Think you’re intelligent? What about socially?

September 16th 2008

The Globe and Mails, Report on Business revisits the work of Daniel Goleman, the psychologist who popularized the notion of emotional intellignece. His work has expanded in collaboration with Richard Boyatzis calling for leaders to develop their social intelligence. Hooray - there still might be hope! They note that certain things that leaders do - specifically exhibiting empathy and becoming attuned to the moods of others- literally affect both their own brain chemistry and that of their followers ultimately leading to more productive behaviours.

The authors boil down social intelligence to 7 competencies - scan them quickly and get an idea of how you might fair:

Empathy. Do you, for example, understand what motivates other people, even those from different backgrounds? Are you sensitive to others’ needs?

Attunement. Do you listen attentively and think about how others feel? Are you attuned to others’ moods.

Organizational Awareness. Do you appreciate the culture and values of the group or organization? Do you understand social networks and know their unspoken norms?

Influence. Do you persuade others by engaging them in discussion appealing to their self- interest? Do you get support from key people?

Developing others. Do you coach and mentor others with compassion and personally invest time and energy in monitoring? Do you provide feedback that people find helpful for their professional development?

Inspiration. Do you articulate a compelling vision, build group pride, and foster a positive emotional tone? Do you lead by brining out the best in people?

Teamwork. Do you solicit input from everyone on the team? To you support all team members and encourage co-operation?

Tagged in: Corporate Team Building -Toronto , Corporate Workshops, Values in Action Workshop