Review by Tangela Richardson Great Leaders move us. They ignite our passion and inspire the best in us. When we try to explain why they are so effective, we speak of strategy, vision, or powerful ideas. But the reality is much more primal: Great leadership works through the emotions (Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, 2002). The authors describe primal leadership in various categories throughout the book expounding on subjects such as resonant leadership, making leaders that want to be resonant, the motivation to change, metamorphosis, building emotionally intelligent organizations, etc. The authors describe a primal leader as one who is able to get in tune, emotionally, to his or her followers. The authors, through thorough research, give various examples of how emotions, when used effectively by a leader, can motivate the troops to go to war, start a new project, build a dam in India, etc. The authors describe the Primal Dimension as the first and the most important act of leadership. They go on to state that leaders have always played a primordial emotional role; no doubt, humankind s original leaders whether tribal chieftans or shamenesses earned their place in large part because their leadership was emotionally compelling (Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, 2002). Not only do leaders have to ignite passion, leaders must resonant with people that they are serving and leading. The authors state, one sign of a resonant leader is when the followers vibrate with the leader s upbeat and enthusiastic energy. The more resonant people are with each other, the less static are their interactions; resonance minimizes the noise in the system (Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, 2002). You also may have dissonant leaders who do not connect to their colleagues or team at all which 1
makes for bad leadership. The authors state that you want to be emotionally intelligent and connect well with people that you are serving and leading. The authors also give an example and analysis of the Emotional Intelligence Domains and Associated Competencies which are some of the overriding themes of the book. The themes are: Self-Awareness Emotional self Accurate self-assessment Self-confidence Self-Management Emotional self-control Transparency Adaptability Achievement Initiative Optimism 2
Social Competence: These capabilities determine how we manage relationships Social Awareness Empathy Organizational awareness Service Relationship Management Inspirational leadership Influence Developing others Change catalyst Conflict management Building bonds Teamwork and collaboration (Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, 2002). I intentionally wrote each category exactly as it is in the book so that the reader can get a sense of how the authors categorize each area of emotionally intelligent leaders using themes to give an analysis of what a leader has to consider as an emotional intelligent leader. Emotional intelligence starts at the top 3
of an organization and is trickled down to managers and employees at all levels of the organizations. Transparency, integrity, empathy, and healthy relationships are the traits of a successful organization or company that wants to have a long healthy future in business (Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, 2002). The themes describe specifically what leaders need to have in order to lead their people effectively and with emotional intelligence. The themes relate well to public communications management in that each category states what the leader will need from an introspective process in order to lead well and to have an impact on their followers, team, colleagues, etc. Public Communication Management involves an ongoing in-depth evaluation process. In an earlier in-class lecture, Professor Martinez talked about the Henri Fayol s 14 principles of leadership. In the lecture she talked about authority, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, order, equity, subordination of individual, etc. These principles relate well on being a resonant leader with emotional intelligence. Unity is an important component to being an emotionally intelligent leader. You must also have order and equity to build a team of people to follow you over a cliff if it calls for that type of leadership. People must believe that you have their best interest and hearts in the palm of your hands. In addition, that you will not destroy their trust because you are emotionally disconnected from them. The authors also point out in the book that emotional intelligence ranks higher for executives in companies than a high IQ. According to Boyatzis, Goleman and McKee, the rule of thumb is that emotional intelligence contributes to 80 to 90 percent of the competencies that distinguish outstanding from average leaders and sometimes more. To be sure, purely cognitive competencies, such as technical expertise, surface in such studies, but often threshold abilities, the skills people need simply to do an 4
average job. In other words, the higher the rank of those considered star performers, the more emotional intelligent competencies emerged as the reason for their effectiveness. Emotional Intelligence is the key to success in business and in life. People want to succeed and they want the right leader to drive them emotionally. Emotional intelligence is primal leadership. Bibliography Boyatzis, R., Goleman, D., McKee, A., & (2002). Primal leadership learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press: Boston, MA. 5