The Cowboy Blog

Social Intelligence

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I came across an interesting Harvard Business Review interview of psychologist Daniel Goleman. He pioneered the study of "social intelligence" and has determined that it makes a significant difference in leadership effectiveness and organization performance. Comprised of characteristics such as empathy, skilled interaction and the ability to develop a rapport with others, social intelligence is a skill that can be developed by anyone.

Mr. Goleman recommends the following steps to improve your level of social intelligence:
  • Obtain anonymous 360 degree feedback from those who know you best
  • Identify your communication weaknesses from the feedback
  • Make a learning agreement with yourself to communicate better at every opportunity

Leadership Plan

Friday, January 16, 2009

Do you have a leadership plan? Chances are you have a plan for marketing, finance, human resources, etc. Why not for leadership? One reason many people fail to become good leaders is because they fail to make a leadership plan.

Approach your leadership plan as you would any other. Start by defining your leadership goals. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to go? Then develop leadership strategies that accomplish those goals. Finally, come up with tactics that support your strategies and subsequently your leadership goals.

Vision

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Good leaders have the ability to develop a vision of where their organization should go, how it should get there, and how resources should be aligned to realize that vision. They also have the skills to communicate the vision to other members of the organization in a manner that inspires them to subscribe to the plan in a way that will outlast the emotion of the moment.

First, make sure you have a clear understanding of where you want to go by writing down what your organization will look like, in as much detail as possible. Second, identify the intermediary steps required to get there. Third, recognize the attainment of each intermediary step to reinforce the vision with the other members, and to recommit them to the cause. Finally, celebrate when your goal is reached and use the event to introduce your next vision.