Читать книгу Leadership in Veterinary Medicine - Clive Elwood - Страница 48

Various forms of intelligence (e.g. verbal–linguistic, logical‐mathematical, interpersonal) have been described, and the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership is discussed later on (Gardner 1993). Whilst the exact balance of the different intelligences needed is likely to differ according to the situation, leadership in a complex dynamic arena requires a certain level of cognitive capability in order to assimilate, understand, assess, and respond to the short and long‐term challenges.

If one cannot understand, intuitively or explicitly, the situation, it is possible that the wrong choices and decisions will be made. In the context of veterinary medicine, where academic intelligence is not in short supply, credibility is lost if there is no capacity to work with smart people. Whilst this does not, necessarily, mean leaders have to be as technically capable or well qualified as those they are leading, they do need a baseline level of ‘smarts’ (Goffee and Jones 2007).

There are brilliant leaders and there are brilliant people who make good leaders. But we all know that there are brilliant people who make poor leaders. This is why it is important to recognise that different intelligences are measured in different ways and that the ability to pass examinations and achieve high professional proficiency (e.g. in the pursuit of a veterinary career) is no guarantee of, or requirement for, effective leadership.