The Center for Creative Leadership says the lack of social competence, otherwise known as emotional intelligence, is the cause for 75% of “derailed” executives’ careers. I am painfully aware of this statistic; I was one of the 75%.
I learned many painful lessons in my 22-year career as a CEO in healthcare. This was perhaps the most painful. I spoke my mind and I spoke it one too many times. I should have hit the mental (and verbal) brakes, but I just let it come out. I had a strong sense of justice, but lacked the political shrewdness it took to balance it well.
Lessons learned and scar tissue earned. I know I am a better executive coach because of it. I still wish I had not been asked to resign because of my lack of self-control. I still put my foot in my mouth, just a heck of a lot less frequently these days.
While I cannot vouch for the actual percentage from the Center, I can speak firsthand on how crucial it is for leaders to address their own lack of social competence. Equally critical is the fact that they cannot ignore the bad behavior of leadership reporting to them. The study by CCL says it will catch up with them, eventually. In the meanwhile, what impact is the executive having on your organization? When leaders don’t address the problem, it sends a message to everyone: “they tacitly approve of the behavior.”
Tomorrow’s train wreck waiting to happen. Ignorance of the problem is entirely different from ignoring the problem. Intervene now. There are many great resources out there to open the eyes of the socially incompetent executive. There are many options available to increase the emotional intelligence of the employee. Coaching is one of them.
Take it from someone who caused his own wreck… and learned a lot from it.