Strategies to become more emotional intelligent | Daniel Goleman | WOBI

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the critical role of emotional intelligence in leadership and organizational growth, contrasting it with technical skills. Sharing experiences from the CEO of a major bank and the CEO of Blackrock, the talk highlights how emotional intelligence, rather than IQ, predicts success in top-level positions. It underscores the importance of managing oneself and relationships, and how emotional competencies are twice as significant in distinguishing high performers, especially in leadership roles.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Emotional intelligence is crucial for effective leadership and management, impacting how we handle ourselves and our relationships.
• 🏦 The CEO of a major Australian bank recognized the importance of emotional intelligence for enhancing leadership across the organization.
• 📈 There are two strategic approaches in business: exploitation, which focuses on current strengths, and exploration, which emphasizes innovation and future readiness.
• 📱 The decline of BlackBerry illustrates the importance of exploration strategy and adaptability in the face of market changes.
• 🎓 High IQ alone does not guarantee success; managing oneself effectively is equally important, as demonstrated by contrasting college experiences.
• 🤝 Emotionally intelligent individuals often excel in personal relationships and can leverage these skills for professional success.
• 💼 The CEO of Blackrock questioned why high-IQ hires did not always translate to high performance, highlighting the need for emotional intelligence in the workplace.
• 🔍 Competence modeling reveals that top performers in a company often share key emotional intelligence skills rather than just technical expertise or IQ.
• 📊 Emotional intelligence is approximately twice as important as cognitive abilities in distinguishing top performers from average ones.
• 🔝 In top-level executive positions, 80-90% of the competencies that differentiate star performers are based on emotional intelligence.
• 🤔 While cognitive abilities like big-picture thinking are important for strategy, emotional intelligence skills are essential for executing that strategy through effective people management.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the transcript?

The main focus of the transcript is to discuss the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership and how it can help individuals become better leaders and contribute to organizational growth.

Why did the CEO of a big four bank in Australia want to learn about emotional intelligence?

The CEO wanted to learn about emotional intelligence to improve himself and his team, recognizing that by doing so collectively, they could enhance the entire organization and strategically grow their business.

What are the two types of strategies mentioned in the transcript?

The two types of strategies mentioned are exploitation and exploration. Exploitation refers to leveraging existing successful products or services, while exploration is about innovating and looking for new opportunities.

What example is given to illustrate the failure of exploitation strategy?

The failure of the exploitation strategy is illustrated by the example of Blackberry, which dominated the smartphone market initially but failed to adapt to new market changes and innovations by competitors like Apple and Samsung.

Who is cited as an example of a leader excelling in exploration strategy?

Steve Jobs is cited as an example of a leader who excelled in exploration strategy, being known for his ability to innovate and foresee new opportunities.

What was the issue with the college student who had perfect scores on every college entrance exam?

The issue with the student was that despite his high IQ, he struggled with self-management, often arriving late to class, not finishing papers, and it took him eight years to complete his bachelor's degree.

How did the transcript illustrate the importance of emotional intelligence over IQ in long-term success?

The transcript illustrates this by contrasting the long-term success of a high school classmate who had average IQ but high emotional intelligence with the college student who had high IQ but lacked self-management skills.

What was the question posed by the CEO of Blackrock, and what was the answer?

The CEO of Blackrock questioned why he still had a bell curve of performance despite hiring the best and brightest. The answer provided was that emotional intelligence is a key factor that distinguishes top performers, which is often overlooked in favor of IQ and technical skills.

What is competence modeling, and how is it used in the context of the transcript?

Competence modeling is a systematic analysis used to identify the skills, abilities, or competencies that distinguish top performers (stars) from average performers in a given role. It's used in the transcript to explain why emotional intelligence is more important than IQ or technical skills in determining success in leadership roles.

What percentage of competencies for top-level jobs are based on emotional intelligence according to the research mentioned?

According to the research mentioned, 80 to 90% of the competencies that distinguish top-level performers in C-suite jobs are based on emotional intelligence.

Why does emotional intelligence matter more in top-level leadership roles?

Emotional intelligence matters more in top-level leadership roles because these roles primarily involve managing people and getting work done through others, which requires skills like communication, persuasion, listening, dialogue, inspiration, and motivation—all of which are aspects of emotional intelligence.