S
ome years ago my wife and I were driving out of Manhattan on a wet winter afternoon. We were crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic up the West Side Highway, when I was amazed to see a man in a wheelchair between the lanes of traffic, begging. I was so shocked and touched by his plight I automatically reached into my pocket as my car went by and dropped a $5 bill into his cup. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a gust of wind catch the bill and drop it on the roadway. I watched a drama unfold in my rearview mirror: the man couldn't bend down to get the money; he had no legs. To my amazement, a passenger in the car behind me got out of the back door, walked along with the car so as not to hold up traffic, picked up the bill, put it in the cup, got back in the car, and rode away.
That person was a true leader: he recognized a human problem and stepped in to create a solution. He showed both the qualities of leadership and the qualities of the heart, which I believe are largely the same. The competencies that distinguish someone as a human being also distinguish him or her as a leader. People in leadership roles seldom lack credentials.Yet we all know-and probably have worked for-individuals with obvious intelligence, ambition, and skill who were incompetent in the human arena.
Clearly there's a difference between rational and emotional intelligence. Both are essential to success, but only the former is in abundant evidence in organizational leadership. There is little variation in I Q among most people in leadership positions; in technical or professional arenas, people need an I Q of 115 or 120 to get into their field. However, there is huge variation in their emotional capability, which, unlike innate intelligence, can be consciously developed. Thus, in a realm in which, to paraphrase Garrison Keillor, all leaders are above average, being at the top of one's emotional game confers great benefits.