FILEX 2014
PRESENTER
FOLLOW THE
LEADER?
Being skilled at what you do doesn’t automatically qualify you to lead others in that
same field. Steve Pettit looks at the importance of emotional intelligence for truly
effective leadership.
I
f you’re in a leadership role, have
you ever pondered the series
of events that led you to this
privileged position?
One of the factors may be your
outstanding ability in a particular
discipline – perhaps sales, personal
training or group fitness. It stands to
reason that if you’re good at doing
something, you must be good at leading
others to do it. Or does it?
As fitness businesses grow, opportunities
are created and a certain fluidity enables
movement between roles. You might
have begun as a gym floor instructor
and evolved into a personal training
manager. Or maybe you started as a
sales consultant and now find yourself
running the facility or even the entire
company. Alternatively you might have
started your own business or invested
in a franchise which thrust you into
multiple leadership roles.
Whatever you’re doing, regardless of
what level you’re at, if someone relies on
you for inspiration, direction, motivation
or accountability, guess what? You’re in
a leadership role.
One of the most common mistakes
made in leadership development is
believing that a great technician will
be a great leader, and not affording the
development time and focus required to
make that outcome more likely.
Manager or leader?
What makes a manager and what
makes a leader? The difference is
simple. A manager is appointed to a
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NETWORK AUTUMN 2014 / WWW.FITNESSNETWORK.COM.AU
role because they possess skills that
will derive an outcome, most likely
performance-based. A leader, on the
other hand, possesses not only the
IQ and technical skills, but also a level
of ‘emotional intelligence’ (EQ) that
engages their team to want to perform
at their highest level.
IQ and technical skills are now
considered as entry level requirements
for leadership roles. EQ has been
identified as being twice as important as
technical skills and IQ – so why is it that
we know so little about it?
Daniel Goleman is widely credited with
progressing the concept of EQ in his
book Emotional Intelligence. He defines
it as consisting of five categories: self-
awareness, self-regulation, motivation,
empathy and social skills.
By examining just a couple of these areas
it is possible to see how these seemingly
simple characteristics can affect your
ability to lead others.
How you see yourself and how
the world sees you
The concept of self-awareness is not
well understood in business, despite
the ancient Greek saying ‘know thyself’
being of vital importance for leaders. In
this age of heightened public scrutiny,
with its demand for greater transparency,
it is more important than ever for leaders
to understand how they are perceived.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?