I was recently on Scott Allen’s Phronesis podcast discussing social intelligence and leadership. I was somewhat surprised when Scott mentioned that the topic of social intelligence had not been previously discussed in his over 300 episodes. Here is an overview of the role that social intelligence plays in effective leadership.
What Is Social Intelligence?
Social intelligence is the ability to understand social situations and behave effectively within them. We can view social intelligence as a subset of the broad domain of intelligence, or as Howard Gardner (1983) and other intelligence researchers (e.g., Guilford, 1967) suggest, as one of the multiple forms of intelligence. While emotional intelligence focuses on understanding and managing emotions in human interactions, it is only a portion of the larger construct of social intelligence.
Socially-intelligent individuals are able to read social situations, view and interpret others’ social behavior, and perform effectively in a wide variety of contexts.
Our model of social intelligence suggests three, complex social skills:
- Social Expressiveness: the ability to speak clearly and effectively and engage others in social interaction
- Social Sensitivity: skill in “reading” social situations, understanding common social norms, and being aware of how one’s behavior is affecting others.
- Social Control: a sophisticated social role-playing skill that is related to be tactful and confident in social situations. Coupled with social expressiveness, this aspect of social intelligence has been labeled “savoir-faire,” which translates to “knowing how to be” in social relationships (Riggio, et al., 2020).
As you can imagine, these elements of social intelligence are critically important for people in leadership positions (and for people, in general, to be effective in social situations).
While there is much research evidence that suggests that emotional intelligence is important for leaders to possess, our research suggests that social intelligence is even more important. In reality, the very best leaders need both.
Why Do Leaders Need Social Intelligence?
Social intelligence enables leaders to:
- Communicate more effectively
- Build strong leader-follower relationships
- Adapt to different situations and different audiences
- Incorporate others’ perspectives into their decision-making
- Delegate effectively and deal with interpersonal conflicts in the workplace
How Can Social Intelligence Be Developed?
As discussed on the podcast, there are few programs that focus specifically on social intelligence for leaders, but most comprehensive leadership development programs will incorporate these social skills. Working on honing your observational skills, engaging in active listening, and getting experience in a variety of different settings and contexts all help build social intelligence. Acting and improvisation courses also can help hone the underlying skills associated with social intelligence.
