The term “resonant leader” was popularized by Daniel Goldman, in his book Primal Leadership. The book talks about how an organization responds to the energy and enthusiasm of its leader and how the leader’s emotional impact can resonate throughout the organization.
The emotional intelligence research team of Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee later wrote in their book, Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion, some recommendations for that it takes to achieve – and sustain – resonant leadership. They say that being able to resonate with your organization requires attention to three areas:
v MINDFULNESS. This critical skill deals with maintaining awareness not only of what is going on inside yourself, but also to what is going on around you. The authors suggest meditation, prayer, exercise, music and being in nature.
v HOPE. This means determining a plan of action based on clearly articulated goals, believing the goals can be met and eventually reaching them with a sense of well-being. Hope can be a profound source of positive thoughts and emotions in both individuals and organizations.
v COMPASSION. Resonance, ultimately, requires caring about other people; in that sense, it depends fundamentally upon our capacity for compassion. By caring enough about people to try to figure out who they are and why they behave the way they do, the dissonant defenses of prejudice and pre-judgment are replaced with the resonant qualities of understanding and tolerance.
Boyatzis and McKee write, “Contrary to popular belief, it is not change itself that is so hard; what is hard is being honest with ourselves, looking at ourselves with no filters and admitting that we need to change.”