How high is your decency quotient?

In the past month, I’ve attended two events – my organization’s annual leadership institute and Mastercard’s Global Inclusive Growth Summit – that have touted a leadership trait that often flies under the radar. It’s a component of servant leadership, which I practice and preach. It is decency quotient.

Duke University Fuqua School of Business Dean Bill Boulding wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review earlier this year to elevate the importance of decency in leadership. Successful leaders, he writes, have a triple-threat capability: intellect, emotional intelligence (EQ), and decency quotient (DQ).

I’ve written before about the importance of EQ, which is your ability to understand and effectively handle your own emotions and others’. Boulding explains how DQ goes a step further than EQ:

“DQ implies a person has not only empathy for employees and colleagues but also the genuine desire to care for them,” he writes. “DQ means wanting something positive for everyone in the workplace and ensuring everyone feels respected and valued. DQ is evident in daily interactions with others. DQ implies a focus on doing right by others.”

 

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