Intelligence is defined as
“the capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and grasping truths.”
It simply means consistently getting smarter and smarter. It amazes me how people will change cell phones almost every year but seem to believe that there is no need for upgrading their intelligence.
Most people believe that intelligence is difficult to develop. It isn’t. It simply takes time and perseverance. The leader must be willing to invest the energy, time and effort to hone their intelligence. That means the leader must commit to the continuing education process. Investing a reasonable amount of time to reading on a daily basis is just one way to do that!
But how much is enough? Let’s keep it simple. Devote just 4.2% of your time to improving your leadership intelligence every day. That’s just one of your twenty-four daily hours. But it does add up to 365 hours in a year. Most bachelor’s degrees require 120 hours of course work. And if you’re just starting out, you can get a lot of it free from the internet (try Skillshare.com).
But it also means you must take the lead. As a leader, if you don’t commit to continuous improvement, you may, one day, find yourself incredibly qualified for a position that no longer exists – your people will be in the same predicament.
There’s side benefit to this equation. If you demonstrate how important it is to increase your skills, your followers will likely do the same. But how do you demonstrate your new found intelligence without appearing arrogant? You do it the same way I’m doing it right now. You learn something and then share it with them. Copy some portion of your reading material and share it with them. Not only will this increase their level of knowledge and understanding, it will also be an investment in their personal growth development.
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