EQ and the star performer

By VICKI JAYNE

Feed Daniel Goleman's name into a search engine and the hit rate is well over two million sites. It's perhaps some indication of the wide interest his ideas on "emotional intelligence" have aroused since he wrote his first book on the subject five years ago.

The concept is fairly self-explanatory. This is not intelligence as measured in IQ points, but in people's ability to handle themselves, their emotions and their relations with others - a repackaging, perhaps, of what used to be called maturity.

But, given scientific support and some serious field study, emotional intelligence turns out to be a darned good barometer of leadership performance, and hence business success; a much better indicator, in fact, than IQ and technical competence combined.

At chief executive level, says Mr Goleman, it comprises 85 to 90 per cent of the recipe for a star performer.

Which explains why Mr Goleman is in demand as a business speaker and what brought him to Auckland on the final stop in a seminar circuit, during which he has spoken to business audiences in China and Australia.

During an interview, he explains that, whereas interpersonal skills were once "kinda nice to have," today's fast-paced, globally competitive environment demands them.

"Companies cannot afford to have people, particularly in a leadership position, who aren't excellent in this domain, as well as every other.

"It's more imperative now to have these skills."

Studies of emotional intelligence effects in the workplace bear this out. One global study Mr Goleman outlined in the Harvard Business Review assessed 3800 executives on various leadership qualities.

What the process does, says Mr Goleman, is make visible the link between how a company is led and how it performs.

"It shows that if you have leaders who are tuned out - they don't have self-awareness or good listening skills, can't handle their own emotions well and have little empathy with how others are feeling - then that has a very negative effect on the workplace climate and therefore business performance."

Conversely, leaders rating high in emotional intelligence generate positive financial results - as international company Pepsico found.

In a survey of its divisional leaders, those strong in six or more emotional intelligence abilities outperformed yearly revenues by around 15 to 20 per cent.

The same is true in schools, notes Mr Goleman. If the principal has a "critical mass" of emotional intelligence abilities, then that school will register the highest academic performance by students.

It was towards the schoolroom that Mr Goleman's ideas were initially directed, but emotional intelligence and its measure, EQ, quickly found currency in the workplace, prompting a second title, Working with Emotional Intelligence, in 1998.

The good news is that, unlike IQ, which generally remains static throughout life, emotional intelligence can be learned.

Why it should be learned, and how, was the topic of Mr Goleman's Auckland seminar: "Applying emotional intelligence to the leadership challenge."

Stage one of the process could perhaps be characterised as discovering what you don't know.

Surveys have found that managers low on the EQ scale tend to give themselves higher marks than the genuine star performers.

Out of the 20 leadership skills being assessed, poor performers will over-rate themselves on four or more.

"Those who need to change the most, realise it the least," says Goleman.

Hence, a 360-degree assessment (feedback from everyone) is an important part of the learning process.

But performance evaluation with no follow-up is a bit like getting the report card and no teacher.

"It is a crucial first step. Once they have that feedback, people need to be given a learning plan; a way that enables them to practise those skills in day-to-day, on-the-job situations."

That doesn't necessarily mean lots more warm fuzzies in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence is not to be confused with being "nice." A good leader also has to know when to be hard-nosed.

Mr Goleman identifies six leadership styles that fit different situations. Coercive leadership demands compliance; authoritative leaders can mobilise people toward a vision; affiliative leaders create emotional bonding and harmony; coaching leaders are good at developing the skills of others.

Democratic leaders build consensus through participation; and pacesetting leaders expect similar self-direction from others in the pursuit of excellence.

Isn't encompassing such diverse styles a big job ? Well, no, says Mr Goleman.

"These are not styles, so much as tools, and each works in specific situations but not others.

"The best leaders slip from one to another and can exhibit four or more."

While coercion can be appropriate on some occasions, autocratic management is out.

"You could get away with that in the old command-and-control hierarchical structure."

These days it's not only likely to be counterproductive but is almost guaranteed to chase off scarce talent.

Somewhat worrying is the finding in recent years that while youngsters' IQ levels are rising, their EQs are in decline, starting with the generation now at workforce entry level in both the United States and Europe.

Contributing factors include more time in front of video or computer monitors and less with parents or other children.

To offset the trend, schools around the world are introducing social learning programmes that enhance emotional intelligence skills.

Businesses could well benefit from a similar approach.