When I awoke on June 20, 1995, the morning after the Board of Trustees appointed me the new CEO of Seine River School Division, two thoughts began to run through my mind. After the euphoria and congratulations of the night before, I looked into the mirror and said, “You accepted to do what?” 
The second thought that I had then and in the days, weeks, months and years to follow was the day after my appointment I suddenly did not get smarter!
While my intelligence quotient (IQ) stayed the same over night, I knew that my job description had changed dramatically and along with that came increased expectations and supervisory responsibility. What did I have to learn and how would I have to grow in order to meet those increased expectations?
My experience was not unfamiliar to many people who have moved into supervisory and leadership positions. My entry level expertise into the field of education that led to the appointment as the CEO was that of a classroom teacher. While some of my teaching skills were transferable, other skills were not yet developed. While some people with excellent technical skills succeed when they move into more complex supervisory leadership positions, others fail, sometimes miserably.
In my former role as the CEO of Seine River School Division I had the privilege of working with other colleagues who were able to develop and hone leadership skills beyond their technical entry level expertise.
The Secretary–Treasurer of the Division was trained as an accountant. When he assumed his new role some of his technical entry level expertise was still required to oversee an annual $30M budget. But he also became the supervisor and leader of more than one hundred people, had to work directly with an elected Board of Trustees and had to deal with multiple issues involving all staff, parents and tax payers.
Like me, he had to develop new skills and abilities in order to perform in his new positions. He had to rely less on his entry level expertise, financial accounting, and his intelligence quotient and more on his “emotional intelligence.”
How is it that some people who get promoted into positions of greater supervisory responsibility and authority flourish, while others do not?
In his book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman asserts that for leaders emotional intelligence can account for as much as 90% of what sets successful leaders apart from less successful leaders. While the most frequently mentioned clusters of emotional intelligence abilities refer to both one’s personal competence (self-awareness, self-regulation and motivation) and one’s social competence (empathy and social skills), over the years I have defined my own three main areas of emotional intelligence that make the biggest difference for effective leaders.
In my opinion successful supervisors and great leaders are people who demonstrate emotional intelligence in three key areas:
- Successful leaders demonstrate that, “Who you are as a person is more important than your technical skills,” especially as you assume greater supervisory and leadership functions.
This is generally referred to as the “inside-out” concept. You cannot hope to succeed in leading others unless you can lead yourself. The emotional intelligences of self-awareness, self-confidence and self-motivation are critical.
Successful leaders are able to manage their ego. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins defines the top leaders in the companies he studied as people who were humble but driven, with an emphasis on humble. When things went right they gave credit to others. When things went wrong, they took personal responsibility; they never said, “The problem is out there.”
A strong sense of humility helps people achieve personal authority to support their positional authority. These people realize it is your example and your modelling that gives you real authority, not your title.
This type of leader takes a positive view of the world. Where others see problems, they see opportunities for learning and personal growth. Because they have self-confidence, they are more inclined to give up the need to defend and so are more competent in dealing with difficult interpersonal relationships.
- Most importantly, leaders with strong emotional intelligences approach their work as a calling not just a job. Great leaders see their work as a way to serve a higher cause, a higher purpose. Since 1950 the average wealth and standard of living of North Americans has increased three fold. We own so much “stuff” we have no place to keep it. One of the fastest growing industries in North America is self-storage. Houses are getting bigger, families are getting smaller, but we don’t seem to have enough room to hold all of our material possessions. During this same period people reported on satisfaction surveys that they were no happier than they were fifty years ago. The Beatles had it right when they sang, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.”
In every industry there are two types of employees. There are those who serve the customer directly and those who support those front line workers. In public education it is the teachers who serve the customers, the children, directly. All others are there to “serve those who serve.”
It was with a great sense of pride and fulfilment for me to have served the higher purpose of either teaching students or of supporting those who did for thirty-five years in public education.
In making the transition from entry level expertise to the broader and more complex work of supervisory leadership, leaders must develop their emotional intelligence. Great leaders know that you cannot pursue happiness or success. Rather, happiness and success ensue when you dedicate yourself to a cause greater than yourself.
Roy Seidler
References
- Collins, J. (2001), Good to Great. Harper Business, New York, NY
- Frankl, V. (1959), Man’s Search for Meaning, Washington Square Press, New York, NY
- Goleman, D., (1998), Working with Emotional Intelligences, Bantam Books, Toronto, Ont.
- Pink, D., (2005), A Whole New Mind, Riverhead Books, New York, NY
- Sanders, B., (1995), Fabled Service, Pfeiffer and Co., San Diego, CA