Steiger Training

Can Leadership be Learned?

In last week’s blog, I wrote about the difference that leadership can make in an organization, not just in terms of motivation, but in tangible, bottom-line performance, sales, and profitability. A reasonable question that arises, then, is, “Can leadership be learned, or is it innate?”

A new white paper published by the TRACOM Group, the organization long-known for its research and development of the Social Style model and its applicability for individuals and teams, looks afresh at performance results that can be attributed to EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, and its practice by leaders. “3G EQ” is a growing body of research that organizations from many industries and sectors are applying to achieve improved, and impressive, performance results.

The white paper’s author, Dr. Casey Mulqueen, describes the differences between “Emotional Intelligence” (EQ) and “Behavioral Intelligence” (BEQ). EQ is an internal process with two elements. The first focuses on Self-awareness; the second on Awareness of Others. BEQ operates in the world, where people and interactions exist. BEQ elements are behaviors and actions that can be seen and heard; EQ elements are invisible to the world, and harder to measure or observe.

Elements of EQ as relating to the Self include Emotion Awareness, Self-insight, and Self-confidence. These are likely the necessary prerequisites for the BEQ corollaries of Self-control, Stress Management, Conscientiousness, and Optimism. Emotional Intelligence abilities that relate to Others are Emotion Perception, Empathy/Openness, and Listening; Behavioral Intelligence skills relating to Others include Building Relationships, Influencing Others, Motivating Others, Flexibility, and Innovativeness.

One thing I know is that if you can observe something, you can measure it. If you can measure it, you can improve it. A key part of my job, as an executive coach,  a manager–and a parent!–is to gather information and feed it back into the system, whether that system is an organization or an individual. Awareness creates insight. But that’s the beginning, not the end, of a development cycle. Feedback on results or the perceptions of others can tell you HOW you’re coming across, but not WHY you’re getting those results. Skill development requires both insight on perceptions, and action on that insight.

Can you have high EQ, and low BEQ. Absolutely. We all know people who have said , “But that’s not what I meant” when dealing with the fallout from not considering the unintended impact of their actions on people or their performance. (Not that I’ve ever said that!) The good news: most people are usually more than willing to give others the benefit of the doubt, and another chance. But when that lack of consideration–that low EQ–becomes the norm, people start to consider their options and dust off their resumés. People will tolerate a toxic climate for only so long before deciding that they need to take action, whether that action is to quit and leave, or, worse, quit and stay!

Can you have high BEQ with low EQ.  Well, the research says, “Yes.” In other words, you can “fake it ’til you make it!” But you have to move towards the ‘making it’ part. The good news is that by doing the behaviors of BEQ, it actually helps improve and develop one’s EQ.

What I like about the BEQ idea is its congruence with that model, of feedback leading to self-awareness leading to insight leading to developing a repertoire of actions and choices to be applied to different situations as needed, all cycling back to improved EQ and BEQ in more and more circumstances.

Having skill-based choices, and developing the discretion of how and when to apply the appropriate option to each unique situation, is at the heart of what effective leaders do to develop their people and organizations–and themselves. And these choices can be observed, learned, practiced, and improved.

(Here’s a link to TRACOM’s White Paper on Behavioral EQ: http://docs.tracomcorp.com/TPD/Whitepaper/BEQ_Whitepaper.pdf )

Apple does it right

Okay, so why the Apple ode?

I’m typing this on my latest of new Apple objects, a 15-inch Macbook Pro. The machine looks beautiful. The keys are sensual. The internet screams on it. All my old files “just work” on it. So what’s that got to do with anything? This is a business and leadership column, after all!

Well, you see, I originally went to upgrade my seven-year-old computer, thinking I’d buy something cutting edge and current, like an iPad or a Macbook Air, but maybe save a little by purchasing from another company (of which I’m a shareholder). (That I’d be purchasing an Apple product was decided–I’m firmly anchored to their ecosystem. And I’m not a shareholder!) I’ve read lots o’ stuff online about specs and performance and features and thought I had a pretty good handle on the benefits and drawbacks of the product line. I’ve purchased a couple of iPads for the fam. Now it was my turn to get hip with the latest and greatest.

I went to my local Big Box Electronics Retailer where they wear blue and yellow shirts, fully expecting to buy there. I “hailed” a sales associate after a few minutes of looking at the machines on my own. She was pleasant, although I got the feeling she might have been heading somewhere else to do something else, rather than stop and speak with me. With little direct eye contact nor facial expression and frequent interruptions, she “listened” for a minute or two (which felt like 10 or 15 seconds to me), and made her recommendation. Rather than the shinier toys I coveted, she recommended the Macbook Pro to meet my needs, and called her manager over to confirm this. This rec made sense to me, given what I said I needed to do with it (though I was a little disappointed!). And the price was actually lower than offered on Apple’s site, so the “yippee, I’m getting a deal!” sensation made me feel alright about it.

The floor associate wandered off to do something else, and the manager began verifying pricing, filling out the paperwork–and heavily pushing add-on support services and warranties (“What happens if you drop it? This will protect you! And there’s no deductible each time, so you can drop it as often as you like! For Three Years!”) Final pricing was more than I was hoping to spend, but still within budget. Told him I’d think about it.

The next day, I’m near the Apple store in the mall and had some time to kill. With no intention of buying that night, I wandered in, near closing. Friendly greeter at the store’s front introduced me to a smiling associate to help me. Kirsten listened–really listened–to my story. My experience. My challenges with the present equipment. What I was hoping to accomplish and my needs. Even my desires to own the hipper new products! She looked at me and listened. And listened some more, engaging in back and forth with targeted questioning to balance the listening.

After several minutes of letting me ramble (probably seemed like a couple of hours to her!) yet keeping me focused through her skillful listening and questioning, she recommended the Macbook Pro to meet my needs. Same computer. I asked about the Applecare and “What’s this One-to-One thing?” (training and support), and she described it but left it to me to think about, with no pressure. (At this point we were more than ten minutes past the store’s closing time, although I wasn’t the last customer.) The list price of the computer actually was $120 higher, although the total package with support turned out to be about the same.

I said I’d take it. (And now I was the last customer!)

What drives a business’s success?

Sales? Controlling expenses? Cash flow?

All important, and necessary. But, who’s achieving these business goals?

People. It’s the people in an organization, the employees carrying out the day-to-day tasks and activities that bring about the most desirous of business outcomes: profitable mission fulfillment. (And this applies for non-profit and governmental organizations, also, of course. The business outcome could be called “mission fulfillment in a financially meaningful way,” but the bottom line is as crucial to ongoing viability for them as for their for-profit siblings.)

And from where do the people in the organization take their cues? Leadership.

Leadership that’s value-based and congruently “walks its talk” by behavioralizing and modeling its values. Leadership that treats its employees with honesty, fairness, and respect, building trust, commitment, and engagement.

Leadership is the lever to organizational success in how it defines and lives its company’s values, and engages employees in that culture and the real purpose of the business.

Leadership

Employee Learning Week

I’ve had the opportunity over the past month to think a lot about leadership. Working with clients in Boston, Washington, Ithaca, Norwich, and Syracuse to deliver training and coaching has reminded and reinforced for me the fact that you don’t need a title to be a leader.

The key factor at the heart of effective leadership, I absolutely believe, is self-leadership. What does this involve? Self-awareness, to begin with. Knowing how you interact with others, based on observing how others interact with you, provides clues to this. Clarifying your values, and then acting congruently with them, is also part of this self-awareness. These intrapersonal characteristics take time, and thought, and effort, but they provide the foundation of effective leadership. And you don’t need a title to be able to do this.

With this platform in place, people are attracted to and willing to work with others who have the desire and ability to treat them with honesty, with empathy, and with respect. What does this mean? Soliciting others’ opinions and input, and sharing your own are two behaviors that demonstrate this. Listening effectively, to understand not just what’s said, but what’s meant, is another set of leadership behaviors. You don’t need a title to be able to do any of this, either.

Leaders are problem-seekers, looking for opportunities to collaborate in problem solving. They don’t settle for status quo; they look for ways to improve things, and model an openness to trying new ideas, whether they’re technology- or people- or process-based, in order to strive for continuous improvement in what they do and in the systems and organizations in which they’re engaged. Again, you don’t need a title