I am a part of a group called KEEN (Kansas East Elisha Network), which is maybe a little wired, now that I am a member of the Kansas West Conference. None-the-less, I was asked to make a post on a leadership topic. Below is that post, which I invite your thoughts and comments.
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As some of you know I have been in the Lewis Fellows program through the Lewis Center for Church Leadership (connected to the Wesley Theological Seminary in D.C.). We read a couple of books and discuss them every three months as part of our program. One of the texts we have worked with is Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence, by Goleman, et. al (a link to Amazon.com).
Here is my synopsis of the text:
The central finding of Emotional Intelligence research is that emotions are essentially contagious, and thus a leader’s attitude and energy can “infect” a workplace either for better or for worse. With this in mind the authors stress the importance of “resonance“, which is the ability of leaders to perceive and influence the flow of emotions (including motivational states) between themselves and others with whom they work. The fundamental importance of resonance rests, in part, upon a leader’s ability to put into practice the skill of empathic listening, as explored throughout the book.
Because of the implications for improving resonance, the authors emphasize throughout Primal Leadership the importance to leaders of self-awareness, which includes the ability to perceive and moderate the effect one is having on others. This self-awareness is coupled with the ability to employ different leadership styles (they list and explain six) given the appropriate situation to create resonance.
Here is a link to the six leadership styles they talk about. Note that the styles of “Pace Setting” and “Commanding” have value and are important, but given specific situations. If they are utilized too often or in the wrong context, they are most likely to produce dissonance and resistance to your vision.
Reflections:
- When and where have you experienced the presence of resonance? And how were you or others able to affect its presence with your emotions?
- What steps have you taken before (and ought to take again) to better understand your self-awareness?
- What is your default leadership style? When is it most appropriate? How might you strengthen some of the other styles?
What are your thoughts? I recommend this book for everyone!
I received in the mail the text, The Crisis of Younger Clergy, by Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Ann A. Michel, on April 2nd, via amazon.com. I just finished reading it and find it helpful as we think about the future of the church, especially the United Methodist Church. 
