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What Places Some Leaders At An Astounding Advantage?

We all know the importance of technical expertise, extensive experience, and cognitive aptitude. Most of us share the adage that leadership is ‘getting someone else to do something we want done because he wants to do it’. As leaders, we’re dealing with a myriad of responsibilities, complex situations, …. and we’re dealing with people.

In lower level positions, such as frontline workers or support staff, cognitive skills must closely align with specific jobs.

However, the more complex our roles and responsibilities, the more important soft skills become. In essence, the greater the demands placed on us in the organizational hierarchy, the more critical every aspect applies to our performance. No doubt cognitive abilities and technical expertise are absolutely necessary, but what distinguishes top performers is our ability to handle people.

We’ve all read about the importance of emotional intelligence. After all, the best leaders of our time integrated soft skills into their practices long before emotional intelligence ever became a mainstream concept. We can trace this back to some of the greatest leaders in history.

What was a common thread? A conscious or unconscious ability to connect with others. Take a look at some of your favorite historical leaders and consider how they handled tough situations. How they tended to the most challenging dilemmas facing them at the height of their leadership was cornerstone to what placed them in a positioned as such a renowned leader.

Common Industries & How Soft Skills Impact Performance

Some common industries where leaders who weave soft skills to enhance performance include:

  • Social services: being gentle, empathetic, and calm with those who may be scared, intimidated, or fearful of their situation
  • Finance: respecting customers private and personal situations by putting them at ease
  • Education: creating a cohesive culture among teachers. When teachers feel that sense of connection, they tend to relax more. It is evident in their performance in the classroom and their ability to connect with students
  • CPAs: capitalizing on enhanced social skills so they are able to connect with clients from a variety of industries
  • Law enforcement: integrating superior listening and negotiation skills; connecting with perpetrators or victims so they are better able to control the situation
  • Information technology (IT): flexibility and adaptability, so they can better capitalize on the constantly changing environment in a superior streamlined manner
  • Scientists: honing influence and motivation so they can garner and achieve the data needed to prove new theories or identify means for revolutionary results

The greater the level of expertise required to execute our responsibilities – the more crucial this becomes. The higher we sit in the organizational hierarchy, so to speak, the more this applies: emotional competence places the best leaders at an astounding advantage.

On the Flip Side

Interpersonal incompetence corrodes workplaces.

A deficiency in such competencies results in the inability to translate or convey cognitive skills and technical expertise. If we can’t transform our experience into actionable practice, we’re simply not as effective. We need to be able to weave our professional skill and competence with other [soft] areas that enable us to connect with others.

What separates the average or mediocre and the top performer? What is the secret ingredient that our best leaders share? “On average, close to 90 percent of their success in leadership was attributable to emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 1998, p. 34).

Reference: Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Dell.

Dr. Jennifer Beaman
Dr. Jennifer Beamanhttp://forleadership.org/
FOR over 25 years, Jennifer has served as an executive consultant helping organizational leaders streamline processes and strategies by enhancing skills and practices. Serving as a strategic consultant to industry-wide businesses throughout California, she soon recognized the unparalleled value of human capital. In turn, she introduced leadership and executive development services, thereby providing a more holistic opportunity for clients. Cornerstone to helping leaders recognize the power of their actions and behavior, she weaves the art of emotional intelligence into all interactions, thereby promoting thorough value to the entirety of organizational systems. Joining ranks as a business owner in 2004, she partnered in a California-based sign manufacturing business. This business served a variety of clients, primarily larger corporations, franchises and Fortune 100-500s. In 2008, she participated in partnership in southern California specializing in project management and leadership development services. This corporation served clients ranging from Fortune 50-100s. The Association for Leadership Practitioners is a subsidiary of a parent company opened in 2010 and serves clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500s. Dr Beaman also serves as a partner at Chasing Limitless, Inc., providing strategic consulting and executive leadership development services to catapult organizational revenue and growth and primarily serves Fortune 500 companies. She holds a Doctorate in Management with a focus in Organizational Leadership; Master's degree in Organizational Management; and Bachelor's degree in Organizational Development. She is an active member is several professional affiliations and volunteers on a consistent basis helping entrepreneurs and doctoral students working toward publishing their dissertations.

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4 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Employees who find manifest signs of incompetence in their heads are more likely to come into conflict with them and question their decisions. Perhaps managers at a modest level in the hierarchical scale must master the technical aspects of the profession perfectly in order to be able to enforce their employees. They must therefore be professionals in their field. On the contrary, a top manager is expected to have strong interpersonal skills, that is, excellent relational skills and good communication skills. However, I believe that both types of skills are desirable at every level of the hierarchical scale.

  2. Very interesting Article and covers a wide spectrum. I let my manager lead and I guide them, nude them along and give honest and actionable feedback. It is important that they succeed by developing their direct reports to success.

  3. All great points. We all need to connect at some fundamental level. There are some that do not see you as an equal — meaning you can never connect them them. This could just be ego and personality. Or it can be the result of that person raising in power and authority too quickly; see you and people like you as being “ants”.

    Have you ever tried to connect with someone that sees you as an inferior, garbage, or useless? It involves playing the long game.

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