Do We Equally Value
Warmth and Competence in Leaders?
December 11, 2018
This
question sparks great debates in my leadership classes. Many argue that
competence is critical to “getting the job done” so as a skill it must edge out
warmth. Others rebut that without warmth, do we really want to work with that
leader? After all, leaders can’t get much done alone. So, warmth plays
an important part in the mix to the extent that it must be an equal partner.
Or, is it more than equal?
Warmth as Giving
In his book,
Give and Take, Adam Grant (Wharton University) describes researcher
Shalom Schwartz’s findings on the values and principles that matter most to
people cross-culturally:
- · Helpfulness (working for the well-being of others)
- · Responsibility (being dependable)
- · Social justice (caring for the disadvantaged)
- · Compassion (responding to the needs of others)
In Grant’s
view, these behaviours together reflect an orientation toward giving. In the many case studies he
describes, such influencing behaviours are contagious in groups and teams. They
create an environment of reciprocity which in turn boosts collaboration and
productivity.
Warmth as the Conduit of Influence
Harvard
University’s Amy Cuddy in her book Presence
concurs that warmth is the conduit of influence –the medium through which trust
develops and ideas travel. We seem to have a built in survivor and belonging
sense that consistently picks up words and signals linked to warmth faster than
to competence. Yet we tend to evaluate ourselves on competence first but others
on warmth! According to Amy Cuddy, if we put competence first, it undermines
relationships, the necessary bonding essential for real teamwork. Thus, the
balance is toward a genuine caring for others (warmth) that fuels a strong
partnership with competence.
Grant characterizes this as powerless
communication used by great coaches in various sports arenas and successful
leaders anywhere. Why? It sparks the
sharing of ideas, innovations and ultimately group performance. The skills show
up as asking for advice, showing vulnerability (not being a know-it-all with a
big ego), and being genuinely interested in learning from and supporting others.
Those who also study leadership effectiveness echo Grant, using the terms humility and curious to describe how
warmth impacts others.
Will AI Supplant Warmth?
As we move
increasingly toward an AI era of robots, self-driving cars and big data
management in general, how will the balance of warmth and competence play out? Columbia
University’s Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an International guru on leadership
development, predicts that the soft skills will become even more crucial. In
his view, AI will increasingly take care of the raw cognitive processing of
facts and information. The agile parts of leadership - curiosity, emotional
stability, humility, adaptability, vision and constant engagement (with, for
example, front line workers who likely know more than you do) will supplant an
“I am the decider” leadership.
The Tango
What’s the
take away then? Of course competence is critical. But without being leavened by
warmth, competence will have less opportunity to grow and be in sync with what
people want and need to bring their best selves to any challenge.
Perhaps the
warmth/competence relationship is like dancing the Tango. It is a partner dance
with diverse influences from African, Native American and European cultures.
The Tango’s origins - musical gatherings of slaves and the lower classes in
Argentina and Uruguay in the 1880s – speak to the need for belonging, inclusion
and community. To this day great Tango dancers entertain, inspire, lift spirits
and bring people together. Prowess at the Tango for its best effects thus is
essential. But, without a huge dose of warmth, how could anyone competently
dance the Tango?
Linda Pickard is an organizational
psychologist, experiential educator and coach.
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