Psychologists as managers

As psychologists seek to broaden their employment opportunities, many are discovering that their training in psychology provides an excellent background for management positions. Twenty years ago, managers were valued primarily for their technical know-how. Today there is increasing recognition of the importance of having managers and executives with strong interpersonal and communication skills--skills that many psychologists learn as part of the their graduate education and training.

The roles of different types of intelligences

In our society and in many professions, we tend to focus primarily on analytical intelligence as a measure of potential success. But in recent years there has been increasing emphasis on the role that different kinds of intelligence can play in our lives.

Howard Gardner, a Harvard University psychologist, was one of the pioneers in studying alternative kinds of intelligence. In his 1983 landmark book, "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences," he introduced the concept of eight distinct forms of intelligence: physical, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, logical and linguistic. He noted the tendency of business to value the skilled technician over the team player, but in a later book observed that business may be changing.

In his 1995 book, "Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership," Gardner says that leaders must have both linguistic and personal intelligences and that the idea of intrapersonal intelligence is gaining importance in the business world. In other words, business managers should know their own emotions, know the emotions of others, and be able to communicate effectively--all part of the training of many applied psychologists.

The popularity of the concept of emotional intelligence or EQ grew quickly after the 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence." In his most recent book, "Working With Emotional Intelligence," Goleman draws on psychological studies and interviews with business managers to show how the most successful business leaders are not defined by their IQs or even by their job skills, but by their EQs. EQ is measured by 12 competencies that distinguish how people manage feelings, interact and communicate and by 13 key relationship skills. Citing managerial studies, he says that EQ is twice as important as either IQ or technical expertise in predicting business success.

He cites a study of 80 science graduate students (all with high IQs) who were evaluated for cognitive and emotional intelligence including interpersonal skills and ability to negotiate. Forty years later, it was not IQ that had made a difference in their levels of success, but EQ.

In his 1992 book, "The Healthy Company," psychologist Robert Rosen defines a healthy company as one that embodies a vitality from shared humanistic values. These values include self-knowledge, a belief in decency, a respect for individual differences, a spirit of partnership, and a high priority for health and well- being. Psychologists are well positioned because of their training to work as managers who can help to develop healthier companies.

A people business

Speaking from personal experience, I have often been able to draw on my psychological training while serving as APA's CEO. In the beginning, I believe it helped me to make a realistic appraisal of my own assets and liabilities. Despite 30 years as an administrator, nothing in my training and experience qualified me to manage a budget of $80 million or to run a large publishing operation or to oversee the construction of two office buildings. I couldn't be a micromanager, so I set out to build a team of managers I could trust to oversee areas outside of my expertise. My training in interviewing and assessment helped me select managers who would contribute to positive team building. I tried to be particularly alert to traits that might interfere with creating the kind of team I wanted.

My management style was heavily influenced by my training in personality and psychotherapy and particularly by the work of psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. I wanted APA's Central Office to be a healthy company and I made every effort to select healthy, positive people who were motivated to perform at a high level and who would, in turn, build strong teams in their own areas.

As our economy has evolved from agriculture and manufacturing to service and information, management has increasingly become a people business for which psychologists are especially qualified. Management can be a challenging and rewarding career for a psychologist, and one that flows naturally from our education and training.



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