The EQ Leader

Chapter 2What Have We Learned about Leadership?

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.

—PETER DRUCKER

The scientific study of leadership is about 100 years old. There are hundreds of studies that have looked at such things as personality, leadership style, cognitive intelligence (IQ), as well as leadership potential and performance. There have been a number of major reviews of the psychological and business/managerial literature summarizing much of what we know about leadership. One such review by Robert Kaiser and his colleagues nicely summarizes much about what we know from the academic literature.¹ For example, they point out the overwhelming evidence that leadership styles are associated with certain effects—“considerate leaders enhance the job satisfaction of subordinates, structured leaders have higher performing teams, and transformational leaders inspire greater commitment.”

In addition, certain styles of leadership have been found to be better in order to get specific results. For example, the best way to lead when you have a high degree of control over a situation is with a task-oriented approach. On the other hand, when you don't have as much control over the situation a people-oriented approach can be better. In other words, in situations with low control, you would need to spend more time dealing with the people and their needs before getting them focused on the task you want done.