Social Intelligenge and the Biology of Leadership

by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis

New studies of the brain show that leaders can improve group performance by understanding the biology of empathy. Do Women Have Stronger Social Circuits?

People often ask whether gender differences factor into the social intelligence skills needed for outstanding leadership. The answer is yes and no. It’s true that women tend, on average, to be better than men at immediately sensing other people’s emotions, whereas men tend to have more social confidence, at least in work settings. However, gender differences in social intelligence that are dramatic in the general population are all but absent among the most successful leaders.

When the University of Toledo’s Margaret Hopkins studied several hundred executives from a major bank, she found gender differences in social intelligence in the overall group but not between the most effective men and the most effective women. Ruth Malloy of the Hay Group uncovered a similar pattern in her study of CEOs of international companies. Gender, clearly, is not neural destiny.