If only Basil had had EI
In the 1970s Fawlty Towers was a hit BBC comedy. Basil was a loser, a man riven with English social inhibitions, always misinterpreting other people’s behaviour. It led to some brilliant, if dark, comedy, which my school friends and I recounted each week.
Meanwhile at school and in my early career it seemed to me that intellect was the key to success. Initially measured through qualifications, intellectual ability always seemed the prerequisite to advancement. Yet over time I have come to realise that other qualities are just as important. Qualities which Basil sorely lacked.
How we treat customers and clients – especially the difficult ones; or inspire our team; or choose who to promote; or give confidence to stakeholders – none of this is achieved through intellect. How we build successful partnerships; promote our enterprises; or persuade investors is also not about qualifications. It requires something else.
Simply put leadership today, in business and public life, requires people able not just to think but to work well with others.
Working well with others
It starts with empathy, the ability to sense other people’s feelings. I have worked with several people who have real vision and drive but zero empathy. They are highly capable but have no sense of how others in the room feel. They progress but rarely with the support and engagement of their colleagues. Without that ability to sense how others feel, or see the wider situation, these individuals often crash and burn. Lacking ‘social radar’ they rarely see it coming.
I have coached several people where their technical skills and intellect are first class. They struggle in how they then relate their ideas to the people with whom they work and how their colleagues’ capabilities shape any future strategy. Part of the challenge as a coach is helping them see things from others’ perspectives.
However social awareness alone is not enough. A leader also needs to be socially skilled, whether it’s to influence other decision-makers, to be an effective negotiator or team leader, or to communicate with key stakeholders.
Communication skills particularly demand an awareness of one’s audience – their interests and priorities. Too often we come to an important announcement or pitch without asking what matters to our audience. This is then compounded when the speaker or presenter fails to pick up the mood of the meeting. I’ve seen this in both politics and business – all too frequently. Compare Gordon Brown to Tony Blair: Brown was intellectually superior, but he had a tin ear to the shifting moods of both the Commons and the public.
People are your main asset
These social skills are increasingly important. For many companies people are their single most important asset. This requires an organisational culture which brings out the best in people. With the younger generation more demanding about the quality of their working environment, business leaders are going to need to focus even more on creating the right culture. That’s why, for example, the post-Covid issue of working from home or office is so sensitive. A few beanbags won’t cut it.
Also, several business sectors have seen a shift towards a more collaborative working culture. Large companies wanting to benefit from the star quality of tiny tech start-ups have formed partnerships which need constant attention.
A collaborative culture is quite different from the traditional silo or hierarchical organisation and demands a different form of leadership. Status matters less than outcomes, which is right, but can be tough for senior people to accept.
Emotional Intelligence
The psychologist and author Daniel Goleman* has been a pioneer in exploring this combination of social awareness and skills. For him these combine with a self-awareness which, together, form our emotional intelligence, our EI. He defines it thus:
‘the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships’.
Let’s be clear, this is not some woke idea of feeling everyone’s pain. Rather it’s about understanding those with whom we work and what motivates both us all to fulfil our combined potential. It involves developing our ‘social radar’ to better build teams, communicate goals and recruit supporters and investors.
It would have certainly benefited Basil Fawlty, but then we would have missed out on a comedy classic.
*Daniel Goleman Ph.D is a psychologist, author and science journalist. He has written several books on emotional intelligence and related issues. He was an early pioneer in the field.
I have coached or mentored several senior business leaders on this issue and would be pleased to see if I can help you. Go to ‘How I coach’ for more about my approach and my contact details.
