Primal Leadership – The Hidden Driver of Great Performance

I came across an article in HBR about what most influences your company’s bot–tom-line performance. The answer will surprise you—and make perfect sense: It’s a leader’s own mood.“…Executives’ emotional intelligence — their self-awareness, empathy, rapport with others — has clear links to their own performance. But new research shows that a leader’s emotional style also drives everyone else’s moods and behav–iours — through a neurological process called mood contagion. It’s akin to “Smile and the whole world smiles with you.”Emotional intelligence travels through an organisation like electricity over telephone wires. Depressed, ruthless bosses create toxic organisations filled with negative underachievers. But if you’re an upbeat, inspirational leader, you cultivate positive employees who embrace and surmount even the toughest challenges.Emotional leadership isn’t just putting on a game face every day. It means understanding your impact on others — then adjusting your style accordingly. A difficult process of self-dis–covery — but essential before you can tackle your leadership responsibilities…”If you are interested you can purchase the article at the HBR site.Author: Rhys