding of ones emotions. People with strong self awareness are realistic, they are honest to themselves about themselves, and they are also honest about themselves to others. Self aware leaders know where they are headed and why. Intuition, the essential leadership ability in making business decisions, comes naturally to the self aware leader. As well as facts and figures, these leaders also recognize gut feeling as data during the decision making process. Gut feeling has gained new scientific respect because of recent discoveries about implicit learning, that is the lessons we learn without being aware that we are learning them Thus, self awareness is actually an understanding ones emotions and being clear about ones purpose. To accomplish this purpose one has to have self management (or self regulation) and self motivation. Self regulation is the focused drive, along with other qualities, needed to achieve ones goals. This drive could be consistent and sustainable when the focus is solely on the task at hand. This quality is essential in handling big and long-term goals. Good leaders break down the tasks wisely and take one step at a time. Negative emotions swamp the thinking brains capacity to focus on the task at hand Self management is therefore an ongoing inner conversation that frees that frees the leader from being a prisoner of his/her feelings, thus providing mental clarity and concentrated energy that leadership always requires. By staying in control of their feelings and impulses, leaders can manage even emotionally provoking situations/conversation.

Social Competence
Social competence includes social awareness and social skills. The key aspect of social competence is empathy. Empathy is genuinely listening and understanding the situation, emotion, needs and goals of others. Leaders with this quality help others to align themselves to the groups common goal in a positive manner. By being attuned to how others feel at the moment, a leader can say and do what is appropriate. If a leader acts with little integrity, the emotional radar of followers will sense a false note and they will start distrusting the leader, therefore integrity could also be considered as a fundamental element of sustainable leadership. Without gaining the

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trust of his/her followers, a leader could not influence, communicate or implement change in the organization. Inspirational leaders get people excited about a common mission. They offer a sense of purpose beyond the day-to-day tasks. These leaders are well aware that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work demands. One of the easier ways to synchronize with the emotions of others in a positive way, is laughter. The best leaders know when to share grievances and when to be humorous.

Leadership Styles
Leadership styles could be divided into two categories: 1. Resonant Style 2. Dissonant Style

Resonant Style
Resonant leadership means the ability to empathize with the emotions of the team in a positive way. The emotions will be positive when one feels good. One feels good when the leader/manager and the members are in perfect sync regarding the goal and the ways and means to achieve the goal and mutual understanding of each others expectations. No bird can fly with one wing. True leadership occurs where there is heart and mind, i.e., the feelings and thoughts of employees meet together and work together. Thus, the resonant leadership style makes the team work with emotional synergy. Resonant styles involve taking into account the emotions of team members in a positive manner. It generally requires two key areas of awareness.

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Self awareness By being self aware one can understand and control ones own emotions in various emotional situations. Leaders always deal with people who in turn deal with things. Unless the leader controls his/her own emotions, he/she will not be able to manage others emotions. Self aware leaders are aware of how much their own feelings will affect them and their job performance. Social awareness Leaders should be able to understand the emotions of others to act or respond optimally. Empathy ! genuinely listening to other peoples perspectives and taking them into account ! is very important in social awareness. A leader needs to be attuned to and empathize with the groups emotions and be able to control his/her own emotions. Dissonant Style Dissonant leadership means driving the team in the leaders own way, without any emotional link with team members. Styles like pace setting and commanding leadership would be dissonant styles. These styles are to be used sparingly and only when the situation makes the use of this style inevitable.

Leadership Style

Resonant Leadership Visionary style

1. 2. 3. Know the big picture Show the vision to employees Give freedom to employees to achieve the goal

Dissonant Leadership Pace setting style

1. 2. 3. 4. To be used sparingly Having ambitious goals Pushes too hard sometimes Employees moral may be down in due course

Coaching style
1. 2. 3. Help people to identify their strengths Tying them to their personal and career goals Trustworthiness

Commanding style
1. 2. 3. More aggressive Messenger who gives bad news may get killed To be used only in rare cases like extreme turnaround requirements

Affiliative style
1. 2. 3. Relationship builders Share emotions openly Provide emotional support

Democratic style
1. 2. Active participation of employees in decision making Listening and understanding ground level realities

Note: Based on Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman , Richard Boyatzis , Annie Mckee

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Resonant style
Visionary style Visionary leaders have the big picture in mind and help the team to share their vision. They allow employees to innovate, experiment, and take calculated risks to reach the goal. People know the big picture and hence they are aware of where they fit in. They work eagerly and always take the initiative to find their own true potential. They excite employees by the way they communicate their vision and thus create interest in employees and their sense of belonging to the company. Thus, these leaders retain employees for a long time. Visionary leaders state the mission, set standards and let employees know whether their work is furthering their common goals. Coaching style Coaching helps people identify their own unique strengths and weaknesses. The coaching leaders identify these strength and weaknesses and tie them to the employees personal and career aspirations. They help employees to establish long term development goals and help them to conceptualize a plan for reaching their goals. Coaching is most advantageous with employees who show initiative and want more professional development. Affiliative style Leaders with this style are relationship builders. They share their emotions openly. This style may not be a direct driver of performance but it certainly has a positive impact on the employees and their achievements. By recognizing the employees as people, they give emotional support during their hard times resulting from problems in their professional or private lives; such leaders build tremendous loyalty and strengthen connectedness. It may not be viable to use this style on its own, and it is better to use this with other resonant styles. Democratic Style The democratic style allows the members of the team to participate in the decision making process, meaning fewer objections from team members. This style also creates a positive environment for the team. This approach also helps when the organization needs ideas from employees, board of directors, advisors, and investors to clarify or resolve problems or strategies. The greatest risk in running a business is being out of touch with what is going on. This approach helps to obtain feedback from employees to enable the leader to understand ground level realities.

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Dissonant style This style generally does not take the emotions of the team positively, or does not take them into account at all. Styles under this kind of leadership include pace setting leadership and commanding leadership. Pace setting style The pace setting leaders have ambitious goals and prefer to do things faster, smarter and better; they demand the same from employees. These leaders quickly identify nonperformers and if they dont rise to the occasion the leaders would change the roles of those inefficient employees and replace them by more effective employees and move ahead. They give less opportunity to correct oneself on the job, they want maximum results with minimal on course corrections. The risk in this style of leadership is that if the employees are pushed too hard, they may lose interest in accomplishing what is required and their morale could decline.

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Leading by command These leaders are more aggressive and command oriented. They are sometimes capable of getting upset with the messengers who bring bad news therefore the right messages / results may not reach them on time. This would in turn affect the quality of the decisions they make, with negative consequences for the entire organization This style is not recommended, but can be useful in some rare cases, like a turnaround to be done in the shortest possible timeframe, where useless business habits should be eliminated and a new way of thinking is required.

Becoming a resonant leader

360 degree feedback The key factor in becoming a resonant leader is to understand that optimal leadership evolves and that requires a clear understanding of how leadership works in the current organization. This could be accomplished by obtaining true and unbiased feedback from peers, subordinates, managers etc. regarding the leadership style. This 360 degree feedback is an excellent mechanism for informing leaders about their strengths and weakness as leaders and provides opportunity for leaders to further enhance their leadership skills. As mentioned in the book of Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman (Page 94), based on Eric Harters studies of CEOs of health service companies, it is noted that high level executives and managers rated themselves more generously than their own competence in the EI competencies. The higher the level of people in the organization, the less aware they generally become of how they are being perceived as leaders by the employees. One reason they dont get feedback is that they truly believe that they cannot change things. However not all leaders think this way, and hence feedback is an important tool1. Self directed learning Management training is another good way of developing leaders to the next level but training will be most effective only when the prospective leader has intense willingness to learn. Self directed learning is intentionally developing or strengthening various aspects of who one wants to be. This requires a clear picture of ones ideal self and real self. During three decades of work in leadership development on various organizations, Richard Boyatzis developed a model of self directed learning.

Daniel Goleman, in Primal Leadership, page 135.

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Boyatzis Theory of self directed learning This model explains five important elements: Understanding ones ideal self The leader needs to know where he/she is going, so that he/she can take the organization go in that direction. He/she must therefore know the corporate vision, his/her ideal self, and his/her real self and then map the gaps between them. Understanding real self To become a more effective leader, the leader needs to seek the truth. Various organizational truths may not always be presented to leaders. People may not give feedback freely to leaders, especially if the leaders are upset by negative feedback. The most effective leaders are the ones who get honest feedback regarding their actions and their leadership styles. This truth will give a leader a comparison between his/her ideal self and real self. Plan for making the change and gaining mastery Once the leader has defined the overlap as well as gap between his/her ideal and real self, he/she can prepare the plan of action to gain mastery of those habits which would fill in the gap, so that he/she becomes his/her ideal self in reality. Continuous improvement Learning is never ending. Continuous improvement is important to become an emotionally intelligent and ideal leader. The above steps should be repeated as the leader rises from one level to the next on the leadership ladder.

7 habits of highly effective people

Dr Stephen Coveys famous book titled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is linked with emotional intelligence of leadership. Covey has given the following simple habits which truly would have long lasting effects. Be Proactive By being proactive the leader can decide and understand what happens next. Thus, the events would not control the leader but the leader could control events. Begin with the end in mind These habits mentioned that there should be a clear vision of what is to be done. Clarity of direction n any organization brings in energy to focus on relevant activities to meet the organizations goals. Put first things first This habit focuses on understanding the importance and not only the urgency of events. The unimportant things should not divert the leaders from the focus on important things required to accomplish the organizational vision. This

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habit helps leaders to prioritize the organizational activities and mentor the teams accordingly. Think win-win - At the end of the day, every individual or every business entity has its own strengths. The long lasting way of working in a positive manner towards growth is developing the habit of win-win, to develop mutually beneficial relationships. The market is a global village nowadays and without relevant partners and employees in relevant regions, penetrating the market is a daunting task but thinking win-win is a habit which would help leaders to accomplish it. Seek first to understand and then to be understood This habit mentions empathy ! understanding things from the other persons point of view. This is a great habit which could build resonant leadership. Synergize This habit mentions team work, having and working towards a common goal, and the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Sharpen the Saw This habit helps in self renewal. All aspects of ones self need development. Stephen Covey mentions four aspects of self improvement: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Case studies from the professional experience of the author

1. Team morale management - Global Banking and Insurance organization in Europe A large team of management consultants was working on a large international consulting engagement. The client organization was a Fortune 500 company that was undergoing major re-organization in its Information Technology division. The senior management of the customer was not sure whether to continue the project after the reorganization or not. Hence, the decision of project funding for continued operation was delayed and the whole project teams morale was declining. The actual challenge was inadequate funding to continue the project, and management was not taking decision to allocate more funds to this project. The leader of the team, who basically used a coaching style, changed his style to a more democratic style. He engaged all the team members and formed a single emotional team and he code named it as Team ONE. This ONE team took a neutral look at the situation and developed some action plans. These plans were given to each and every one of the team members and almost everyone participated The team identified three simple and core steps. 1. Focus on timely delivery and produced project deliverables on time. 2. Explore value added activities which would deliver better value to the customer. 3. Establish better relationship with the stakeholders and play an advising role to support them in solving their major organizational challenges.

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Result The customer management department took notice of the teams delivery and the positive upbeat mindset of the team in spite of such a challenging situation. The management of the project worked closely with Team ONE in convincing customer management and getting project funding.

2. Start up challenges - Telecom start-up offering Niche protocol monitoring solutions in USA A telecom company was started around 2000 by four young and dynamic entrepreneurs, the year the bubble burst in the information technology sector, and this company got into trouble. The leader wanted to purse the mission somehow. Without analyzing the situation much, the leader started using a pace setting style without learning the ground level realities. His aggressiveness made people to think that this leader was not detail oriented and could even dislike the messengers who brought bad news to him. As a result the leader was not given sufficiently detailed information on the genuine operational status. The team members were going in different directions and the leader continued the pace setting style. At one point in time, he realized that his pace setting style was counter-productive. He could not revert to the democratic or coaching style and the company lost a few critical people. The company was then incapable of bringing out the innovative telecom product as planned. There was complete delivery failure. The situation demanded a more democratic style which would have aligned people towards the common goal.

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