Leadership and the "Three Levels of Intelligence"

Because I see leadership as a key area of Lean Six Sigma and as part of my MBA in Leadership and Sustainability with Robert Kennedy College and the University of Cumbria, I discussed my own view on successful leadership by examining the effect of the “three levels of intelligence” on leadership.  Please feel free to send me a note if you agree or disagree with parts of the following article.  

Intelligence is traditionally measured by the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Charles Darwin was estimated to have an IQ of 153, Albert Einstein 160 and John F. Kennedy around 120. But IQ is off course only used as an indicative estimate of the ability to reason logically. While IQ is still very much a factor of becoming successful in most areas of business, it is not of sufficient value for corporate success and will not ensure or even guarantee that you will shine above others. 

I can personally relate to the fact that a good IQ, or being well read even educated, can help you build a strong foundation but will not make you the bee of all. 

Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) 

There has been much talk about EQ of late, and it certainly seems to be the flavour of the decade. With the key factor of EQ in my eyes being yourself awareness, made up from confidence, a realist view of one’s self, and not being scared of making fun of you, we can apply the above in various ways to make our daily life easier. Applied in the correct situations these can build great first and lasting impressions, and will make people around you feel at ease. Care has to be taken on when to apply which. I would be very careful about making fun of myself, when in a room filled with people of a strong cultural background that differs significantly from the traditional “Western View”. Although when you ask people in their sixties to eighties, they would argue that the western world has also changed and become a lot more accepting, and as such I would be cautious when surrounded by very Senior leaders with these ideals. 

One thing EQ will help you with is to read these situations correctly, so as to apply yourself in a manner acceptable, with the most successful outcomes. 

This brings me to the next cornerstone of EQ which is directly related to self-awareness and works well in conjunction with it, self-regulation. Knowing your limits will help you create trustworthiness and integrity. You will be comfortable in even the most ambiguous circumstances, and be open to change. I will go into more detail on this later when discussing the ability to adobt and change. With the combination of the two items above, we are strong enough to build the foundation of our motivation and drive, having an optimistic outlook, yet realistic in approach, and a full commitment to the outcome. 

Now this is where we start to tap into leadership. Taking IQ and these first few important parts of EQ, we are building a strong foundation, which displays openness, understanding and energy. However, this is where I believe many leaders fail. They stop there, and feel this is enough for them to succeed, forgetting that there are many more elements to be considered before we can call ourselves a well-balanced successful leader. 

Now although I would still include this following part in EQ, we are relating it to the social quotient (SQ). 

One area where many leaders, and some very ruthless ones fail, is empathy. This will result in not being able to sustain the great first impressions created, and dragging people with you in your “slip stream” of drive. In this world cross-cultural sensitivity is more important than ever. Living in Melbourne this is displayed on a daily basis, with the many cultures who have found a home in Australia, and kept their values. Without empathy, not only will we fail with our “internal customers” but we will also struggle to service our “external customers”. For me empathy is something that comes naturally, but for many people that have not lived in different environments, and/or have not encountered issues beyond their comprehension it is not natural, and this can often be seen as rude and provocative, although these individuals would not understand it, or even comprehend that this is what they are in fact doing. 

If you have ever come across a leader, that is very good at strategy, and running a tight ship, but will not listen to the voices of the customer (both internal and external), you will generally see the frustration that this creates around this person. And although they may have a tick against all of the above, if they fail with empathy, they are most likely doomed as a well-balanced manager, but could still have significant success in other areas. 

This brings me to the last point, the ability to adopt to change – or the change quotient (CQ). 

I briefly discussed the influence of self-regulation earlier which forms the foundation for the ability to change yourself, therefore enabling change around you. If you cannot change yourself, you would find it very difficult to change others around you, or even recognising that change is actually happening all around you. 

Not everyone is comfortable with change, let’s face it, we all get caught up in our every-day lives and routines, and it often takes a lot of strength to do something different. There was a song or ballad around in the 90’s, and one line was, do one thing different every day that scares you. This can be as small a thing as changing the way you get dressed, taking a different way to work, trying different food, wearing clothes that were traditionally seen as not matching. If you can get over this little hurdle on a regular basis, your eyes will widen. I have been practicing this for years now, and although I wouldn’t do it daily, I would relate it to my business world, and try unconventional things. 

One area that I have not discussed, and that sport has taught me is that you need to listen to your mind and body. The more you know about your well-being the more you can feel and take care of it, the more likely you are to translate this to the world and people around you. To many this may seem unrelated to business, but your physical state can affect your work, as it does involve how you feel and look which is directly related to confidence in most cases. Your drive and energy can be directly related to listening to your body, as if your energy levels drop, your mind will slow, and you will go through what most people refer to as “burn out”. Therefore I do believe that this is an important factor to be considered as well. 

In Conclusion 

We are only discussing a very small but integral part of successful leadership here, and I believe there is a lot more to it than just these items. These items do however form the foundation of a successful leader. Depending where this person is in their career, personal life, where in the world geographically, the type of organisation, etc. also play a heavy part in combining the above. You will find that some areas are more relevant in certain cultures than others, and are practiced and applied in different ways. 

A strong and successful leader will know how and when to apply his or her different levels of intelligence for the best outcome. I don’t believe there is one uniform way, or one glove fits all situations, as we are all different. This is the beauty about our world, as when we combine these differences, and listen to the other voices and are able to adopt, we become stronger by the day, resulting in better leadership at all levels. 

Best regards
Roland