Primal Leadership
MONTHLY BOOK FEATURE:
Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman
Primal Leadership, a collaborative work by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, finds the intersection of leadership and emotional intelligence. The authors arrange Primal Leadership in three sections that progressively build on each other to develop a deeper understanding of how to harness the power of primal leadership. The first focuses on the characteristics of resonance and dissonance, the four dimensions of EI and the six leadership styles. The second provides personal tools to help us each become more positive leaders, and the third teaches us to use these newfound skills to create a better culture.
The controversial idea that leaders must focus on inspiring and empowering employees instead of deadlines and bottom-lines is validated by decades of research within world class companies. Interviews and studies conducted with senior executives in close to 500 global companies showed that while skill and intellect have a high correlation with success, high emotional intelligence ultimately distinguished the top performers. The authors explain that both skill and intellect, while above average compared to the general populace, serve as equalizers among executives. The difference in effectiveness came down to competencies in the four key areas of emotional intelligence self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship management.
The authors’ site numerous examples of different leadership styles to demonstrate the importance of emotion in leadership. They find that leaders who emotionally engage their employees accomplish far more. From developing motivation to creating improvement plans based on learning rather than production, emotionally intelligent leaders encouraged positive change and growth throughout their organizations.
The book introduces the concept of “resonant leadership,” the idea that great leaders bring out the best in people by being positive about their emotions. Contrasting this with dissonance, defined as bringing out the worst in people by undermining their emotions, the authors further illustrate the power of resonance by providing a repertoire of six leadership styles. Four of the styles have positive impacts on company climate, and two have mostly negative affects. Emotionally intelligent leaders employ a combination of the top four styles to build resonance while discordant leaders often operate within the bottom two.
Primal Leadership takes the teaching of emotional intelligence to a new level by defining a leader’s first, or primal, job as grooming positive emotions in those they lead. Building on links to modern brain science that show why leader’s moods impact those they lead, Primal Leadership sheds new light on the power of emotionally intelligent leadership to keep people motivated and committed.
