The Top Three Reasons Leaders Need to be Socially Aware (part one)
Look around at who is a great leader. Chances are they combine technical knowledge, business savvy and emotional intelligence.
You can’t escape the fact that as leaders, having social awareness which is part of being socially competent, a fundamental of emotional intelligence, is a must for extraordinary long-term business results and success. Here are the top three reasons leaders need to be socially aware:
1) It’s a small world, getting smaller by the minute.
2) You can’t be a success in leadership on your own.
3) People do business with people they know and like.
Let’s look at reason number one: it’s a small world getting smaller. It is so clear and yet we don’t think about it that much. I’m talking about how connected we are. Every week, sometimes daily, I find that degrees of separation are decreasing. The fellow I met at a networking breakfast knows a colleague down the hall; a friend plays softball with my real estate agent; my neighbor does business with my former boss. Friends and associates in London, Berlin, Hong Kong and Honolulu meet via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and soon start doing business together and referring one another.
As the world gets smaller, leaders need to continue to create connections and community. Without a community or several, you are an island. And since leadership is about getting amazing results through and with other people, you can’t go it alone, reason number two leaders need to be socially aware. Imagine a series of interlocking circles. The circles can represent individuals or communities. The spaces where they overlap are where relationships that nurture business and leadership success lie.
This in turn relates to reason number three why leaders need to be socially aware: we like to do business with people we know and like. It’s the same the world over (and remember, that world is getting smaller).
Ok, so you know the WHY you as a leader need to be socially aware. The How to become socially aware is next. Stay tuned.
Tags: business results, emotional intelligence, leaders, success in leadership
June 12th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
It has been noticed and very interesting that numerous persons with superior I.Q fail whereas those with less intellectual talent are radically successful. Even in certain well known business household where employees are instructed to be smart, the most valued and productive managers are those who have a high emotional intelligence level and not necessarily those with highest I.Q. such examples are plentiful in business, politics, academia etc.