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error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.Emotional intelligence: implications for all United
States Air Force leaders. (Features).
Air forces
(Training)
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence
(Analysis)
Military education
(Standards)
Military education
Military personnel
(Training)
Latour, Sharon M.Hosmer, Bradley C.
12/22/2002
Publication:
Name:&Air&&&Space&Power&Journal Publisher:&U.S.&Air&Force Audience:&Trade Format:&Magazine/Journal Subject:&Military&and&naval&&Science&and&technology Copyright:&COPYRIGHT&2002&U.S.&Air&Force ISSN:&
Date:&Winter, 2002 Source Volume:&16 Source Issue:&4
Event&Code:&280 Pers 350 Product standards, safety, & recalls
Product&Code:&9104880 Military Academies & S 9104111 Active Military P 9123300 Dept of the Air Force NAICS&Code:&92811 National Security SIC&Code:&8740 Management and Public Relations
Organization:
Government&Agency:&United States. Air Force
Geographic:
Geographic&Scope:&United States Geographic&Code:&1USA United States
Accession Number:
Full Text:
Editorial Abstract: Emotional intelligence and its five domains of
empathy, handling relationships, self-awareness, managing emotions, and
motivating oneself constitute a set of learned, interpersonal abilities
that allow leaders to become highly effective. The authors outline the
characteristics of emotional intelligence and offer practical ways for
readers to integrate its techniques into their leadership style.**********THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES the emerging field of emotional intelligence
(EI). It discusses what it is, why it matters in general terms, how
individuals can improve their EI, and what impact it has on the
effectiveness of US Air Force leaders. Specifically, EI is powerful
because it overrides logic in the brain due to the way people are wired.
Unlike natural intelligence, usually labeled IQ EI can be developed.
Studies have shown that highly productive team leaders have high EI.
That is why Air Force leaders at all levels should know about this
emerging field. As will become apparent, Sun Tzu's concise
observations about the awareness of both self and others anticipated the
results that emerged from twentieth-century EI studies. He asserted that
a person with self-knowledge as well as knowledge of the opponent will
win. EI studies offer a more sophisticated, more practical approach to
developing this essential awareness of self and others. More
specifically, almost all highly effective leaders have EI--lesser leade
rs do not.What Is Emotional Intelligence?Scientists began tracing the outlines of EI in the 1920s. By 1990
J. D. Mayer and P. Salovey had identified five EI domains under two
overarching relational areas:Interpersonal* Empathy involves the degree that individuals are sensitive to
others' feelings and concerns. Empathetic leaders are sensitive to
the differences in how people feel about things. Such leaders are able
to step outside themselves to evaluate situations from another
perspective.* Handling Relationships describes how effectively leaders detect
and manage the organization's emotional environment. This requires
developing a wide-ranging competence for sensing subtle shifts in the
social atmosphere.Intrapersonal* Self-Awareness involves purposeful monitoring of one's
emotional reactions to identify feelings as they emerge.
* Managing Emotions builds on the understanding of emotional
origins derived from self-awareness to manage feelings appropriately as
they arise.* Motivating Oneself requires individuals to channel emotions
effectively. Examples could include stifling impulses and delaying
gratifications. (1)When one considers EI in light of these domains, it becomes obvious
that the field represents a set of comprehensive, interpersonal
abilities rather than har as such, it can be
learned. EI could well be called "affective effectiveness."
The affective domain consists of mind, will, and emotions ("heart
knowledge"); it contrasts with linguistic, logical, mathematical,
and spatial intelligences--the cognitive domain of "head"
knowledge. When military leaders unfamiliar with EI first hear about it,
they are generally unreceptive. But there is more to judging this
"book" than its "touchy-feely-sounding" cover.Currently, Dr. Daniel Goleman is the leading author and researcher
in EI studies. He begins his first book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It
Can Matter More Than I.Q., with a discussion of the brain-mapping work
of neuro-scientist Joseph LeDoux of the New York University Center for
Neural Sciences:His findings on the circuitry of the emotional brain overthrow a
long-standing notion about the limbic system, putting the amygdala at
the center of the action. ... Sensory signals from the eye or ear travel
first to the thalamus, and then across a single synapse--to the
a second signal from the thalamus is routed to the
neocortex--the thinking brain. This branching allows the amygdala to
begin to respond before the neocortex, which mulls information through
several levels of brain circuits before it fully perceives and finally
initiates its more finely tailored response. ... This circuit does much
to explain the power of emotion to overwhelm rationality (emphasis in
original). (2)This mapping discovery carries powerful implications. According to
Goleman and others, the human reactions stored in the amygdala can be
altered. With repeated practice, a normally "short tempered"
individual can learn to manage and even relearn those initial reactions
to frustration or discomfort. More importantly, over time, the stored
information for individuals engaged in antisocial, self-defeating
behavior can be changed. Until now, our cultural bias has called for
focusing training and measurement efforts only on cognitive abilities,
but interesting new data demonstrate that EI can be developed.Implications for Leader DevelopmentAs leaders intuitively appreciate, the better they know/understand
and manage themselves and the better they know/understand and manage
others, the more likely they are to get the results they want. And that
is EI's value to military leaders. In an interview conducted in
1996, Dr. Howard Gardner cited linguistic and personal intelligence as
the sine qua non of leadership: "It doesn't mean that all
leaders have to start with having well developed variants of both of
them, but if they're not a particularly good speaker [sic] or they
don't have a particularly good understanding of other people,
that's got to be a top priority for them." (3)A 1997 American Management Association study discovered a
significant mismatch between employer expectations and the skills of
newly graduated professionals, who lacked the ability to speak and
relate to others effectively and to work as team players. Additionally,
the University of Virginia's Business School interviewed corporate
recruiters, who told them the top skills they sought were interpersonal:
the ability to adapt to the feelings and concerns of others, to motivate
others, and to deal effectively with conflict and adversity. (4)Data gathered by Dr. Coleman show that EI is a reliable predictor
of higher-division effectiveness:Emotional intelligence played an increasingly important role at the
highest levels of the company, where differences in technical skills are
of negligible importance. In other words, the higher the rank of a
person considered to be a star performer, the more emotional
intelligence capabilities showed up as the reason for his or her
effectiveness. When I compared star performers with average ones in
senior leadership positions, nearly 90% of the difference in their
profiles was attributable to emotional intelligence factors rather than
cognitive abilities. Other researchers have confirmed that emotional
intelligence not only distinguishes outstanding leaders but can also be
linked to strong performance. (5)Arguably, these same desired skills are at the heart of leadership
generally and Air Force leadership specifically. These are not
management skills--they are fundamental to the capacity to lead airmen.For Coleman and his colleagues, versatility is the key to EI. As
individuals develop strong EI competencies, they gain flexible ranges of
leader-style options and, ultimately, leader effectiveness. Because EI
involves problem solving and managing the uncertain, Goleman's
approach is anything but wine and roses. Instead, he focuses on
leadership's bottom line: results. His work with the Hay/McBer
consulting firm, which collected observations from a sample of 3,871
executives selected from a database of over 20,000 such people
worldwide, led to some groundbreaking leadership applications for EI.
Executives who lacked EI were rarely rated as outstanding in their
annual performance reviews, and their divisions underperformed by an
average of almost 20 percent. (6) Coleman's study identified six
distinct and effective leader styles, all derived from different EI
competencies. Like the arbitrary lie of a golf ball, the situations or
environments in which executives find themselves appear to dictate the
mix of EI c ompetencies and, eventually, the appropriate leadership
style that a leader would invoke:* Visionary: Occurs when change requires a new vision or clear
direction- EI competencies: self-confidence, empathy, catalyst for change* Coaching: Helps employees improve performance by building
long-term capabilities- EI competencies: developing others, empathy, self-awareness* Affiliative: Helps heal team rifts, motivates during stressful
times- EI competencies: empathy, building relationships, communication* Democratic: Builds consensus, solicits employee inputs- EI competencies: collaboration, team leadership, communication* Pacesetting: Elicits high-quality results from motivated team- EI competencies: conscientiousness, achievement, initiative* Commanding: Provides a kick-start turnaround in a crisis, deals
with problem employees- EI competencies: achievement, initiative, self-control. (7)Unlike traditional approaches to leader development, wherein people
label their style based upon how they perceive their own strengths and
preferences, Goleman's approach expands the horizon:The most effective leaders switch flexibly among the leadership
styles as needed. Although that may sound daunting, we witnessed it more
often than you might guess, at both large corporations and tiny
start-ups, by seasoned veterans who could explain exactly how and why
they lead and by entrepreneurs who claim to lead by gut alone. ... Such
leaders don't mechanically match their style to fit a checklist of
situations--they are far more fluid. They are exquisitely sensitive to
the impact they are having on others and seamlessly adjust their style
to get the best results. (8)One of Goleman's greatest contributions to leadership studies
is the aforementioned notion of sets of competencies grouped into
specific styles. He indicates the competency mix needed in specific
situations and even ventures to predict how a particular style mix will
affect group cohesiveness. Because he focuses on leadership's
bottom line, he doesn't back away from either the style or the
appearance of stress or conflict in the leadership scenario. On the
contrary, he remains acutely aware that some approaches, although
necessary for the problems at hand, will have human consequences (e.g.,
a backlash) and should be monitored for longer-term challenges. Using
Goleman's bottom-line focus may lead to an appropriate EI
behavioral-leadership mix but offers no guarantee that all individuals
in the organization will emerge from the scenario feeling happy or
satisfied. If they wish to realize the maximum benefits from EI, leaders
who incorporate EI into their leadership portfolio must combine the
short-term focus required for completing the immediate task with a
long-term emphasis on the organization's emotional health. In other
words, commanders and supervisors develop EI awareness by maximizing
their inherent capabilities and developing the flexibility to trade in
and out of the style needed in a given leadership situation.Development Efforts: Emotional Intelligence Can Be LearnedIn his article "What Makes a Leader?" Dr. Goleman answers
the question "Can EI be learned?" with a resounding
"yes" and expands upon the basic mechanisms required to
enhance EI:Emotional Intelligence is born largely in the neurotransmitters of
the brain's limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and
drives. Research indicates the limbic system learns best through
motivation, extended practice, and feedback. ... The neocortex [which
governs analytical and technical ability] grasps concepts and logic. It
is the part of the brain that figures out how to use a computer or make
sales calls by reading a book. Not surprisingly--but mistakenly--it is
also the part of the brain targeted by most training programs aimed at
enhancing emotional intelligence. When such programs take, in effect, a
neocortal approach ... they can even have a negative impact on
people's job performance. ... To enhance emotional intelligence,
organizations must refocus their training to include the limbic system.
They must help people break old behavioral habits and establish new
ones. That not only takes much more time than conventional training
programs, it also requires an individualized approach. (9)Acknowledging Goleman's emphasis on the individualized
approach to leadership development, many top-level company leaders hire
specialists to help them and their people with leadership-effectiveness
issues. By using personal coaches and mentors, they seek to accelerate
the natural process of maturation. After all, complex military and
business institutions can no longer afford to wait 20-30 years for their
personnel to develop the full complement of cognitive and affective
traits required to become effective leaders. Air Force Instruction (AFI)
36-3401, Air Force Mentoring incorporates EI principles by providing
guidance for the full spectrum of Air Force leadership skills. It
underscores the pivotal role of the supervisor in developing his or her
subordinates in both technical and professional/personal arenas by
highlighting the need to establish personal relationships with them. The
AFI urges Air Force leaders to use mentoring as one of the key
relational tools for building EI skills and awareness in both themselves
and their subordinates. (10)Supervisors must mentor their people--especially subordinates who
are supervisors--o they must also persuade their
own bosses to provide them guidance and feedback. Mentoring involves a
longer and generally more comprehensive relationship between an
experienced person and one who is less experienced. This ongoing
relationship allows for the kind of "monitored behavior
modification" that is necessary to improve EI, according to
Coleman's research. (11)Coaching tends to be a periodic or more short-term,
symptom-specific encounter between two professionals. In the Air Force,
it seems appropriate to expect the immediate supervisor to begin
mentoring by coaching functionally organized teams. As relations with
team members evolve, leaders may incorporate additional outside
assistance as they deem appropriate for the growth desired. Ultimately,
leaders cultivate personal relationships as they progress from coaching
toward true mentoring roles. To supplement the less formal aspects of
mentoring relationships, leaders may use formal feedback-and-evaluation
sessions to develop their relationships with subordinates. Such
activities may prove especially useful for leaders charged with
supervising large organizations. (12)Goleman also points out that the limbic system takes much longer to
be reprogrammed (i.e., learn new behaviors) than does the neo-cortex.
Only after months of repetition and practice can one create "new
neural pathways [that] become the ... default option" for the
emotional brain. He tells the success story of Jack, a high-paced
striver who pounced on folks who didn't meet his expectations:Jack realized he had to improve if he wanted to advance in the
company. Making such a connection is essential (must value the change).
Once Jack zeroed in on areas for improvement and committed himself to
making the effort, he and his coach worked up a plan to turn his
day-to-day job into a learning laboratory. For instance, Jack discovered
he was empathetic when things were calm, but in a crisis, he tuned out
others. This tendency hampered his ability to listen to what people were
telling him in the very moments he most needed to do so. Jack's
plan required him to focus on his behavior during tough situations. As
soon as he felt himself tensing up, his job was to immediately step
hack, let the other person speak, and then ask clarifying questions....
Jack learned to defuse his flare-ups by entering into a dialogue instead
of launching a harangue. (13)From Jack's example, we see how one must make a commitment to
change behavior. One must also appreciate the difference between
universally counterproductive behavior and situation-specific
ineffectiveness. For example, the competence of "initiative"
isn't always effective behavior. A person who joins a highly
specialized, tightly knit group and loudly describes during his or her
first week all the changes that need to occur--the clean-sweep approach
to leadership--probably won't have much influence. However,
initiative may often be the exact competency called for during a crisis
situation in which roles are generally understood and expectations are
relatively clear. People with high EI know the difference and behave
accordingly.People who are genetically wired with higher EI need little
nurturing to augment what nature gave them. Others may require time,
effort, and repeated practice to reach the level of EI whereby their
competencies and versatility give them the flexibility to handle
ever-changing situations. Developing EI appears to be within
anyone's reach. Cultivating stronger EI can improve one's
grasp of leadership styles--especially if one develops the flexibility
to use the right style in each situation.Leadership and Emotional Intelligence at WorkThe ideal leadership picture is more in line with the
"invisible" leader of Eastern philosophy. Unit members carry
out their mission with equal ability and enthusiasm, regardless of
whether or not the boss is present. The leader's goal is to develop
subordinates in such a way that they can perform well--perhaps ever
better--without him or her. This orientation contrasts our Western ideal
of knighthood wherein one leader dominates in a given unit. Effective
leaders don't use dramatic gestures to get their bosses to notice
them-they focus on pushing responsibilities down to subordinates and
deliberately developing them to become their replacements. In fact, the
overriding function of a leader is to guide and help develop their
subordinates' leadership as a guarantee of healthy units and
individuals. This highly effective leader is a master of the key traits
noted by EI experts, able to move smoothly from one style to another as
situations dictate.New on the JobGen Jerome "Jerry" O'Malley was famous for the
approach he took as new commander of a unit. This powerful leader
preferred to assume the role of a sponge initially. He listened and
learned about the people and their strengths and developmental needs,
using a patient, pleasant approach before beginning his molding and
shaping process. Listening is essential in a new job. Subordinates
evaluate their leaders to find out if they are trustworthy, competent,
and attentive to their needs. Job requirements will refine and shape a
leader's "commander personality," based upon the people,
challenges, opportunities, and other situations. Acting too quickly
after assuming command may preclude a leader from responding as flexibly
as he or she might like later on. Leaders limit their range of options
to act as they refine their judgments. General O'Malley serves as a
role model for commanders who wish to approach a new situation and its
people intelligently.Impact of Emotional IntelligenceIn the early 1980s, a frontline F-4E squadron, as heavily tasked a
unit as one could find, had prepared to operate in three different
theatres and could do anything asked of it. One commander of this
squadron, a master aviator, was absolutely tops technically but had only
average El. A rather directive person who nevertheless could listen, he
was the only individual doing the thinking and creating plans. Things
were fine as long as the plan was working, but he had little flexibility
and only average subordinate support when it wasn't. He went on to
complete his career honorably as a full colonel in a joint staff
position. His successor, a staff officer out of the Pentagon, had been
out of the flying business for several years and was only an
above-average pilot--but he had extraordinary El. By using all the tools
and techniques in his portfolio, this man took a solid-gold squadron and
moreover, the effects spilled over to the rest of
the wing. He's currently a four-star general in the Air Force.An earlier situation had direct combat impact during the Vietnam
War. Assigned as air liaison officers to the 1st Cavalry Division of II
Corps, forward air controllers (FAG) out of a certain airfield served
three battalions. One could easily see the dynamics of the level of
trust between the different FAGs and the company or brigade commanders
with whom they worked. During fast-moving, confusing ground engagements,
the FACs saw much more from the air, especially in the absence of a
command helicopter. The FAGs who demonstrated high EI competencies
routinely enjoyed greater latitude in helping the ground commanders
direct maneuvers. But the FAGs who lacked developed EI--those who had
not gained the complete trust and confidence of the men they
served--functioned in a more limited fashion. A dramatic difference
existed in the trust that the Army commanders had in these two groups of
FACs--a situation that stands as a clear example of direct-combat
impact.Developing EI Competencies in Air Force Officers: A Natural
EvolutionGiven the growing importance of air and space power in emerging
strategic and operational environments, how might we describe the
integration of EI development into practical leadership experience?
Recognizing that our civilian and enlisted populations also need to
develop these qualities, we illustrate this process of integration in
the following scenario, which follows a representative officer's
career from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel.As newly active participants in the officer culture of the Air
Force, lieutenants encounter many unfamiliar dynamics. Senior leaders,
peers, and subordinate mentors, as well as personal observations and
everyday trial-and-error opportunities, provide the necessary teaching
tools that allow young officers to progress through entry-level
leadership roles. Continuing formal education and professional military
education are vital as well. Studying great leaders (and not-so-great
ones) adds immeasurably to their understanding of themselves and others.
Although they are junior officers, lieutenants should remember that they
are key members of the Air Force's leadership team--great
responsibility accompanies their rank and position within the
institution. This is the time for them to begin a career-long effort to
learn about highly effective leaders, to discover how they developed,
and to ask how they need to prepare themselves. Even before they find
themselves in tough spots, lieutenants have opportunities to seek honest
feedback and ongoing mentoring. They can refine their strengths and
discover weaknesses. In fact, with time and attention, these officers
can transform their weaknesses into strengths.Because lieutenants occupy the first link in the chain of command,
they often bear the brunt of challenges that accompany the mentoring of
enlisted members. According to a lieutenant who served in Operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm, "As soon as we stepped off the
plane at our final location, the major challenge for myself and the four
other officers in our 100-man Prime BEEF team was to keep morale up.
Initially, we had limited tools and equipment, poor food, grossly
overcrowded living conditions, and a sense that we were just a burden on
the base." (14) Few conventional or cognitive leadership-training
courses could hope to equip leaders to overcome these challenges. This
officer's perception that morale became the most significant
problem he encountered underscores the need to infuse
leadership-development programs with EI education. The stresses of
wartime operations tempo only heightened this lieutenant's need for
EI skills to keep his force operating at peak efficiency: "I found
myself constantly explaining the 'big picture' when I
didn't know what it was. Nor did I know whether our situation would
improve. I never realized how much the enlisted force depended on us for
information and leadership. We spent a significant amount of time
counseling and advising about personal problems.... I had not expected
this task, and frequently I found it difficult due to the complexity of
the problem or just plain lack of experience in counseling on my
part." (15)This example clearly illustrates that open-ended operational
deployments require Air Force leaders to possess the full spectrum of
leadership styles. Although lieutenants may not cast the overarching
organizational vision--the "big picture"--they often will
serve as the commander's agents who transmit and explain that
vision to the troops. Leaders also must remain alert to signs of stress
within the organization. The coaching style allows leaders to use the EI
domains of empathy and managing emotions to counsel and mentor
subordinates through the stress of long periods away from home. Indeed,
this skill might be the most critical leadership component in the young
company-grade officer's leadership portfolio.As officers move into positions of greater leadership
responsibility, they should expand their portfolio by using more EI
traits and fundamental leadership styles. By the time young officers
have become captains, they should have achieved a technical confidence
that allows them to shift gradually from focusing on themselves to
focusing on others. Thus, they should consciously employ competencies
associated with teamwork, which requires an ongoing awareness not only
of their own growth, but also the strengths and developmental needs of
their fellow workers. As officers mature in terms of self-confidence and
wisdom, they should begin to focus on the traits associated with
understanding others' professional and personal strengths and
abilities. Developing these EI leadership competencies, especially when
captains have more work to do than extra hands to do it, becomes a
conscious effort--a personal development priority. Although they still
seek feedback and mentoring, maturing captains find themselves mentoring
others as well.This focus on developing other people forces captains to manage
time and tasks carefully. The experiences of another Desert Storm
veteran who supervised personnel-support efforts at a deployed location
illustrate how the shift in focus translates into mission-oriented
actions:Within my team, I had two areas of concern. First, I had too large
a team for the population we were supporting. All the airmen were from
one base and all the NCOs [noncommissioned officers] were from my
(different) base. Initially, the airmen had difficulty taking direction
from NCOs they did not know. I split the team into two shifts, a day
shift and a night shift, which kept everyone busy. The day shift handled
customer inquiries while the night shift handled paperwork and computer
updates. Second, I established a "forum" where both shifts
aired their differences and came up with their own solutions. I also
called upon my three master sergeants to lead and discipline. (16)By recognizing the potential conflicts that stemmed from merging
personnel from different units, this captain forged an effective team
and simultaneously created an atmosphere that allowed her to mentor the
senior NCOs under her command.By the time Air Force officers become majors and lieutenant
colonels, most have been responsible for significant assets or projects.
In our culture, significant doesn't necessarily mean sheer numbers
of people, planes, or satellites. The Air Force generally requires few
assets to deliver tactical precision and strategic effects. Midlevel
officers are responsible for people and modem assets that are incredibly
more efficient in defending the nation than in times past. For that
reason, developing the traits and abilities described by Dr. Goleman in
his leader styles becomes vital. Every platform as well as every
controller's action has the potential to produce incredible
effects. This new environment calls for leaders who continually develop
their own and others' EI.The uncertainty of the requisite tactics to combat tomorrow's
foes creates a need for astute commanders with equally engaged
subordinates who act on mission-type orders. This fine-tuning is
necessarily left to the people who actually place the bombs on target.
The evolving environment requires more agility and flexibility than ever
previously imagined. Centralized control with decentralized execution by
small groups of talented individuals will become more common. In
effectively led teams, the leader--one with high EI traits--capitalizes
on each member's greatest strengths to create synergies for
tackling and solving real-time problems.A supply-squadron commander in a wing of B-52s and A-10s recounted
his opportunity to exercise EI when, soon after taking command, he faced
dwindling funds allocation at year's end. With each of his four
flights insisting that its needs were the squadron's top priority,
he called the chief enlisted managers (CEM) (senior or chief master
sergeants) together for the fuels, combat-support, procedures, and
administration-support flights and told them to prioritize their
requirements and justify them to each other. Later, when asked why he
had approached it that way, he said, "The annual fight over
end-of-year funds is a given, but I didn't know the squadron's
actual history. The Senior NCOs did. It was up to them to work it out
fairly, in a way everyone could live with." (17) The squadron
commander called a follow-up meeting to have the four CEMs explain their
rationales to him. The commander realized that he had an opportunity to
address some long-standing communication challenges among his key
enlisted leadersh ip and thus strengthen the squadron's team
orientation. Recognizing what his squadron lacked and having the senior
NCOs participate in his final decision helped the commander pave the way
for continued open lines of cooperative interaction among the
squadron's flights.ConclusionThe emerging field of study known as emotional intelligence has
high importance in leadership-sensitive organizations. A cluster of
skills and competencies that has great effect on leader effectiveness,
El can be learned, developed, and improved. While researchers continue
to refine the field, the two key relational domains--interpersonal and
intrapersonal--remain unchanged. The assumption behind El studies,
confirmed by research, maintains that leaders must understand and manage
their own emotional makeup before attempting to understand and manage
other people.According to Leadership Advantage, an executive and
organizational-development consulting firm, empathy plays a critical
role in improving El. The firm suggests several steps leaders can take
to develop empathy:* Keep track of missed opportunities to display empathy.* Be aware that subordinates may not explicitly express underlying
concerns.* Never presume to know what others are feeling.* Ask open-ended questions rather than ones that require only a
simple "yes" or "no" answer.* Practice listening without interrupting.* Avoid being defensive.* Allow creative time for others to express ideas without judging
them.* Work on achieving an effective balance of focus, goal
orientation, and empathetic listening. (18)This list represents some of the practical things Air Force leaders
can do for themselves and mentor others to do as they seek to enhance
their El portfolio.The emotionally intelligent leader evolves into someone with the
ability to move seamlessly from one approach or style to another,
allowing the requirements of the situation and the resources at hand to
dictate what he or she needs to do. A portfolio of leadership styles can
serve as a vital tool for all supervisors, especially supervisors of
other supervisors. Sun Tzu's millennia-old advice holds for
everyone-commanders most of all.Notes(1.) J. D. Mayer and P. Salovey, "Emotional
Intelligence," Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, no. 9
(1990): 185-211.(2.) Daniel Coleman. Emotional Intellegence: Why It Can Matter More
Than IQ (New York: Bantam Books, 1995), 15, 17. The amygdala is part of
the limbic system, a group of brain structures that play a role in
emotion, memory, and motivation. For example, electrical stimu-lation of
the amygdala in laboratory animals can provoke fear, anger, and
aggression. The hypothalamus regulates hunger, thirst, sleep, body
temperature, sexual drive, and other functions.(3.) Quoted in Christopher Koch, "The Bright Stuff," CIO
Magazine, 15 March 1996, on-line, Internet, 5 September 2002, available
from http://inst.santafe.cc.fl.us/~mwehr/Humanrel/15EmotInt Art,htm.(4.) "On Emotional Intelligence," on-line, Internet, 5
September 2002, available from http://inst.santafe.cc.fl.us/~mwehr/Human
rel/21EIQoverview.html.(5.) Daniel Coleman, "What Makes a Leader?" Harvard
Business Review, March-April 2000, 94.(6.) Daniel Coleman, "Leadership That Gets Results,"
Harvard Business Review, March-April .(7.) Daniel Coleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, Primal
Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence (Boston:
Harvard Business School Press, 2002), 39.(8.) Coleman, "Leadership That Gets Results," 87.(9.) Coleman, "What Makes a Leader?" 97.(10.) AFI 36-3401, Air Force Mentoring, 1 June 2000.(11.) Coleman, "What Makes a Leader?" 97.(12.) The officer evaluation report has a block called "Impact
on Mission Accomplishment." According to AFI 36-2406, "You may
also address the ratee's ability to evaluate and develop
subordinates here.' AFI 36-2406, Officer and Enlisted Evaluation
Systems, 1 July 2000, 46.(13.) Coleman, "Leadership That Gets Results," 88-89.(14.) 1st Lt Gregory S. Brown, "Engineering from Rock to
Sand," in Frsm the Line in the Sand: Accounts of USAF Company Grade
Officers in Support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, ed. Michael P.
Vriesenga (Maxwell AEB, Ala.: Air University Press, 1994), 23.(15.) Ibid., 24.(16.) Capt Jacqueline c. Grant, "Tracking Personnel in
camel-Lot," in From the Line in the Sand, 28-31.(17.) Maj Howard Kosht, Department of Leadership, Air Command and
Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., interviewed by author, August 2002.(18.) "Managing with Emotional Intelligence," 2001,
Leadership Advantage. Olney, Md. 20832, on-line. Internet, 5 September
2002, available from /managing
WithEmotionalintelligence.shtml.Lt Col Sharon M. Latour (BA, MA, University of California, Santa
B MS, Troy State U PhD, University of Southern
California) serves on the faculty of the Department of Leadership,
Command, and Communications Studies at Air Command and Staff College,
Maxwell AFB, Alabama. She previously served as chief of protocol at RAF
M assistant professor in the Behavioral Sciences Department at
the US Air Force A section commander in the 555th Fighter
Squadron, Aviano AB, I faculty member at Squadron Officer School,
Maxwell AFB; and chief of professional military education policy at the
Pentagon. Colonel Latour is a graduate of Squadron Officer School and
Air Command and Staff College.Lt Gen Bradley C. Hosmer (USAFA; MA, Oxford University) retired
from the Air Force is 1994 after having entered the service in 1959 as a
member of the first graduating class of the US Air Force Academy. During
his career, he served as superintendent of the Academy, the first
graduate to do so, as well as in a variety of staff positions, including
vice director of the joint Staff and Air Force inspector general. He
also commanded two Air Force fighter wings and an air division and
served as president of National Defense University, Fort Lesley J.
McNair, Washington, D.C. A command pilot with more than 4,000 hours,
principally in fighter aircraft, General Hosmer is a graduate of
Squadron Officer School. College of Naval Command and Staff, and
National War College.
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Copyright 2002 Gale, Cengage Learning.
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