Building Social Intelligence - Part # 2

Dear friends,

Right now we need more leaders who have a global perspective. Mansour Javidan, Mary Teagarden, and David Bowen in their April 2010 Harvard Business Review article called “Making It Overseas” write that leaders need three key attributes. First, they need intellectual capital which they translate as the general knowledge and capacity to learn including global business savvy, the ability to handle cognitive complexity and the ability to understand cosmopolitan outlooks. Next, they need psychological capital which includes an openness to differences and the capacity for change including a passion for diversity, a thirst for adventure, and a degree of self-assurance. Finally, they need social capital which is the ability to build trusting relationships with and among people who are different from us, including intercultural empathy, an understanding of interpersonal impact, and diplomacy.

When it comes to the building of global perspective and social intelligence, we forget at times that it is largely relationship based and acquired through experience. Patrick Lencioni noted this in his book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and their employees), Jossey-Bass 2007. As he explained, people in the workforce regularly experience anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement. As he writes, “In order to be the kind of leader who demonstrates genuine interest in employees and who can help people discover the relevance of their work, a person must have a level of personal confidence and emotional vulnerability.” He suggests that it “is immensely more difficult to decide to leave an organization or a team ... when you feel that others on the team know and understand you as an individual.” Furthermore, he explains that “Human beings need to be needed, and they need to be reminded of this pretty much every day.” They also want to know who they are helping and how they are helping them.

This week in order to build leaders with a more global perspective, we need to mentor and coach key people about the importance of intellectual, psychological and social capital. When we do this, it will make a world of differences.

Have a wonderful week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257