Anda di halaman 1dari 5

The renowned psychologist and Emotional

Intelligence pioneer describes the importance of focus


and self-mastery for leadership excellence.

Thought Leader Interview:

Daniel Goleman
by Karen Christensen

Your latest book is about a skill that you call “the hidden driv- more science than ever and a greater understanding of it.
er of excellence”. Tell us about it. Focus encompasses a variety of skills, each of which is im-
My new book is about the power of focus, and the brain systems portant in different circumstances. One well known type of focus
involved in training our attention. I argue that leaders need to is concentration, which entails being able to pay attention here
be adept at three varieties of focus. The first is self-awareness, while ignoring what’s coming at you over there. Another form of
and as a result of that, the ability to manage your own emotions; focus is ‘open presence’, which entails just being with the person
the second is awareness of other people; and the third is an outer who is right in front of you and paying full attention in the mo-
focus, whether it’s an awareness of your organization as a whole ment. A third form is ‘free association’, which is a very different
or a larger sense of the broader systems that affect your indus- kind of focus where you let your mind wander wherever it wants.
try. The largest possible lens for our focus encompasses global This is essential for creativity and innovation. In the book I talk
systems and considers the needs of everyone — including the about lots of other forms of focus.
powerless and the poor — peering far ahead in time. The key is to recognize which kind of focus you need in a
Leaders need all three types of focus — in full strength and in given situation, and to be able to achieve it. The data is showing
balance — in order to perform optimally. us that the ability to pay attention well — in the right way at the
right time — is absolutely critical to top performance.
ILLUSTRATION BY LISA SMITH

How did you come to see focus as such an integral skill?


In a collective sense, our ability to focus is under siege. Our kids You are best known as a pioneer of the concept of Emotional
are growing up in an environment with more distractions than Intelligence (‘EI’). What are the key elements of your model
at any other time in human history; and for many adults, it’s not of EI?
even the noise around us that is the most powerful distractor, In my view there are four domains of Emotional Intelligence.
it’s the chatter in our own minds. On the bright side, our under- The first is self-awareness; knowing what drives you, how you’re
standing of focus and attention is now at a point where we have feeling and why you are feeling that way. Basically, being able

10 / Rotman Management Winter 2014


You can get everything else right, but if you fail to drive peoples’ emotions
in the right direction, nothing will work as well as it could.

to think productively about your feelings. The second aspect When it comes to excelling on the job, which is more impor-
is self-management, which is built upon self-awareness. In the tant, EI or IQ?
business realm, this doesn’t mean suppressing your emotions, There is a widespread misconception that I favour emotional
because it’s important to display evidence of passion and moti- intelligence above regular intelligence. To be clear, I don’t; I
vation in the workplace. Self-management means being able to think they’re both extremely important. Every leader must
manage stress and anxiety and other emotional states that affect have a very high level of intelligence and business expertise.
your ability to think clearly; in other words, being able to ‘handle But I’ve talked to countless people who do C-level recruiting,
yourself ’. Particularly in times of crisis, people look to their lead- and they tell me that when executives fail, it is invariably the
ers to see if they will be okay or not, and that’s why the leader’s case that they were hired for intelligence and expertise, but
first act is leading himself or herself. fired for a lack of emotional intelligence. So the prerequisite —
The third aspect of emotional intelligence is social aware- the threshold ability — is high intelligence; but over and above
ness, or empathy, which means being able to understand some- that, what distinguishes star leaders is their emotional intelli-
one else’s perspective, to sense how they’re feeling and have gence skill set.
appropriate concern for them. This includes supporting people
and letting them know that it’s safe to take smart risks, for ex- In your experience, which aspects of EI and focus do leaders
ample. Finally, the fourth aspect is relationship management tend to have the most trouble with?
skills. In the realm of management, things like negotiation, A colleague of mine, Cary Cherniss, who heads up the Consor-
managing conflict, cooperation and teamwork are more impor- tium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organiza-
tant than ever. tions, has analyzed competence models in a variety of organiza-
tions and has found that the domain that is most often left out
How does focus relate to EI? is self-awareness, which requires an inward focus on and attention
Emotional intelligence demands focus as a prerequisite, because to the self. This is understandable because it’s the least-visible
paying attention within ourselves leads to self-awareness, and of the four domains of EI; but as indicated, you cannot prog-
paying attention to others builds empathy. ress to self-management or empathy without a strong degree of
self-awareness.
You have said that the best leadership is ‘primal’. How so? When leaders are complained about behind their backs,
When people talk about great leaders, words like ‘strategy’ and people often say things like, ‘He just doesn’t get it’ or ‘He doesn’t
‘vision’ come up a lot, and the emotional impact of what a leader understand us’. In short, he doesn’t empathize. There are three
says and does is overlooked. The reality is much more primal: different kinds of empathy. The first is cognitive empathy: I
great leadership actually works through human emotions. You know how you see things, and I can take your perspective. Man-
can get everything else right — hiring, strategy, innovation — but agers who rate high on this kind of empathy are able to get better
if you fail to drive peoples’ emotions in the right direction, noth- than expected performance from employees, because they can
ing will work as well as it could. put things in terms that people can understand, and that moti-
The emotional task of the leader is ‘primal’ in two ways: vates them. The way to improve on this is to talk to people about
it is both the original and the most important act of leadership. how they see things, so you can get an idea of what their mental
Throughout history, the leader in any group has been the one models are.
to whom others look for assurance and clarity when faced with The second type is emotional empathy: I feel with you. This
uncertainty or threat, or when there’s a job to be done. In modern is the basis for rapport and chemistry between people. Those
organizations, this ‘primordial’ emotional task is largely invis- who excel at emotional empathy make good counselors, teach-
ible, but driving collective emotions in a positive direction — and ers and group leaders because of their ability to sense, in the
clearing away the ‘smog’ of toxic emotions — remains foremost moment, how others are reacting. And the third type of empa-
on the list of a leader’s tasks. Understanding the powerful role thy is empathic concern: I sense that you need some help and
of emotions in the workplace is what sets the best leaders apart I am ready to give it. Those with empathic concern are the good
from the rest. But all leadership contains this dimension — for citizens in a group, organization or community who voluntarily
better or for worse. help out as needed.

12 / Rotman Management Winter 2014


THE TOP FIVE ‘NEURAL HIJACK’ TRIGGERS
IN THE WORKPLACE

1. Condescension and lack of respect


2. Being treated unfairly
3. Feeling unappreciated
4. Feeling that you’re not being listened to or heard
5. Being held to unrealistic deadlines
These three abilities give a leader an emotionally-secure
base, creating an environment where people feel supported, un-
derstood and trusted. In general, the more emotionally-demand-
ing the work, the more empathic a leader needs to be. This can be a very effective method for decompressing and get-
ting into a relaxed and balanced state.
What is a ‘neural hijack’, and how common are they?
In the brain’s ‘blueprint’, the amygdala holds a privileged posi- You have said that whether we know it or not, we are con-
tion: it is the brain’s radar for threat and the trigger point for emo- stantly impacting the brain states of other people. Describe
tional distress, anger, impulse and fear. If it detects a threat, in an how this works.
instant it can take over the rest of your brain, and you have what’s This is due to the design of the human brain — what scientists
called an amygdala hijack. have begun to call the ‘open-loop’ nature of the limbic system.
Whenever someone gets upset at work, has an outburst or Our circulatory system, by contrast, is ‘closed-loop’, in that it is
loses their temper, it is a sign that their ‘fight or flight’ response self-regulating: the circulatory system of other people doesn’t af-
has been triggered and basically, their brain has declared an fect us at all. But an open-loop system depends in large part on
emergency when it really isn’t an emergency situation. To man- external sources to manage itself. Put simply, we rely on connec-
age any real crisis well, you need to manage your emotions well, tions with other people for our own emotional stability.
too. Amygdala hijacks are never helpful, particularly in leaders. Scientists describe the open loop as ‘interpersonal limbic
They can actually damage relationships and connections with regulation’, whereby one person transmits signals that can alter
the people around you. That’s why self-management is so impor- another person’s cardiovascular function, hormone levels and
tant for good leadership. even their immune functioning. This has been a winning design
Unfortunately, in an economy with great uncertainty, there in evolutionary terms: early on, it is what enabled mothers to
is lots of free-floating fear in the air: people fear for their jobs and soothe crying babies or a ‘lookout’ to signal a threat to his tribe.
for their financial security. In such an environment, many people While we have become more sophisticated in many ways, the
are operating day-to-day with what amounts to a chronic, low- open-loop principle still holds today.
grade amygdala hijack. For example, research on intensive-care patients shows that
the very presence of another person lowers the patient’s blood
What should we do when we get ‘hijacked’? pressure. In another study, even more dramatically, researchers
First, you have to realize it’s happening. Hijacks can last for sec- studied men who experienced three highly-stressful events in
onds, minutes, days or weeks. For some people it may seem be one year: divorce, getting fired, and having financial issues. What
their ‘normal’ state; they get used to always being angry or fear- they found is that the socially-isolated men in the study were
ful, and this can lead to conditions like anxiety disorders or de- three times as likely to die, while the death rate of the men who
pression. maintained close relationships showed no effect.
One way to get out of a hijack is to talk yourself out of it. The open loop is also alive and well in offices, boardrooms
Reason with yourself and challenge what you are telling yourself. and shop floors. In all areas of social life, our physiologies are
If the trigger was something someone else did or said, you can intermingling and our emotions automatically shifting into the
apply some empathy and imagine yourself in that person’s posi- register of the person we’re with. People in work groups ‘catch’
tion. ‘Maybe he treated me that way because he is under a lot of feelings from one another, sharing everything from jealousy and
pressure’. There are also biological interventions. You can use a angst to euphoria; and the more cohesive the group, the stronger
method like meditation or relaxation to calm yourself down. This the sharing of moods.
works best during a hijack when you have practiced it regularly,
even daily; you can’t just invoke these methods out of the blue. Of all the aspects of business, customer service is perhaps
Another remedy is mindfulness. In the most popular form of most affected by the open-loop aspect of the brain. Please
mindfulness, you cultivate a ‘hovering’ presence to your experi- discuss the implications.
ence in the moment — an awareness that is non-judgmental and Customer service jobs are notoriously stressful, with high emo-
non-reactive to whatever thoughts or feelings arise in your mind. tions flowing freely, not just from customers to the front lines but

Rotman Management Winter 2014 / 13


also from workers to customers. From a business standpoint, bad
THE PERILS OF A FOCUS DEFICIT moods in people who serve customers are always bad news. First,
rudeness is contagious, creating dissatisfied, even angry cus-
In the spring of 2010, in the first weeks after the disastrous BP tomers; second, grumpy workers serve customers poorly, with
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as countless sea animals and birds sometimes devastating results. In one study, cardiac care units
were dying and residents of the Gulf were decrying the catas- where the nurses’ general mood was ‘depressed’ had a death rate
trophe, BP executives were a textbook example of how not to among patients four times higher than comparable units.
manage a crisis. The height of their folly came when CEO Tony By contrast, upbeat moods on the front lines benefit a busi-
Hayward infamously declared, “There’s no one who wants this
ness. If customers enjoy their interaction with a worker, they
thing over more than I do. I’d like my life back.”
start to think of the store as a ‘nice place to shop’. That means
Rather than showing concern for the spill’s victims, he
seemed annoyed by the inconvenience. He went on to claim not only repeat visits, but also good word of mouth advertis-
the disaster was not BP’s fault, blamed their subcontractors ing. Moreover, when service people feel upbeat, they do more
and took no responsibility. Widely circulated photos showed to please customers: in a study of 32 stores in a U.S. retail chain,
him at the peak of the crisis blithely sailing on a yacht, taking outlets with positive salespeople showed the best sales results.
a vacation. As a BP media relations exec put it, “The only time In all of those retail outlets, it was the store manager who creat-
Tony Hayward opened his mouth was to change feet. He didn’t ed the emotional climate that drove salespeople’s moods — and
understand the animal that is the media. He didn’t understand ultimately, sales — in the right direction. When the managers
the public’s perception.”
were peppy, confident and optimistic, their mood rubbed off on
Signe Spencer, co-author of one of the first books on
the staff.
competence modeling, tells me there is a recently-identified
capability seen in some high-level leaders called ‘managing
your impact on others’ — by skillful leveraging of their visibility In many organizations, emotions are seen as ‘too personal’ or
and role to have a positive impact. Hayward — blind to his unquantifiable to talk about in a meaningful way. What first
impact on others, let alone to public perception of his com- step would you suggest for leaders who want to address the
pany — set off a firestorm of antagonism, including front-page emotions in their workplace?
articles demanding to know why he hadn’t been fired. Even I actually don’t believe it’s necessary to talk about emotions
President Obama declared that he would have fired him. at work; it may not even be functional. What I’m really talking
Hayward’s exit from BP was announced the following month.
about is building an internal awareness of our own emotions
The disaster has since cost BP up to $40 billion in liabili-
ties, saw four executives charged with Negligence, and led to and dealing with those emotions in a smart way, so we are more
the U.S. government forbidding BP further business — includ- effective at dealing with others. Also, building an awareness —
ing new oil leases in the Gulf — because of a “lack of business which doesn’t have to be put into words — of how other people
integrity.” are reacting, and having the ability to fine-tune how you respond
Tony Hayward offers a textbook case of the costs of a to them.
leader with deficits in focus. “To anticipate how people will re- The bottom line is that emotional intelligence gives us a
act, you have to read people’s reactions to you,” says Spencer. way to take emotions into account, rather than trying to suppress
“That takes self-awareness and empathy in a self-reinforcing
them or sweep them under the rug. The fact is, emotions will
cycle. You become more aware of how you’re coming across
refuse to be suppressed. They are with us every moment of
to other people.” With high self-awareness, she adds, you can
more readily develop good self-management. “If you manage every day.
yourself better, you will influence others better.”

-From Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence


(Harper 2013)
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and science journalist. His latest book
is Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (Harper, 2013). A two-time
Pulitzer Prize nominee, he has written 14 books and wrote for The New York
Times for 12 years. He is ranked in the top 40 on the Thinkers50 list of
the world’s leading management thinkers.

14 / Rotman Management Winter 2014

Anda mungkin juga menyukai