Stephanie Zurn
On Daniel Goleman’s “What Makes a Leader”
Daniel Goleman, in his article “What Makes a Leader,” adds to our conversation on leadership in
two important ways. First, he offers an answer to the question of whether or not leaders are born or
made – he says both. Second, he offers a solution to that pesky leadership shortage problem that was
discussed in almost all of our readings for this module: emotional intelligence. Before I discuss each of
Goleman’s revelations in more depth, let me begin with a review of the article.
Goleman’s piece written for the Harvard Business Review was an informative, entertaining piece that
made the concept of emotional intelligence accessible. The use of specific examples to illustrate each of
his positions was particularly helpful.
In the article Goleman asserts that after significant study comparing leadership traits, to include
IQ (intelligence), technical skills and emotional intelligence, he found several consistencies 1) all three
are required 2) emotional intelligence is the most important 3) All good leaders have emotional
intelligence and 4) the emotional intelligence of a company’s leaders has a direct impact on a company’s
success.
After defining emotional intelligences importance, Goleman tells us specifically what emotional
intelligence is, distinguishing five characteristics of an emotionally intelligent leader: self-awareness,
self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.
Self-awareness, he tells us, means that a person knows himself/herself well, his/her strength
and weaknesses, and that he/she uses that knowledge to make himself/herself the most effective leader
possible. Self-regulation is about being in control of one’s emotions. It doesn’t mean not having
emotions or not feeling strongly about something, it just means not allowing oneself to become swept
up in one’s feelings. Of importance with self-regulation is Goleman’s position that having self-regulation
also helps with a person’s integrity as he/she will not be quick to do something dishonest for financial
(or some other) gain. About motivation, Goleman says, a person who has it achieves for the sake of
achieving – as opposed to doing it for recognition or financial gain. Empathy means that a leader can
understand others feelings and will take them into consideration in each of his/her actions. And
possessing good social skills means the leader understands the value of networking and makes sure that
he/she is always prepared with the right network in place for whatever situation should arise.
Goleman says that all of these skills (except motivation and social skill) are not necessarily those most
would expect a leader to have. He says that some tend to think of these traits as ‘wimpy’ or woman-like.
This, of course, reminded me of Alice Eagly and Linda Carli’s discussion on the double blind that women
leaders face in the workplace. They also say that traits typically thought of as those a woman possesses
are not normally associated with leaders.
As to the relevance of this article on the born verses made argument, Goleman says that
sometimes people are just born in possession of these specific traits – and that if they effectively utilize
them, then they are going to be good leaders. He also says people can learn them. But he says current
leadership programs are not teaching them correctly, and that they require retraining oneself to
effectively use them. This, he says, is often a long process that requires a lot of desire and effort. But he
does explain that emotional intelligence is the solution to the lack of leadership problem many
companies are facing, specifically because of its ability to be taught. And because it has been shown to
be effective.
Another thing worth mentioning is how this article seems to validate Ronald Burke’s article on
poor leaders because the traits it argues a good leader possesses are almost the exact opposites of
those that Burke claims that ineffective leaders possess.
And finally, pertinent to this course is that Goleman discusses the importance of emotional
intelligent leaders in regards to globalization. Briefly, he gives notice to cultural differences and suggests
that being emotionally intelligent enough (empathetic specifically) to read facial expressions and body
language just might be the thing needed to break through those barriers.
Throughout the module many of us have been trying to get at why we think promoting leaders
from within a corporation is favorable to bringing in outsiders. Most of us seem to agree that these
leaders are better because they ‘get what it’s like.’ Emotional intelligence might be the way leaders from
the outside can still be effective without ‘getting it.’ If they take the time to consider things like
relationships and feelings they might be able to earn that trust and respect we think comes with leaders
who work their way up. Great article and great way to end the module.