LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Our firm recognizes the impor-
tance of individual coaching. Our
work in advising senior female ex-
ecutives at Fortune 500 companies
ujiderscores the effectiveness of in-
dividual, task-focused, relationship-
based leadership development.
By itself, enhancing the capacity
of individual managers does not en-
sure that organizations will henefit.
The organization also plays a key
role in how leadership is acknowl-
edged and valued: it can unwittingly
undermine individuals, especially
women, who demonstrate some of
the leadership attributes described.
Although Goleman acknowledges
that there are many different styles
of successful leadership, senior deci-
sion makers (often men with signif-
icant shared experience) can inad-
vertently identify a narrow band of
organizationally acceptable leader-
ship methods. These approaches
may have grown out of their par-
ticular life experiences but may not
reflect the full range of leadership
styles in their organizations.
Furthermore, management hehav-
iors are often perceived and valued
differently by the organization when
they are performed by women. For
example, the "realistic self-assess-
174
ment" and "self-deprecating sense of
humor" that Goleman identifies as
hallmarks of self-awareness are fre-
quently perceived as weakness when
exhibited by women. Similarly^ a
woman's social skills and her empa-
thy, evidenced by her "ability to un-
derstand the emotional makeup of
other people" and by her "skill in
treating people according to their
emotional reactions," are frequently
undervalued. Supervisors and peers
may unconsciously expect women
to possess such talents.
Goleman does a service by iden-
tifying many emi-
nently learnable ca-
pabilities involved
in leadership. He
points out that "dif-
ferent situations call
for different types of
leadership," but it is
also worth consider-
ing how emotional
intelligence may
manifest itself dif-
ferently in women.
Kenneth P. Daigle
Director of
Engineering
Organ Recovery
Systems
Charleston^ South
Carolina
I especially enjoyed
Goleman's closing
statement: "It is for-
tunate, then, that
emotional intelli-
gence can be learned." That is cer-
tainly true, but remember, IQ and
technical intelligence probably can-
not be learned-or at least not as eas-
ily as emotional intelligence can.
During my 20-year professional
career, I have seen few leaders but
plenty of people with the title of
leader. While emotional intelligence
is very important, it can be learned
only by someone with what I call
maturity skills. Management in the
United States, however, typically
does not focus on developing the IQ
or the technical and maturity skills
needed in leaders. Instead, compa-
nies spend time looking to recruit
someone from outside the organiza-
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
tion with the correct hlend of these
skills. A typical organization will
minimize leadership development
for its own workers and continue to
look outside: hence, articles like this
that focus on the "look" aspects of
leadership.
Daniel Goleman responds: The re-
sponses to my article "What Makes
a Leader?" point to several common
confusions about the dynamic role
of emotional intelligence in leader-
ship. I welcome the opportunity to
clarify these points.
A cataclysmic experience can, in-
deed, be the eye-opener that shows an
executive the need to change behav-
ior, as Marcia Beck points out. Execu-
tives can be propelled to develop the
emotional intelligence abilities they
lack by a setback on the job, like be-
ing bypassed for a promotion, or by a
crisis in their personal life. One ex-
ecutive was jolted into bolstering his
self-control capabilities when the
police arrested him for drunk driving
on the way home from a business
dinner.
But such cases are extreme. More
common, executives' readiness to
develop emotional intelligence
comes from candid, confidential
360-degree feedback from bosses,
peers, subordinates, and sometimes
family members. The resulting pro-
file of strengths and weaknesses, of
course, must be offered with sensi-
tivity and with the formulation of a
plan for development. But when
faced with compelling data from
people who know them well and
whose opinions they respect, most
executives break through any resis-
tance to frank self-appraisal and are
ready to work on developing the
leadership skills they lack,
Beck also raises the problem of
sustaining such learning. That prob-
lem often boils down to poorly de-
signed development programs, Three
of the biggest mistakes in leadership
programs are not tailoring learning
plans to the individual's specific
needs, not giving executives the sus-
tained support to go through the nec-
essary three- to six-month on-the-job
practice, and failing to create an orga-
nizational environment that values
these capabiUties.
March-April 1999
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Both Beck and Michael Taylor
comment on executives wbo are
Machiavellian and who use their
leadership skills in manipulative
ways. One example is the "kiss-up,
kick-down" executive wbo cbarms
superiors and treats subordinates
like dirt. Another is tbe executive
who uses empathy to manipulate,
without valuing tbe feelings of those
he deals witb. In both cases, tbe ex-
ecutives' mastery of emotional in-
telligence is flawed.
Every leader has a profile of
strengths and weaknesses in tbe
spectrum of abilities. In a PepsiCo
study, for instance, division leaders
with a critical mass of strengths in
six or more emotional intelligence
abilities substantially outperformed
their yearly revenue targets. Such
outstanding leaders bave strengths
across the board. When executives
lack key competencies-especially
self-awareness, integrity, organiza-
tional commitment, or trustworthi-
ness-but have strengths in social
skills, tbe danger is that they might
abuse tbeir power.
As Taylor points out, empatby lies
not in using your grasp of others'
feelings to manipulate them but in
valuing and responding to tbose feel-
ings. Understanding other people's
feelings, on the other hand, does not
necessarily mean agreeing with their
position. But it should belp in re-
solving any conflicts without undue
friction.
Ellen Snee raises important gen-
der issues, such as how women's dis-
plays of leadership capabilities, like
the self-deprecating sense of humor
tbat signals higb self-awareness, can
be misconstrued as a weakness. She
also points to male executives' lack
of appreciation for empatby-a typi-
cal female strength- in leadership.
Both are themselves examples of a
lack of empatby (the accurate per-
ception of another's perspective) on
the part of those executives who
make sucb negative judgments. Un-
fortunately, as Snee observes, some
organizational cultures are domi-
nated by people with narrow view-
points, which creates an inhospi-
table atmosphere for anyone who
does not conform to their stereo-
types of leadership.
176
Einally, Kenneth Daigle makes the
point tbat current U.S. management
trends do not emphasize the devel-
opment of leadership competencies
witbin organizations. Companies
too readily look to hire someone
wbo already bas those competen-
cies. My article-especially the in-
sert "Can Emotional Intelligence
Be Learned?"-makes precisely tbis
point. Because emotional intelli-
gence can be learned, smart compa-
nies can wisely invest development
dollars in upgrading tbe leadership
abilities of those whose other
strengths or early record suggests
they have high potential.
CLUSTERS AND THE
NEW ECONOMICS OF
COMPETITION
Rajesh Nellote
Manager of Advanced
Procurement Planning
Scania
Sodertalje, Sweden
Michael E. Porter is one of the best
management gurus of this century,
and his article "Clusters and the
New Economics of Competition"
(November-December 1998) is bril-
liant as usual. I'd like to illuminate a
few points that 1 think may be of in-
terest. In a narrow sense, many com-
panies are trying to build clusters
when they create supplier parks. In
fact, wherever the giant OEMs like
Mercedes, BMW, and Toyota move,
bringing their suppliers along with
them, they will he creating a cluster.
So are clusters a new name for sup-
plier parks? Some automakers are
plarming to have supermarket-type
distribution centers, and the collec-
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
tive location of the supply and distri-
bution networks could be seen as a
broad definition of clusters.
Wbat will members of a cluster do
about a company that fails to keep
up witb tbe competition? Will tbis
disease spread in tbe cluster? Be-
cause each company has invested a
large amount of capital, it would
seem to be difficult to kick out a
poor performer. Tbe possibility of
sucb a situation may be a reason to
modularize clusters and tbus stay
flexible.
Luis Rodrigues
Marketing Manager
Procter &. Gamble
Brussels, Belgium
I relate to Porter's latest article as a
Portuguese citizen, and I wonder
what the next steps should be. Por-
tugal paid for Porter's advice a cou-
ple of years ago but did not do much
with it. "Clusters and the New Eco-
nomics of Competition" provides
evidence of tbe need to nurture clus-
ters as a basis of development policy.
Porter does not go in-depth into tbe
next steps, and he does not have to.
But unfortunately, that is wbere gov-
ernments often struggle.
Ultimately, clear rules will lead to
more internal competition-the pri-
mary engine of long-term economic
growth. But in any given country,
tbe most fashionable targeted areas
for change are education and physi-
cal infrastructures. Sucb change is
needed, but not at the expense of the
reform of other key institutions,
namely tbe justice system. Every
country with a clear and speedy jus-
tice system is a developed country.
Most poor countries and middle-
March-April 1999
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