Myth of the Born Leader

In the Feb 2007 issue of Chief Learning Officer (CLO) magazine, these is a side-bar article entitled 'The Myth of the Born Leader' inserted into the middle of a feature article entitled 'Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture'.

I love CLO magazine, and true to form I found this side-bar piece right on with its message. Basically it says all the whooey about leaders being born not made is just that - whooey. One of the comments is "...why do so many star performers wind up puzzled, disappointed and derailed...?"

The answer, so they say, is actually pretty simple. It has more to do with one's personality than the DNA you were born with. In other words, it has to do with the way you interact with other people. Good leaders make people feel comfortable when they are around. It's called EQ, or Emotional Intelligence. The new buzz-theory for the this millenium. Daniel Goleman is the grand-daddy of this thinking sect and wrote the 1st edition of the EQ bible back in 1995. Since then lots of real smart people have been trying to figure out what he means and how to make money using it.

Wrong approach. EQ is one of those things that every successful person, leader or not, eventually masters whether they understand it or not. The books are only for those of us that don't get it, and for us, I STRONGLY recommend a thorough reading, and another, and another until you get it.

If you think you are a leader, then you better figure out if you have EQ or not. At least you can begin to prepare for the fall...