What Makes a Leader? (Goleman, HBR)

Question 1

What distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones, according to Daniel Goleman?

Answer 1

Emotional intelligence, a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own, and their followers’ performance.

Question 2

What are the five EI skills?

Answer 2

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Social skill

Question 3

What is self-awareness?

Answer 3

Knowing one’s strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and impact on others

Question 4

What is self-regulation?

Answer 4

Controlling or redirecting disruptive impulses and moods

Question 5

What is motivation?

Answer 5

Relishing achievement for its own sake

Question 6

What is empathy?

Answer 6

Understanding other people’s emotional makeup

Question 7

What is social skill?

Answer 7

Building rapport with others to move them in desired directions

Question 8

How can we strengthen our levels of EI skills?

Answer 8

Through persistence, practice, and feedback from colleagues or coaches

Question 9

What are the hallmarks of self-awareness?

Answer 9

• Self-confidence
• Realistic self-assessment
• Self-deprecating sense of humor
• Thirst for constructive criticism

Question 10

What are the hallmarks of self-regulation?

Answer 10

• Trustworthiness
• Integrity
• Comfort with ambiguity and change

Question 11

What are the hallmarks of motivation?

Answer 11

• Passion for the work itself, and for new challenges
• Unflagging energy to improve
• Optimism in the face of failure

Question 12

What are the hallmarks of empathy?

Answer 12

• Expertise in attracting and retaining talent
• Ability to develop others
• Sensitivity to cross-cultural differences

Question 13

What are the hallmarks of social skill?

Answer 13

• Effectiveness in leading change
• Persuasiveness
• Extensive networking
• Expertise in building and leading teams

Question 14

What did Goleman find, in his research at nearly 200 large, global companies?

Answer 14

That while the qualities traditionally associated with leadership (intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision) are required for success, they are insufficient.

Question 15

What distinguishes truly effective leaders?

Answer 15

A high degree of EI.

Question 16

What is the tie between EI and business results?

Answer 16

Goleman found direct ties between EI and measurable business results.

Question 17

What type of capabilities are IQ and technical skills considered to be?

Answer 17

Threshold capabilities, the entry-level requirements for executive positions.

Question 18

What do “competency models” that large companies have employed trained psychologists to develop aid them with?

Answer 18

Identifying, training, and promoting likely stars in the leadership firmament.

Question 19

When Goleman tried to determine which personal capabilities drove outstanding performance, and to what degree they did so, in which categories did he group capabilities?

Answer 19

1. Purely technical skills
2. Cognitive abilities
3. Competencies demonstrating EI

Question 20

What did Goleman find about the three capability categories he analyzed?

Answer 20

Intellect was a driver for outstanding performance, and cognitive skills like big-picture thinking and long-term vision were important.

However, when calculating the ratio of technical skills, IQ, and EI as ingredients for excellent performance, EI proved to be twice as important as the others, for jobs at all levels.

Question 21

Where does EI play an increasingly important role?

Answer 21

At the highest levels of the company, where differences in technical skills are of negligible importance.

When comparing star performance with average ones in senior leadership positions, nearly 90% of the difference in their profiles was attributable to EI factors, rather than cognitive abilities.

Question 22

What is emotional intelligence linked to?

Answer 22

• Distinguishes outstanding leaders
• Links to strong performance

Question 23

What did the findings of the late David McClelland conclude?

Answer 23

In a 1996 study of a global food and beverage company, McClelland found that when senior managers had a critical mass of EI capabilities, their divisions outperformed yearly earning goals by 20%,m while division leaders without that critical mass underperformed by nearly the same amount.

Question 24

What do people with a high degree of self-awareness recognize?

Answer 24

How their feelings affect them, other people, and their job performance.

Question 25

What do people with a high degree of self-awareness understand about themselves?

Answer 25

Their values and goals.

Question 26

How can self-awareness be perceived during performance reviews?

Answer 26

Highly self-aware individuals are comfortable talking about their limitations and strengths, and demonstrate a thirst for constructive criticism.

Question 27

Is emotional intelligence nature or nurture?

Answer 27

Both, it is partly genetic, but can also be learned.

Question 28

Does emotional intelligence increase with age?

Answer 28

Yes! Maturity + Training enhances emotional intelligence.

Question 29

Where is emotional intelligence born in the brain? What does this mean?

Answer 29

In the neurotransmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and drives.

Research indicates that the limbic system learns best through motivation, extended practice, and feedback.

Question 30

Why does self-regulation matter so much for leaders?

Answer 30

• People in control of their feelings and impulses (who are reasonable) are able to create an environment of trust and fairness;
• Self-regulation has a trickle-down effect;
• Self-regulation is important for competitive reasons, so when a new program is announced, people with high self-regulation can roll with the changes, or even lead the way;
• It enhances integrity, which is not only a personal virtue, but also an organizational strength

Question 31

What is the relationship between high levels of achievement motivation and commitment to the organization?

Answer 31

When people love their jobs for the work itself, they often feel committed to the organizations that make that work possible.

Question 32

What does empathy mean for a leader?

Answer 32

Thoughtfully considering employees’ feelings, along with other factors, in the process of making intelligent decisions.

Question 33

Why is empathy particularly important today, as a component of leadership?

Answer 33

• Increasing use of teams
• Rapid pace of globalization (and hence, the need for cross-cultural dialogue)
• Growing need to retain talent

Question 34

What is the value of coaching and mentoring?

Answer 34

It pays off not just in better performance, but also in increased job satisfaction and decreased turnover.

Question 35

Which components of emotional intelligence are self-management skills?

Answer 35

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation

Question 36

How is social skills related to the other dimensions of emotional intelligence?

Answer 36

It is the culmination of the other dimensions of EI, the OUTCOME of the other dimensions of EI.

Question 37

Do people with a high degree of social skill arbitrarily limit the scope of their relationships?

Answer 37

No, they build bonds widely!