How leadership is defined? Leadership is defined by their self-knowledge and
Empathy. These are the salient discovery that certain things leaders do- to exhibit empathy and accustom to others’ moods. What do leaders do, leader try to feel what their follower feel. One becomes a leader when he has followers, with any follower, there is no leader. This article is about the physiological lenses in looking at leadership. 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. A leader can leverage the interconnected brain to his advantage. A way to become a better leader is to find authentic context to develop a genuine interest in and talent for
fostering positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support you need.
Social intelligence is a more relationship-based construct that assess leadership. The concept is defined as a set of interpersonal competencies build on specific neural circuitry that inspires others to be effective. It emphasizes how social skills affect a leader. Basically a Mechanic in a factory can fail as a foreman for lack of social intelligence.
A recent discovery in behavioral neuroscience is the identification of mirror
neurons in widely dispersed areas of the brain. Italian neuroscientists found the neuron while testing on a monkey. Later found that the neuron triggers when it imitates another being. Class of brain cells operates as a neural network, allowing us to navigate our social world. When one detects someone else’s emotion through action our mirror neurons reproduce those emotions. This concept is especially relevant when a leader’s emotions and actions prompt followers to mirror these feelings and deeds. Studies have also
revealed that feedback with emotions creates a performance gap. In order to perform better one needs to feel better, the leader has the foster a positive mood in their team.
Who is a leader? A person who is leading from the Gut. Having good instincts is widely recognized as an advantage for a leader in any context, whether in reading the mood of one’s organization or in conducting a delicate negotiation with the competition. A socially intelligent leader attuned with Empathy, Attunement, organizational awareness, and influence or persuade, developing others, Inspiration, and Teamwork.
Social intelligence turns out to be especially important in crisis situations.
Consider the experience of workers at a large Canadian provincial health
care system that had gone through drastic cutbacks and a reorganization.
Internal surveys revealed that the frontline workers had become frustrated
that they were no longer able to give their patients a high level of care.
Notably, workers whose leaders scored low in social intelligence reported
unmet patient-care needs at three times the rate — and emotional exhaustion
at four times the rate — of their colleagues who had supportive leaders. At the
same time, nurses with socially intelligent bosses reported good emotional
health and an enhanced ability to care for their patients, even during the
the stress of layoffs.
These results should be compulsory reading for the boards of companies in
crisis. Such boards typically favor expertise over social intelligence when
selecting someone to guide the institution through tough times. A crisis
manager needs both.
