CIO Leadership Series - Emotional Intelligence for the CIO

Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and behavioral science journalist, popularized EQ and developed related concepts in his influential book Emotional Intelligence 2.0. He describes emotional intelligence as "managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively, enabling people to work together smoothly toward their common goals."

Most of us that have been in upper management for at least a few years have gone through some type of corporate leadership training program or have found the extremely high value in using a performance or life coach. I’ve gone through Tesco’s leadership training program, completed self-awareness assessments and used different performance coaches throughout my career. Emotional intelligence was a big part of the corporate training and by my coaches.

I am fortunate enough to spend time each week engaging with extremely successful individuals in the IT leadership role. Whether they are in transition or currently leading their own organization, I have been able to pick up on the elements that make them successful in both situations. One of those key elements is emotional intelligence. Although all leaders need this skillset, the IT leader needs it the most. We’re not known for being the most gregarious individuals as our rise and role in the function creates very analytical individuals who are deep into thought on how to problem solve, create a vision, change, and transform. Many individuals in this role have risen from the application development function where you’re immersed deeply in technical detail on a regular basis. However, leadership is not about being the strongest technical person but having enough technical background and being strong at managing people and relationships.

The only way to become emotionally intelligent is through self awareness, adjustment, and experience. Many IT leaders have never completed self-assessments on emotional intelligence or worked with a coach on EI. Hopefully it’s an adjustment that they can make before it crashes their career or prevents others from moving into a leadership role.

There are two parts of emotional intelligence that are important for an IT leader. The first is self-awareness. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize, understand, and accept how you are personally wired to react or respond to stimuli that you encounter. These stimuli can be internal, but more often than not, they are external situations that you find yourself faced with in the normal course of life. It is only through self-awareness that you will be able to mitigate or improve the undesirable or unproductive effects that these stimuli have on you. It is keeping those emotions in check in order to rationally respond in a positive manner.

Unfortunately, self-awareness is one of those skills for which a large number of leaders usually don’t have but are capable of improving. I have seen excellent examples of EI leadership and it’s easy to see how why they keep them calm in stressful situations and advance faster in their careers.

In addition to self-awareness an IT leader must recognize how they react situations affects the behaviors of those they work with. This is often referred to as social awareness. Understanding how your leadership and behavioral style empowers and supports your team and relationships with others is the key to successfully moving your organization ahead.

There’s no doubt that a lack of EI for IT leaders can stop you from moving through periods of job transition quickly and being successful once you are leading an organization again.

As an IT leader you must: • Become aware of what drives your leadership style. • Have an deep understanding for Emotional Intelligence. • Develop emotional agility, flexibility and adaptability. • Find ways to control and channel moods and emotional impulses. • React to tough situations with resilience. • Have a personal strategy for becoming a more influential leader of others. • Be more approachable and “likeable”. • Understand that technology skills aren’t near as important as working well with others and having a strong cultural fit. • Manage relationships and find common ground with others. • Value others feelings and make smart empathetic people decisions.

If you haven’t completed an EI assessment then you need to in order to become a more effective executive. It’s imperative to become self-aware and understand your EQ and how you can improve your value to the business.

Here are a couple of great resources I’ve used to help improve my emotional IQ.

Daniel Goleman book Emotional Intelligence http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Than/dp/055338371X

Take the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal http://www.talentsmart.com/test

Bruce McCullough High Performance * Leadership * Results https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucemccullough