How to Really Address Leadership Problems

 

In early September 2019 the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) sent out an interesting report How to Address Leadership Problems that you can freely download. There are two big takeaways from the report:

  1. On average, managers rated their own performance 25% higher than the ratings given to them by their employees. The biggest performance gaps were:
  • Displaying honesty and integrity: 31 per cent gap
  • Coaching and mentoring: 31 per cent gap
  • Displaying emotional intelligence: 29 per cent gap

 

  1. Self-awareness has been pinpointed as the most important capability for leaders to develop, precisely because without it they may not know what behaviours they need to change or traits they need to strengthen.

There is some overlap between these two points as the first of the four steps in emotional intelligence is developing self-awareness. The question then for leaders becomes how do you develop emotional self-awareness?

The report refers to an outstanding article How to Become a Better Leader by Ginka Toegel and Jean-Louis Barsoux published in the Spring 2012 edition of the Sloan Management Review. The article uses the Big 5 profiling system as a framework for analysing leadership. This is a first-rate approach that only has one weakness; the authors should be using the 7MTF/Humm as a framework instead. The five most common factors in the 7MTF overlap with the Big 5 but the additional two factors, the GoGetter/Hustler and the Politician, are the two core EQ traits most often found in managers.

GoGetter/Hustlers have an unfortunate tendency to skirt the edge of the law and bend the rules and are often perceived by their employees as lacking honesty and integrity.

Politicians are assertive. They love to express their opinions and would rather talk than listen. Their employees frequently consider them to lack mentoring and coaching skills.

GoGetter/Hustlers are egocentric and will put themselves first. Politicians are egotistical and will talk about themselves before others. Both traits think highly of themselves. Their employees regularly believe they lack emotional intelligence.

One of my core beliefs it that while people drive performance and emotions drive people, it is temperament that drives emotions. If you use a people profiling technology that incorporates temperament such as the 7MTF/Humm you will well ahead in the leadership stakes.

Average Managers Play Checkers; Great Managers Play Chess is a terrific video produced by the Harvard Business Review. However, I maintain that if the manager is question had known the 7MTF/Humm, the manager would have been a champion chess player.

This blog was first published on LinkedIn on 19 September 2019.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-really-address-leadership-problems-christopher-golis/?published=t

 

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Chris Golis - Author

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"Put in a sales perspective, I loved your presentation! I got a lot from what you talked about and I will read your book."

Peter Morris, Executive Officer, Lomax Financial Group

Your presentation on 'Lifting your Level of Emotional Intelligence" to 10 CEOs scored an average 8.9 out of 10 for the topic and 8.5 for the presentation which is great. A couple of the attendees gave you a 10 out of 10, and the comments were:

- Great presentation. Very informative.

- Excellent presentation.

- made me think.

Christi Spring CEO Institute. - web www.ceo.com.au.