MANAGEMENT MANTRA – EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Regardless of our current job position or title, each of us is ultimately responsible for being the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of our own life and work. A growing number of us are being asked to serve as leaders in one form or another in the workplace and to meet expectations that are getting higher all the time. It is not just that we expect executives and managers to assume responsibility for the enduring success of our organisation and to share rewards and profits fairly with all involved. We also insist that they demonstrate extensive knowledge and analytical expertise in a vast range of areas, such as finance, statistics, human resources, technology, information systems, marketing, manufacturing and service delivery.
We also demand competence in writing, speaking, listening, negotiating, strategising and influencing. Beyond this, we expect executives and managers to demonstrate virtually every known or suspected attribute of leadership character, including honesty, energy, trust, integrity, intuition, imagination, resilience, purpose, commitment, influence, motivation, sensitivity, empathy, humour, courage, conscience and humility. On top of this, we want leaders at all levels of an organisation to be our mentors, coaches, counsellors, allies, guardians and friends, ever alert to the organisation’s needs and our personal best interests. Unfortunately, we are still largely in the dark when it comes to learning how to do this – how to become not only exceptional managers and leaders but notable men and women, too. And one of the central missing pieces of the puzzle is Emotional Intelligence.
Robert Cooper and Ayman Sawaf in their new best seller titled “Executive EQ” define Emotional Intelligence as the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence. Contrary to most conventional thinking, emotions are inherently neither positive or negative, rather, they serve as the single most powerful source of human energy, authenticity, drive, and can offer us a well spring of intuitive creative wisdom. This feedback – from the heart, not the head – is what ignites creative genius, keeps you honest with yourself, shapes trusting relationships, provides an inner compass for your life and career, guides you to unexpected possibilities, and may even save you or your organisation from disaster.
Tailpiece
“Something we were withholding made us weak, until we found out that it was ourselves”.
Robert Frost
Brig (Retd) K Harikumar
September 1997