DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS

Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which Do You Need to Work On? by Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis

February 06, 2017

Esther is a well-liked manager of a small team. Kind and respectful, she is sensitive

to the needs of others. She is a problem solver; she tends to see setbacks as

opportunities. She’s always engaged and is a source of calm to her colleagues. Her

manager feels lucky to have such an easy direct report to work with and often

compliments Esther on her high levels of emotional intelligence, or EI. And Esther

indeed counts EI as one of her strengths; she’s grateful for at least one thing she

doesn’t have to work on as part of her leadership development. It’s strange, though

— even with her positive outlook, Esther is starting to feel stuck in her career. She

just hasn’t been able to demonstrate the kind of performance her company is

looking for. So much for emotional intelligence, she’s starting to think.

The trap that has ensnared Esther and her manager is a common one: They are

defining emotional intelligence much too narrowly. Because they’re focusing only

on Esther’s sociability, sensitivity, and likability, they’re missing critical elements

of emotional intelligence that could make her a stronger, more effective leader.

A recent HBR article highlights the skills that a kind, positive manager like Esther

might lack: the ability to deliver difficult feedback to employees, the courage to

ruffle feathers and drive change, the creativity to think outside the box. But these

gaps aren’t a result of Esther’s emotional intelligence; they’re simply evidence that

her EI skills are uneven. In the model of EI and leadership excellence that we have

developed over 30 years of studying the strengths of outstanding leaders, we’ve

found that having a well-balanced array of specific EI capabilities actually prepares

a leader for exactly these kinds of tough challenges.

There are many models of emotional intelligence, each with its own set of abilities;

they are often lumped together as “EQ” in the popular vernacular. We prefer “EI,”

which we define as comprising four domains: self-awareness, self-management,

social awareness, and relationship management. Nested within each domain are

twelve EI competencies, learned and learnable capabilities that allow outstanding

performance at work or as a leader (see the image below). These include areas in

which Esther is clearly strong: empathy, positive outlook, and self-control. But

they also include crucial abilities such as achievement, influence, conflict

management, teamwork and inspirational leadership. These skills require just as

much engagement with emotions as the first set, and should be just as much a part

of any aspiring leader’s development priorities.

Find this and other HBR graphics in our Visual Library

For example, if Esther had strength in conflict management, she would be skilled in

giving people unpleasant feedback. And if she were more inclined to influence, she

would want to provide that difficult feedback as a way to lead her direct reports

and help them grow. Say, for example, that Esther has a peer who is overbearing

and abrasive. Rather than smoothing over every interaction, with a broader

balance of EI skills she could bring up the issue to her colleague directly, drawing

on emotional self-control to keep her own reactivity at bay while telling him what,

specifically, does not work in his style. Bringing simmering issues to the surface

goes to the core of conflict management. Esther could also draw on influence

strategy to explain to her colleague that she wants to see him succeed, and that if

he monitored how his style impacted those around him he would understand

how a change would help everyone.

Similarly, if Esther had developed her inspirational leadership competence, she

would be more successful at driving change. A leader with this strength can

articulate a vision or mission that resonates emotionally with both themselves and

those they lead, which is a key ingredient in marshaling the motivation essential

for going in a new direction. Indeed, several studies have found a strong

association between EI, driving change, and visionary leadership.

In order to excel, leaders need to develop a balance of strengths across the suite of

EI competencies. When they do that, excellent business results follow.

How can you tell where your EI needs improvement — especially if you feel that

it’s strong in some areas?

Simply reviewing the 12 competencies in your mind can give you a sense of where

you might need some development. There are a number of formal models of EI,

and many of them come with their own assessment tools. When choosing a tool to

use, consider how well it predicts leadership outcomes. Some assess how you see

yourself; these correlate highly with personality tests, which also tap into a

person’s “self-schema.” Others, like that of Yale University president Peter Salovey

and his colleagues, define EI as an ability; their test, the MSCEIT (a commercially

available product), correlates more highly with IQ than any other EI test.

We recommend comprehensive 360-degree assessments, which collect both self-

ratings and the views of others who know you well. This external feedback is

particularly helpful for evaluating all areas of EI, including self-awareness (how

would you know that you are not self-aware?). You can get a rough gauge of where

your strengths and weaknesses lie by asking those who work with you to give you

feedback. The more people you ask, the better a picture you get.

Formal 360-degree assessments, which incorporate systematic, anonymous

observations of your behavior by people who work with you, have been found to

not correlate well with IQ or personality, but they are the best predictors of a

leader’s effectiveness, actual business performance, engagement, and job (and life)

satisfaction. Into this category fall our own model and the Emotional and Social

Competency Inventory, or ESCI 360, a commercially available assessment we

developed with Korn Ferry Hay Group to gauge the 12 EI competencies, which rely

on how others rate observable behaviors in evaluating a leader. The larger the gap

between a leader’s self-ratings and how others see them, research finds, the fewer

EI strengths the leader actually shows, and the poorer the business results.

These assessments are critical to a full evaluation of your EI, but

even understanding that these 12 competencies are all a part of your emotional

intelligence is an important first step in addressing areas where your EI is at its

weakest. Coaching is the most effective method for improving in areas of EI deficit.

Having expert support during your ups and downs as you practice operating in a

new way is invaluable.

Even people with many apparent leadership strengths can stand to better

understand those areas of EI where we have room to grow. Don’t shortchange your

development as a leader by assuming that EI is all about being sweet and chipper,

or that your EI is perfect if you are — or, even worse, assume that EI can’t help you

excel in your career.

Daniel Goleman, best known for his writing on emotional intelligence, is Co-Director of the

Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University. His latest book

is Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence, a 12-primer set on each of the emotional intelligence

competencies, and he offers training on the competencies through an online learning platform, Emotional

Intelligence Training Programs. His other books include Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of

Emotional Intelligence and Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and

Body.

Richard E. Boyatzis is a Professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and

Cognitive Science at the Weatherhead School of Management and Distinguished University Professor at

Case Western Reserve University. He is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab and coauthor of

Helping People Change (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

Related Topics: Emotional Intelligence | Influence | Psychology

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Atul Mishra a month ago

Good and important course to build skill. And for to do better in day to day work

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6/3/22, 11:58 AM What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements?

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/isthereadifferencebetweenacompany’smission,visionandvaluestatements.aspx 1/2

What is the di�erence between mission, vision and values statements?

Each statement may be part of the strategic planning process but have a di�erent objective. These statements may be written for

organizations or for individual departments.

A mission statement is a concise explanation of the organization's reason for existence. It describes the organization's purpose and its

overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers,

vendors and other stakeholders. See SHRM's Company Mission Statement Examples (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-

samples/policies/pages/missionstatementgeneral.aspx) for a variety of samples. Questions to consider when drafting mission statements

could include:

What is our organization's purpose?

Why does our organization exist?

A vision statement looks forward and creates a mental image of the ideal state that the organization wishes to achieve. It is inspirational

and aspirational and should challenge employees. Questions to consider when drafting vision statements might include:

What problem are we seeking to solve?

Where are we headed?

If we achieved all strategic goals, what would we look like 10 years from now?

A values statement lists the core principles that guide and direct the organization and its culture. In a values-led organization, the values

create a moral compass for the organization and its employees. It guides decision-making and establishes a standard against which actions

can be assessed. These core values are an internalized framework that is shared and acted on by leadership. When drafting values

statements, questions to consider might include:

What values are unique to our organization?

What values should guide the operations of our company?

What conduct should our employees uphold?

In conjunction with a values statement, a code of ethics puts those values into practice. It outlines the procedures in place to ensure the

organization's values are upheld. Questions to consider when creating codes of ethics might include:

What are common ethical issues in our industry?

What should someone do if he or she sees a violation of our values?

Management cannot create a new values statement or ethics code and expect immediate change. For an organization to have an e�ective

values statement, it must fully embrace its values and ethics at all levels of the company and use them daily to guide its attitudes, actions

and decision-making. Refer to What does it mean to be a values-based organization? (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-

samples/hr-qa/Pages/whatdoesitmeantobeavalues-basedorganization.aspx) for more information.

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6/3/22, 11:58 AM What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements?

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PSYCHOLOGY

Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership by Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis

From the September 2008 Issue

I n 1998, one of us, Daniel Goleman, published in these pages his first article on

emotional intelligence and leadership. The response to “What Makes a

Leader?” was enthusiastic. People throughout and beyond the business

community started talking about the vital role that empathy and self-

knowledge play in effective leadership. The concept of emotional intelligence

continues to occupy a prominent space in the leadership literature and in everyday

coaching practices. But in the past five years, research in the emerging field of

social neuroscience—the study of what happens in the brain while people interact

—is beginning to reveal subtle new truths about what makes a good leader.

The salient discovery is that certain things leaders do—specifically, exhibit empathy

and become attuned to others’ moods—literally affect both their own brain

chemistry and that of their followers. Indeed, researchers have found that the

leader-follower dynamic is not a case of two (or more) independent brains reacting

consciously or unconsciously to each other. Rather, the individual minds become,

in a sense, fused into a single system. We believe that great leaders are those whose

behavior powerfully leverages the system of brain interconnectedness. We place

them on the opposite end of the neural continuum from people with serious social

disorders, such as autism or Asperger’s syndrome, that are characterized by

underdevelopment in the areas of the brain associated with social interactions. If

we are correct, it follows that a potent way of becoming a better leader is to find

authentic contexts in which to learn the kinds of social behavior that reinforce the

brain’s social circuitry. Leading effectively is, in other words, less about mastering

situations—or even mastering social skill sets—than about developing a genuine

interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose

cooperation and support you need.

The notion that effective leadership is about having powerful social circuits in the

brain has prompted us to extend our concept of emotional intelligence, which we

had grounded in theories of individual psychology. A more relationship-based

construct for assessing leadership is social intelligence, which we define as a set of

interpersonal competencies built on specific neural circuits (and related endocrine

systems) that inspire others to be effective.

 PLAY 10:15

Do Women Have Stronger Social Circuits? People often ask whether gender

differences factor into the social

intelligence skills needed for

outstanding leadership. The answer

is yes and no. It’s true that women

tend, on average, to be better than

men at immediately sensing other

people’s emotions, whereas men tend

to have more social confidence, at

least in work settings. However,

gender differences in social

intelligence that are dramatic in the

general population are all but absent

among the most successful leaders.

When the University of Toledo’s

Margaret Hopkins studied several

hundred executives from a major

bank, she found gender differences

The idea that leaders need social skills is not new, of course. In 1920, Columbia

University psychologist Edward Thorndike pointed out that “the best mechanic in

a factory may fail as a foreman for lack of social intelligence.” More recently, our

colleague Claudio Fernández-Aráoz found in an analysis of new C-level executives

that those who had been hired for their self-discipline, drive, and intellect were

sometimes later fired for lacking basic social skills. In other words, the people

Fernández-Aráoz studied had smarts in spades, but their inability to get along

socially on the job was professionally self-defeating.

What’s new about our definition of social

intelligence is its biological

underpinning, which we will explore in

the following pages. Drawing on the

work of neuroscientists, our own

research and consulting endeavors, and

the findings of researchers affiliated with

the Consortium for Research on

Emotional Intelligence in Organizations,

we will show you how to translate newly

acquired knowledge about mirror

neurons, spindle cells, and oscillators

into practical, socially intelligent

behaviors that can reinforce the neural

links between you and your followers.

Followers Mirror Their Leaders —Literally

in social intelligence in the overall

group but not between the most

effective men and the most effective

women. Ruth Malloy of the Hay

Group uncovered a similar pattern in

her study of CEOs of international

companies. Gender, clearly, is not

neural destiny.

Perhaps the most stunning recent

discovery in behavioral neuroscience is

the identification of mirror neurons in

widely dispersed areas of the brain.

Italian neuroscientists found them by

accident while monitoring a particular

cell in a monkey’s brain that fired only

when the monkey raised its arm. One day

a lab assistant lifted an ice cream cone to

his own mouth and triggered a reaction

in the monkey’s cell. It was the first evidence that the brain is peppered with

neurons that mimic, or mirror, what another being does. This previously unknown

class of brain cells operates as neural Wi-Fi, allowing us to navigate

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