Breakfast Briefing with Dr. Martyn Newman – a summary
Breakfast Briefing with Martyn Newman – a summary by David Keane
It was a crisp but thankfully dry Friday morning when approximately 60 senior executives gathered at the Hampton Hotel for an exclusive breakfast briefing with Dr. Martyn Newman. DCP was delighted to welcome Martyn back to Ireland for what promised to be an engaging and inspiring talk on the challenges facing leaders today and, as usual, Martyn did not disappoint. Under the cloud of an ever deepening crisis in the Eurozone, Martyn explained how, we as leaders, can really make a difference in our respective work places in what remain challenging conditions. Martyn’s talk focused on the importance of Emotional Capital in the workplace and how orgaisations that are rich in Emotional Capital thrive, even under the most difficult economic conditions. Here are the main points from Martyn’s talk:
Two decades of research have now shown us that good leaders do not use their authority to dominate followers and simply tell them what to do. Nor does being exceptionally charismatic make a person a good leader. Research published in a recent edition of The Scientific American Mind challenges this idea stating that leaders with charismatic personalities often manipulate others into conformity. Although coercion through using sticks or carrots may work in the short term, neither sticks nor carrots will drive sustainable change.
According to these reports, a new picture of leadership skills has emerged that better accounts for leadership performance. In particular, this research points to three keys insights:
- Leaders are most effective when they tap into the aspirations people hold in their hearts. In other words, when they understand what people want, they can help people make the link between their aspirations and what the business can achieve for them.
- They recognise the fundamental need that people have to belong to a group, so they build shared identities for people at work.
- They possess advanced skills in being able to engage with the real drivers of performance in people – emotions.
Great leaders have the skills to manage their emotions well and influence the emotions of other people toward positive outcomes. In other words, leaders must become masters of mood and lead organisations that excite, energise and enthuse their customers.
What specifically are these skills, can you really measure them, and more importantly how can people in business build them quickly and cost-effectively?
After analysing more than ten years of scientific data exploring the link between emotional intelligence and leadership, research psychologists at RocheMartin have identified ten skills that powerfully predict leadership effectiveness. These skills form the basis of an exciting new model of emotional intelligence and leadership – Emotional Capital. In addition, they can now be measured accurately in any business using a powerful new psychometric tool – the Emotional Capital Report (ECR).
Ten Dynamic Emotions that Drive Leadership Success
The most effective leaders score higher than the average on each of these ten particular scales of emotional intelligence. The highest scores were on:
Self-Reliance – the emotional power to accept responsibility, back personal judgements and be self-reliant in planning and making important decisions.
Self-Confidence – the ability to maintain self-respect and personal confidence.
Relationship Skills – the ability to build and manage relationships characterised by positive expectations.
In terms of leading a business, these three competencies enable a leader to model self-assured behaviour; communicate a clear view of the organisation’s vision and direction; inspire the confidence of others, and gain their support and commitment to building successful relationships – not only with employees and customers, but with everyone the business touches.
A second cluster of high scores that distinguish these leaders include:
Optimism – not just ‘the glass is half full’ kind, but optimism as a strategy – as a way of dealing with difficulties and sensing opportunities. Emotionally intelligent leaders look on the brighter side of life and sense opportunities even in the face of adversity. They are resilient, can see the big picture and where they are going, and are able to focus on the possibilities of what can be achieved.
Self-Knowing – emotionally intelligent leaders are aware of their emotional experience and have the capacity to recognise how their feelings and emotions impact on their personal opinions, attitudes and judgements. In other words, they remain open to discovering new things about themselves and are not afraid to modify their behaviour.
Self-Actualization – high scores on this skill suggest that these leaders know how to manage their reserves of emotional energy and have achieved an effective level of emotional balance. They appear to thrive in setting challenging personal and professional goals and their enthusiasm is likely contagious.
The final group of skills that differentiate effective leaders from the rest include:
Straightforwardness – this suggests the ability to express feelings, thoughts and beliefs openly in a straightforward way, while respecting the fact that others may hold a different opinion or expectation.
Adaptability – the ability to adapt thinking, feelings and actions in response to changing situations and be tolerant of others, and receptive to new ideas. In other words, they are champions of change.
Empathy – this is the skill that enables a person to grasp the emotional dimension of a business situation and create resonant connections with others. This is also the skill that makes talent dance in an organisation.
Self-Control – emotionally intelligent leaders have the ability to manage their emotions well and restrain their actions until they have time to think rationally. They are able to stay calm in stressful situations and maintain productivity without losing control. This skill is critical to building and maintaining a consistent leadership presence and for becoming a ‘trusted advisor’ to people.
Emotional Capital – An Important Addition to the Balance Sheet
These leadership skills add real commercial value to the balance sheet, and this value can be measured in any successful business as emotional capital using the Emotional Capital Report (ECR). If emotional capital is the creative energy that your people bring to work and the enthusiasm that customers have for your company and products, then emotional capitalists are leaders who manage their own emotional energy well and know how to inspire others to create products, solve problems and deliver superior service.
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Dr. Newman’s excellent book “Emotional Capitalists – the New Leaders” is available to purchase from the RocheMartin website or from Amazon.
