What Makes a Leader

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Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too (Philippians 2:3-4, NLT).

I’ve on-lined the Harvard Business Review for years — it contains quality research, ideas, articles, and resources. To visit the website, click the logo. . . 

In the years I’ve been visiting this website, I’ve read many times that the “most read” article published by HBR is Daniel Goleman’s What Makes a Leader. It’s about Emotional Intelligence or EQ. The article, originally published in 2004, reflects on the topic of leadership from material he first wrote in his book Emotional Intelligence, published in 1995.

In this HBR article, Goleman lists five major components of emotional intelligence found in great leaders. They have. . . 

1. Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize moods and emotions, both personally and with others.
2. Self-Regulation: The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and mood.  The propensity to suspend judgment — to think before acting.
3. Motivation: A passion for work that goes beyond money or status. A propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence.
4. Empathy: The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people.  Skill in reacting to people according to their emotional reactions.
5. Social Skill: Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. An ability to find common ground and build rapport.

The phrase “emotional intelligence” — a very popular and well-known concept today — was an obscure topic until Goldman’s work. Since his initial writings, hundreds of books and thousands of articles have been written on the topic.

I read Goleman’s article in the Harvard Business Review and his book Emotional Intelligence years ago. I wish that I had the emotional intelligence to listen more closely and practice his insights more thoroughly — thus avoiding several pitfalls in my leadership history.  

However, there are two thoughts that I read, remembered, and practiced from Goleman: 

First, how the amygdala in the brain hijacks rational thinking, resulting in irrational actions, and second, the following quote from his book. . . 

Moods like anxiety, sadness, and anger don’t just descend on you without your having any control over them, but that you can change the way you feel by what you think. Because disputing depressing thoughts vanquishes the gathering mood of gloom. Capturing negative thinking then becomes a quality lifetime habit.

This quote reminds me of the Apostle Paul saying. . .  

We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5b, NASB).

Amen!