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In today’s era of AI and other emerging technologies, the skills business leaders should have are quickly shifting. It’s no longer enough to have EQ or emotional intelligence. New intelligence leadership demands present-day leaders to have a more holistic approach that includes multiple dimensions of intelligence.
Let’s decode these dimensions of new intelligence leadership and check how they are likely to influence the future of work.
Attentional Intelligence
Great leaders know the importance of mindfulness, which emphasises being aware of and present in the moment. It’s not just about your thoughts but even what you are dealing with at the moment. Focusing on past failures, thinking of what could go wrong, and worrying about the future would confuse and overwhelm you, thus taking your focus off the task and lowering your productivity.
With the regular practice of mindfulness, you can develop your attentional intelligence and become aware of where your attention is focused. By learning to be in the ‘now’ and becoming mindful of the challenges you are facing at the moment, your thoughts, your circumstances, and the problems that need to be solved, you can reduce the noise in your brain and improve focus. This improved focus will help open your mind, facilitate effective planning and decision-making, and improve your productivity.
As a leader with attentional intelligence, you will be better positioned to leverage AI-powered insights while considering social cues and emotional intelligence. Using modern technologies while being adaptable and future-oriented, identifying potential threats and opportunities, and fine-tuning strategies accordingly can also become easier with attentional intelligence.
Social Intelligence
Present-day leaders must have social intelligence, which refers to the ability to handle social situations and build meaningful and strong relationships with others. Possessing social intelligence means having skills such as empathy, active listening, and cultural competence necessary for navigating interpersonal interactions.
As a business leader with high social intelligence, you will be able to connect with people from various backgrounds and with different perspectives, thus building a sense of diversity and inclusivity. Even when you use AI and modern technologies, it’s crucial to remember that business is still fundamentally about people. Social intelligence will help you navigate the dynamics with employees, business partners, collaborators, customers, and more and foster long-term relationships.
Effective communication, managing conflicts constructively, building a strong team spirit, attracting and retaining top talent, and handling volatile and fast-changing business trends and scenarios are other aspects that social intelligence can help you glide through. The key is not to lose the human touch while using modern technologies to drive your organisation forward.
Cognitive Intelligence
As a business leader today, it’s imperative that you think through your plans and strategies before acting on them. This is where cognitive intelligence can help as it lets you think critically, make sound decisions, and solve problems. A business leader with cognitive intelligence will have skills like creativity, learning agility, analytical thinking, and innovation.
In today’s data-driven age, you will need to interpret the analysis of massive amounts of data to anticipate future needs, identify present trends, draw insightful conclusions, and make strategic decisions. Analysing diverse situations, developing creative approaches to combat challenges, adapting to changing circumstances to stay ahead of the curve, and developing long-term strategies for the organisation’s success are other crucial aspects your cognitive intelligence can help you with.
To be a well-rounded leader who can leverage AI and modern technologies while understanding the human element of business, you need cognitive intelligence as it provides the analytical muscle to your social and attentional intelligence.
Conscious Intelligence
Conscious intelligence is yet another vital skill demanded by new intelligence leadership. It refers to a leader’s ability to find meaning and purpose in work and life. A business leader with conscious intelligence will have skills like mindfulness, self-awareness, and compassion.
As a business leader, you need to have internal consciousness. This is your ability to be introspective and understand your own strengths, biases, and weaknesses. It’s also about being present and aware of the impact you have on others. From making ethical decisions and managing your own emotions for better communication and decision-making to inspiring trust and authenticity for employee engagement and creating a productive work environment, internal consciousness can facilitate them all.
External consciousness is equally necessary as it makes you aware of the bigger picture. It stands for your ability to plan for your business’s broader aspects, such as environmental, social, and economic aspects along with conventional profit metrics. Be it running your organisation sustainably, contributing to positive social change, or moulding your strategies to adapt to change, handling them all requires external consciousness.
When you have high conscious intelligence, you will be able to align your organisational goals with your intrinsic values and inspire your people to work towards a greater sense of purpose.
Final Words
New intelligence leadership needs emotional intelligence but it’s no longer the solitary dimension. It’s just a crucial dimension that should co-exist with attentional intelligence, social intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and conscious intelligence.
As a business leader, striking a balance among these types of intelligence will improve your chances of business success in this data-driven age of AI and even make the future of work something to look forward to with great hopes.
If you are looking to hire well-balanced business leaders to take your organisation to the next level, contact us at InHunt World today!
This article was written by InHunt World