“The rules of work are changing. We are being judged by a new yard stick; not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other. The new rules predict who is most likely to become a star performer and who is prone to derailing. And no matter what field we work in currently, they measure the traits that are crucial to our marketability for future jobs.” Daniel Goleman: Emotional intelligence

In 2007, the Local Government Leadership Academy (LOGOLA) set up a leadership programme-the Municipal Leadership Development Programme (MLDP) to build and develop leadership competencies of 330 councillors and municipal officials in each province. Facilitators across the country were carefully selected and trained to be able to facilitate, support, mentor and coach the councillors and officials in each province.

The idea was to enable those participants who particularly may not have had a formal education, yet were passionate about working in their respective municipalities, to receive training that could support them as leaders in their context. They would also be actively involved in trying to identify and resolve potential serious conflicts between their municipalities and the communities. Service delivery was highlighted as a key focus area for improvement so that budgets would be prioritised and effectively managed as well as local government programmes communicated effectively to the community, would be actualised.

The MLDP programme was divided into 4 modules; Emotional Intelligence, Communication, Problem Solving and Analytical Thinking and Communal Knowledge Management. The course was designed to address the key competencies that would build self-confidence, vision, creativity, commitment, tolerance, integrity and the ability to maintain relationships at all levels of society.

To start to address the above concerns it was decided that Emotional Intelligent leadership training was necessary. The aspect of EQ or Emotional Intelligence unpacked the issues of how these leaders behaved in their working environment in terms of ethics and integrity. For example, it looked at how the leadership take council resolutions. Do they do so for their own benefit, like owning cars instead of directing the budget to providing adequate service delivery like fixing the potholes in the roads or providing clean drinking water to poor areas. The EQ Municipal leader makes decisions from a clearer thinking point of view instead of a passionate political stance thereby acting in the best interest of all concerned.

Emotional Intelligent (EQ) leadership addresses the following: managing your own emotions and also the emotions of others. This includes recognising your own emotions as to what hampers you from performing or behaving in a constructive and positive manner and how you manage them. The other aspect of EQ is about building relationships with others, how you communicate and have empathy so as to manage others more effectively. These key competencies are important for leaders to foster especially when one is working with people-driven political agendas and people living in the communities whose needs are not being met.

The training of the councillors and municipal officials in EQ was an in-depth and often emotional process. It gave people an opportunity to go on a journey of self-discovery, of looking back, acknowledging, healing and celebrating their past experiences so that they could move forward in their personal and professional lives. The process helped the leaders discover what the core aims of their existence within the municipality meant. They completed the training with a more focussed and calmer attitude. The practical skills and tools imparted during the training could be used whenever they found themselves in challenging situations ranging from political meetings to council decision-making meetings to meetings with the community.

The training modules allowed the participants to go back to their municipalities and apply the skills. This required them to be constantly aware of their attitude and behaviour. At the follow-up training sessions the participants reported some of the following learnings and challenges:

“It was really amazing to see how easy it was when one kept a reign on one’s emotions and did not allow it to influence effective decision-making actions that would impact on positively on the community."

A couple of days after attending the course, my Municipal Manager asked me if I was ok. I walked around with a smile on my face and told him to go on the course. My work load seems so much lighter and I realise that to be able to manage well, l I have to be well! I’m learning that although it isn’t always easy for me, I don’t have to solve everything and I can say NO! What a relief...I don’t have to be superwoman!

During a hectic community meeting, I surprised myself by staying calm and focussed. When a prominent community leader started attacking the municipality’s dysfunction, I listened to him empathetically and responded to his feelings. It kind of took the wind out of his sails and he calmed down so that in the end we all had a rational discussion and came up with some corrective steps to implement.”

 

The training in EQ was a good induction to leadership training for municipal leaders. A lot of emphasis was on self awareness, self development and self preservation. As with any change process it is vitally important to support and coach people who have undergone intensive personal development training. This was however neglected and follow-up sessions were too short and ill-attended because of date clashes and other training at other places.

Often “soft skills” are taken for granted and traded for more practical “hard skills” training and therefore put way down on the list of training programs. One forgets that soft skills need to be practised on a daily basis and that one never perfects the skill. It a daily challenge to be in control of one’s emotions and to make choices that sometimes demand positive energy to actualise.

Many people still keep regular contact with the mentor facilitators and undoubtedly have made major leaps in how they now work within their municipalities. This however needs to be ongoing if real and sustainable change is to happen.

Beverley April