Jim Bennett Blog » 2007

Vienna Parliament

Hi,

This month finds me in Vienna to discuss ethical leadership and communications.

Let me give you some insights on Vienna, the European Headquarters of the United Nations, before we review ethics, emotional intelligence and goals.

This is a city of the traditional and the new. Bustling with activity - history of the past, present and the future. From the Schonbrunn Palace to the Hundertwasser-Haus. Traditional architecture reminiscent of Greek Temples. Hewen in great detail by legions of masons standing proudly in the rising sun.

Contrasting with Hunterwasser who was commissioned to design a house of a speacial kind. His vision was of a large residential city complex that was natural and suitable for truly human habitation. In his opinion, the perfect house should be part of nature. A form of living sculpture, sumptuous, containing regal elements, to glow in the brightest colours. A Leader with visionary civic values and ideals.

As I mentioned, it is also home of the United Nations (UN) within Europe. I enjoyed an informative and descriptive tour of the principle areas. Our young guide was passionate about the role of the UN - he paraphrased the eloquent speeches of world leaders into simple words:

“The UN is not here to aid the World in reaching heaven,but, to prevent it from falling to Hell!”.

I am also curious about the ONE Nation that chooes not to join the United Nations - are they North or South?

Maybe, the words, acts and deeds of people we interact with daily have a geater impact than the coplex rhetoric of politicians.

From a communications perspective I am fascinated at the millions of people per year that are “coached” by the Vienna UN Guides in the workings and principles of the U.N. Have they a greater immediate influence on the PEOPLE of our nations than their bosses?

Notwithstanding, I respect the strategic intent and work of the U.N. However, one suspects there is a disproportionate time and effort spent on “tomorrows” when we could enhance the skills and data sets of our front line people that have the greatest contact time with our stakeholders and promote ACTION TODAY.

It’s about freedom of choice to choose our destiny. Standing in the east is a noble statue of a woman breaking free from the bonds of stone.

As we are talking about ethics, it is a good time for me to summarise the United Nations Eight Millenium Goals :

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Achieve universal primary education.
Promote gender equality and empower women.
Reduce child mortality.
Improve maternal health.
Combat HIV, AIDS, malaria and all other diseases.
Ensure environmental sustainability.
Develop and global parnership for development.

This leads neatly to the principles of emotional intelligence which are the hallmarks of a great Leader. Effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they have a high degree of emotional intelligence. Let’s look at the 5 Components of Emotional Intelligence at work:

Self-Awareness - the ability to recognise and understand your moods, emotions, and drives as well as their effect on others. Hallmark - self-confidence, realisitic self-assessment, self-depreciating sense of humour.
Self-Regulation - the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods. The ability/inclination to suspend judgement - to think before acting. Hallmark - trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, openness to change.
Motivation - A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status. The ability to pursue goals with energy and persitence. Hallmarks - strong drive to achieve, optimism, even in the face of failure.
Empathy - The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people. The skill intreating people according to their emotional reactions. Hallmarks - Expertise at building and retaining talent. Cross cultural sensitivity. Service to clientsand customers.
Social Skill - proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. An ability to find common ground and build rapport. Hallmarks - Effetiveness at leading change. Persuasiveness with an expertise in building and leading teams.

This is about ethics, ethical leadership, core values and behaviours. How we interact on a private and public basis. Do YOU recognise many of the above Hallmarks”? Is there room for improvement?

Regretably we hear in the media, from time to time, of great Business and Political Leaders falling from grace when they believe the laws of the land require a different interpretation for them than for others.

As the name implies Universal Law is common to all no matter, creed, colour, religion or persuasion. Similarily with Nations that operate outwith the UNITED NATIONS code of conduct.

Emotional Intelligence awareness can give us individually and collectively insights to aid our communications on a personal, family, business and national level.

As ETHICAL LEADERS of our world what can WE do Today to further the VISION of UNITED NATIONS….