Excerpt / Xiao Wu ▌ Efficient leaders have stronger social skills In a poll, researchers asked employees whether they would prefer a pay raise or "a better boss." 65% of respondents said they would rather have a better boss than a higher salary. Some managers may think that being disliked by employees is inevitable and a necessary price for maximizing output. However, according to Gallup estimates, the efficiency loss caused by poor manager-employee relationships costs the U.S. economy $360 billion annually. Unhappy employees are likely to slack off at work and be difficult to supervise; more importantly, they are unlikely to actively engage in innovation or share new ideas with others. You might question: Are social motives and social skills truly important conditions for a leader's success? If so, why do we rarely see someone being chosen as "boss" because of their outstanding social skills? The first question is easy to answer. A leader's social skills are very important to team success. Leadership research expert John Zenger distributed questionnaires to thousands of employees, asking them to rate their boss's leadership. Zenger found that after classifying bosses based on respondents' ratings—"great bosses" (top 20%), "good bosses" (middle 60%), and "poor bosses" (bottom 20%)—he could fairly accurately predict various performance metrics of the companies behind these bosses, including profit, employee satisfaction, turnover, and customer satisfaction. Zenger proposed five essential "leadership competencies" for becoming a great leader: personal capability (intelligence, problem-solving skills, expertise, and adequate training), results orientation (ability to drive projects forward and complete them), strong character (integrity and authenticity), ability to lead organizational change, and interpersonal skills. Zenger found that when interpersonal skills are well combined with other abilities, leaders have the opportunity to demonstrate the highest leadership artistry. Zenger found that even if an employee rated a manager very highly on "results orientation" (the ability to get things done effectively), the manager's chance of ranking in the top 10% overall was still quite low (only 14%). However, if in addition to high scores on "results orientation," the manager also scored high on "building good relationships," the likelihood of being rated a "great leader" immediately soared to 72%. Fundamentally, this is because social skills can greatly enhance the value of other abilities—leaders with strong social skills handle employees' social and emotional reactions well. When employees fail to do their jobs properly, leaders vary greatly in how they correct them. Leaders with strong social skills correct in a considerate, supportive manner; other leaders may correct in a very blunt way, making employees feel denied and rejected, losing their willingness to sincerely improve, and possibly affecting their future work motivation. Superior social skills ensure that a boss can walk the tightrope cleanly, without fear of falling from a height. Moreover, in many cases, social skills are even more important than personal ability. In an experimental study, teams of three were formed to complete a complex task, and naturally, one person would emerge as the leader. After the task, each team member rated the other two on whether they were successful leaders. The results showed that both intelligence and social skills were considered necessary for a successful leader, but social skills were almost twice as important as intelligence. In a survey jointly conducted by the Management Research Group and the NeuroLeadership Institute, thousands of employees answered a series of questions about leadership abilities. Based on ratings from their bosses and colleagues, although more than 50% were considered to have "focus on goals" ability, less than 1% were considered to have both "focus on goals" and interpersonal skills. According to Zenger's analysis, having both abilities is essential for a successful leader. ▌ Grasping the core of leadership Inside our brains, there is a constant "dynamic balance" between social and non-social thinking, which allows us to understand what others are thinking. Additionally, there is a separate neural network for abstract reasoning about non-social phenomena. One defining feature of these two networks is their relationship, like two ends of a seesaw: when one goes up (activation increases), the other goes down (activation decreases). In some cases, this seesaw relationship between non-social and social thinking makes it difficult to do both simultaneously. In other cases, our mental processes can promote cooperation between the two, rather than perpetual competition. For example, vision and hearing complement each other. When someone speaks, watching their lips can help us hear better. However, overall, although some studies show that the social and non-social thinking systems can be complementary, they are more likely to conflict. What impact does this opposition between social and non-social intelligence have on leadership? From two perspectives: First, some people may consistently tend to prioritize the non-social thinking network while suppressing the social thinking network. This tendency may be a result of genetics or long-term practice—these people may have lived in a society that values abstract thinking over social thinking. However, some people may think non-social thinking is more important because of their views on their work. If someone habitually thinks about leadership from a non-social perspective, their own social mind may be suppressed, making them insensitive to surrounding social events, and thus they rarely think about the social implications of their own and others' actions. Often, when a team member says they are having difficulty advancing a project, they often mean they are having difficulty cooperating with other team members. If the team leader is a highly "socialized" person, they will realize that the team's internal collaboration mechanisms need adjustment. Therefore, they will not overly focus on whether team members need more individual training (to be competent)—which might be a poor solution to the current problem. Second, the seesaw relationship between non-social and social thinking processes has both good and bad aspects. For those who believe their work is essentially non-social, redefining the nature of their work might help balance the seesaw. The most effective and successful leaders can switch between these mental modes at will. This is certainly good news. The less good news is that if a person is already "biologically" inclined toward the non-social network, redefining their work is unlikely to change their ways. The best bosses understand and care about the social motives of all team members. Bosses must foster social connections between themselves and all team members, among team members, and between the team and the outside world, which is crucial to team success. Better communication can reduce misunderstandings among team members and nip various "social" problems in the bud. Strive to make your team a true team! Your efforts will surely be rewarded. As long as members identify more with their team, it can foster a harmonious atmosphere where everyone thinks more about how to best serve the team, rather than just themselves. As social animals, we are naturally equipped to do this—provided we truly identify with our team. Please commit to creating a sense of identity and attachment to the group! This is the core of leadership. -END- The best learning platform for FMCG distributors in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operations | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new salespeople | 015 Internet, brands | 016 Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]