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Leading with Emotional Intelligence E-Zine - Issue No. 29/November 2008

Dear Reader,

This month’s article is going to be special. For the first time in three years of writing this monthly article on Emotional Intelligence in Leadership, the present one was not written by me.

In one of my previous articles I shared with you some thoughts on compassion in leadership. These thoughts were sparked by a rich book I had just read by Richard Boyatzis, one of the experts on Emotional Intelligence (as a reminder, this book is called Resonant Leadership).

In line with Mr. Boyatzis, I was arguing that compassion doesn’t have to be a touchy-feely concept - too remote from business reality to be taken into serious consideration. Compassion can be highly practical and grounded in reality.

At the same time, I was pointing out that, in reality, compassion is rarely included in leadership education (be it in books, leadership training, MBA or EMBA programs, etc.)

This is when I received an email from one of my readers that really caught my attention.

Mr. Yuvarajah is a Malaysian citizen who served in the Malaysian Army for 22 years before taking up what he describes as “the corporate challenge of HR”. He is currently working as a Group HR Manager in a manufacturing concern.

While Mr. Yuvarajah agreed that compassion is seriously overlooked in the corporate world, he also shared his experience: “As an ex-soldier, I was well indoctrinated to realize that compassion is one of the three critical qualities needed of a leader.”

As a civilian who doesn’t have direct experience in any work related to the army, compassion and army are two words that I wouldn’t have instantly associated with each other!

Now, if compassion is part of the leadership education of military leaders, there might be something valid for business leaders also. Military leaders could not exactly be described as soft dreamers, after all!

Please find below Mr. Yuvarajah’s article which he shared with me when he sent me his email in response to my earlier article. It is sharp, short and crispy. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it.

I would like to thank Mr. Yuvarajah for his contribution. Feel free to share with me your thoughts or any articles you wrote. It would be my pleasure to share them with the other readers as appropriate.

Let's keep progressing!

Sebastien Henry
Executive Coach & Trainer

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The Art of Leadership – To Influence Willingness

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by T. Yuvarajah

“Leadership is an intangible. No weapon, no impersonal piece of machinery ever designed can take its place”

Omar N Bradley

Leadership is the art of influencing people to get things done, willingly. This is the definition I learned, serving as an officer in the military. I used to wonder, then “How do I get soldiers to follow me in sacrificing their lives for a worthy cause”. Yes, they would do it for the country, but would they follow me in doing so? After 22 years of soldiering in the military and 4 years down the private sector, I have come to realize that the art of leadership is the same, everywhere.

What is Leadership?

When does one become a leader? Whether you like it or not, the moment they place a person under your charge, you become a leader. It would mean that you are entrusted to lead the way for your subordinate worker in the accomplishment of a mission, task or job. This is where most managers fail to appreciate – the need to lead not to manage. Most managers do not recognize that they are responsible and accountable not just for the end result, but for the people as well. They are more focusing on the results, instead of attending to the performance and ability of the workers. As a result, managers are often seen fire-fighting and shifting, blaming either workers, HR, the system, culture and a host of other problems, except their own leadership style or approach.

The art of leadership competency, as I vividly recall from, is nothing more than the application of 3 fundamental characteristics:

1. Knowledge
Knowledge is all the required information in order to do a job or task. This may include technical, managerial, leadership, psychological and others. This is important to demonstrate, convince and influence your people that you know exactly what you want them to do. One should never be shy of knowledge or rank or status. The virtue of humility has a far reaching impact in the build up of trust. Knowledge is the intellectual dimension that allows a leader to build positive power of influence. People would listen in because of wisdom, not because they have to!

2. Courage
Courage can be measured in terms of physical and moral. Whilst physical courage has its significance in the military, it is moral courage that separates the professional from the amateur. A leader without moral courage is one without a backbone. Moral courage is the foundation for integrity because it gives you the strength of character within never to fear to anyone or anything in leading your people. This is what will inspire people to do, willingly, even the negative kind such as the world had witnessed in Nazi Germany during WW2. In a corporate context, this would mean standing up for righteousness, standing by your people, fighting for any injustice, rewarding them accordingly, and punishing them for their wrong doings, including termination. A leader must, when the situation demands, choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.

3. Compassion
This is the emotional dimension that underscores the caring nature of a leader towards his fellow workers, particularly when the chips are down. It is a reflection of the degree of willingness to listen with your mind and heart. Compassion is not about treating people with “welfare” outlook, but rather treating people with respect, trust and care they deserve as human beings. If they have weaknesses or not performing up to expectations, then it is incumbent upon leadership to extend a helping hand in overcoming it effectively and efficiently. A leader who is willing to bridge the gap, listen to and empathize with his workers will earn their respect and sacrifice – paving the way to the ultimate test of all leadership – Willingness.

That in a nutshell is what leadership is all about, be you from any walk of life. Wherever you are or go, as long as you are a leader you shall be measured by these characteristics. Leadership is not about management, power authority, position or wondrous charm – It’s about inspiring and influencing people to do things, willingly.

Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss the content of this article. I am passionate about this issue and always enjoy sharing views and ideas.

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