LeadershipHQ Magazine 3rd Edition September Issue | Page 16

Do leaders have enough
emotional intelligence?
By Sonia McDonald

At first glance at this headline,
most people would answer yes, of
course they do. If you are a leader
you must be intelligent. The problem, however, is that intelligence
and emotional intelligence are two
vastly different things and having
one without the other does not
make someone a good leader.

throughout the company as well
as meeting the financial targets.
To understand this concept think
about the heads of some major
companies you know of. Compare the style of Rupert Murdoch
to Richard Branson; which one do
you think is the more emotionally
intelligent leader?

truly great leaders. Unfortunately,
with the leadership of most major
companies still living in the “intelligence” sector and not the “emotional intelligence” sector, the new
staff filtering up through the ranks
are not being given the tools they
need to ensure their emotional intelligence grows with them.

Many corporations will promote
from within which is a fantastic
strategy for growth and allowing
staff to work their way to the top.
The problem with this strategy is
that not everyone that starts at the
bottom actually has the skills to be
an emotionally intelligent leader.

From what we know of these two
men in the public eye, Rupert Murdoch appears to be a very intelligent leader who is very financially
successful. Richard Branson on the
other hand is also a very intelligent leader who is very financially
successful, but he is the one most
people would choose to work for.
He is the one who understands the
needs of his team. He has an understanding of life at the bottom
and how to support and nurture
those that are working their way
through the ranks.

Most people are promoted because they can do their job well
but also get along with the staff
around them and build great rapport. When you then promote
those people to a status that is
focused on the bottom line they
do not generally have the skills to
understand how to incorporate
their new duties while keeping
their connection with the team
around them. It takes a truly holistic approach to building a team to
ensure that the great workers also
become great leaders.

For some, emotional intelligence is
an innate trait, for others it needs
to be nurtured and incorporated into their overall promotion
strategy to ensure they become

Take a look at the emerging leaders in your organisation and make
sure they are being given the opportunity to develop and exercise
their emotional intelligence.

Obviously, if someone is being promoted through the ranks they are
showing their level of intelligence
via their work output, but their
level of emotional intelligence
does not necessarily grow with
their promotion. Emotional intelligence is the type of intelligence
that can take a leader from being
a good financial leader who meets
all company targets, to a leader
that builds a strong support team
16 | © LeadershipHQ 2015