Primal Leadership

Thesis/Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Primal Leadership and was pleased that I read Managing Emotions in the Workplace prior to beginning this book. After examining the causes and effects of emotions at work and understanding existing theories and the implications of managing emotions in the workplace, Primal Leadership took me a step further. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee note that the use of emotion in leadership functions is a primal task or function of a true leader. The authors argue that this task is primal because it is both the original and the most important act of leadership (p 5). Their basic argument is that primal leadership operates at its best through emotionally intelligent leaders who create resonance (p38). Great leaders move people by managing and directing emotions in the right direction. Therefore, leaders who drive emotions positively, bring out the best in their employees.

When leaders positively direct the emotions of others, they empower everyone to be top performers. The authors call this resonance. Conversely, when leaders negatively drive emotions, dissonance is created. Dissonance can undermine people's potentials. The authors make the case that key to primal leadership is emotional intelligence. As explained in the first chapter, an emotionally intelligent leader knows how to handle himself and his relationship with the people he works with in order to drive up performance (p 6).

Leadership concerns the process by which one individual influences others to pursue a commonly held objective. Primal Leadership explains clearly the painfully obvious downside of working with a dissonant boss but I take heart in learning that emotional intelligence is learnable. The problem with dissonant bosses is that they lack skills in either of the two main domains of emotional intelligence, personal and social. The authors argue that dissonant leaders can strengthen their personal competence including their own self-awareness and self-management; or their social competence, which includes social awareness and relationship management. The key is developing a flexible leadership style that draws on various leadership styles, depending upon the situation. The leadership styles described in this book are visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, commanding. The authors outline the advantages and disadvantages of each style and go so far as to provide examples (business situations) explaining the style to employ. For each style, overuse of one particular style can become a weakness. Great leadership knows when to use what style under a given situation.

The second part of the book, Making Leaders, outlines the process of making leaders. Leaders can become emotionally intelligent through a process of learning that begins with self-evaluation and is followed by self-directed learning. Primal leaders develop via a three-step process that can be summarized as bringing bad habits into awareness, practicing better ways, and rehearsing at every opportunity. Thus, true leaders are made not born.

There is a link between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence. In the transformation approach, leaders want to transform their organizations based on their interpreted visions. Leaders are seen as change agents and must be able to sell their vision to others in order to influence them to believe in their vision and effect change. The vision becomes the guiding principle and the ultimate goal for the organization. Primal Leadership links emotional intelligence and transformational leadership. For emotionally intelligent leaders, resonance comes naturally in their dealings with people. Their actions reinforce synchrony within their team and within the organization. The strength of an emotionally resonant leader lies in the emotional bond he forms which allows people to collaborate with each other even in the face of change and uncertainty.

The authors describe four dimensions of emotional intelligence good leaders should have categorized under the two competencies personal and social. Under the personal competence, the capability to determine how we manage ourselves is self-awareness and self-management. Self-awareness is the ability to read our own emotions and recognize their impact on others, knowing our own limits and strengths, and have a good sense of our capabilities and self-worth. Self-management concerns emotional self-control. That is keeping our disruptive emotions and impulses under control. In addition, being honest, adaptable, driven to improve performance and meet standards of excellence, and possessing initiative and optimism come under self-management.

The second competency, social competence, concerns how we manage relationships.

Social awareness is the ability to sense others' emotions, taking interest in others, organizational and political awareness, and a willingness to serve the needs of both customers and employees. Relationship management is the ability to guide and motivate others, to influence people and help them develop, and to serve as a catalyst for change, manage conflict, and forge the bonds required for effective teamwork and collaboration. The authors claim that very few people are excellent in all four dimensions but that effective leaders are very competent in at least two or three. Interestingly, these competencies are not innately inherent but are learned. Leaders who do not have these skills and competencies should take advantage of the 360-degree evaluation followed by practice at every opportunity.

Very interesting is that great leadership is not just being very smart, it is more than that. While all great leaders are highly intelligent, they do not necessarily need to be. However, at the very least, effective and highly successful leaders move beyond intellectual capacity and skills, they are emotionally intelligent. Great leaders ignite passion and inspire the best in us. Primal Leadership explains that great leadership works through emotions.

In reviewing my own leadership style and emotional intelligence domains and competencies, I see myself as a commander and pacesetter. I decided to use the tools in the book to discover what skills I have and what skills I would like to possess and of course, ascertain any gaps. I still have to experiment and practice new behaviors, thoughts, and feelings, but here is my self-assessment. Here is my assessment:

I tend not to be very interested in participatory leadership; rather my approach is neoclassical. I am most comfortable when I am in control, demanding the highest level of performance not only from myself but also my peers and direct reports. However, after 25 years spent in the work place, supervising, and managing, I tend not to use this