Essay

Resonant Leadership

Resonance is a powerful force that is reflected among people and supports their higher creativity, productivity, sense of unity, sense of purpose, and results. Resonance is derived from people’s ability to use their biological and cognitive systems to master the skills of empathy, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and the awareness of others (Boyatzis& McKee, 2013). Resonant leaders are able to utilize their social and emotional intelligence skills for self-renewal, creation of positive relationships, and fostering of a healthy environment that engages others towards the achievement of a common goal. Resonant leaders achieve this through compassion, hope, and mindfulness (Boyatzis& McKee, 2013). For example, in an organizational environment, a resonant leader listens to all the negative feelings of his subordinates, emphasizes with their situation, and responds supportively to solve their problems. In the book “It’s Your Ship” by Michael Abrashoff, gives some advice on improving leadership skills in a business setting. There are certain elements in the book that identify Captain Abrashoff as a resonant leader. The following is an analysis of some of these elements.

Michael Abrashoff as a Resonant Leader

One of the leadership lessons presented in Abrashoff’s book is listening aggressively. When he was the commander of the USS Benfold navy ship, he preferred performance to seniority (Abrashoff, 2012). He wanted to see the ship through the crew’s eyes and his best was to achieve this was through listening to their views. Listening attentively is one of the qualities of a resonant leader. Resonant leaders are mindful of the views of other people so that they can create a positive environment where every person is working towards the achievement of a common objective. For instance, in Captain Abrashoff’s case, he wanted to make the crew members to feel that their ship was the best in the navy so he listened to them and used “word magic” to make the confident that they would achieve this goal(Abrashoff, 2012).

In the chapter about creating a climate of trust, Abrashoff talks about the importance of giving juniors certain responsibilities that they can handle and standing back trusting that they will do their job as required. He describes trust as a human marvel, not only sustained by a social construct, but also turns struggling companies into vibrant competitors (Abrashoff, 2012). Additionally, he asserts that trust is redeemable when it is broken. He says that a person may be a screw up, but he believes in comebacks. A good leader is supposed to understand their employees and constantly stay accustomed to their actions and reactions. They should never give up on an employee but rather encourage them to understand that there is always room for redemption (Abrashoff, 2012). This lesson from Abrashoff’s lessons about leadership shows that he is able to use his social intelligence to promote productivity like a resonant leader. By promoting trust in an organization, the employees are able to believe in their potential hence they will not be afraid to try new things that may be helpful for the performance of the organization.

Captain Abrashoff also demonstrated resonance through his lessons on looking for results and not salutes. A good leader does not force his ideas on his juniors but listens to every person’s opinion on what is the most favorable way to handle certain situations in order to achieve the best results (Abrashoff, 2012). Abrashoff stated that every rule in the ship was up for negotiation as he believed in letting the crew speak up. This is one major characteristic of a resonant leader who is aware of the existence of other people in the organization and makes decisions that suit the needs of everyone (Boyatzis& McKee, 2013).

References

Abrashoff, D. M. (2012). It's your ship: Management techniques from the best damn ship in the Navy. New York: Hachette.

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013).Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope and CompassionCompassion. Harvard Business Press.