A641.2.3.RB – Am I a Resonant Leader
According
to McKee et al. (2008), resonant leadership
may not be a common practice of leadership,
but it is a plain common sense. Leadership is an individual’s capacity to translate
his or his vision into materiality while empowering others. A leader has the power to influence the emotional
states of the individuals that surround
them. To achieve goals that are challenging
and complex, leaders need to develop their social and emotional intelligence.
Reflecting on my responses from the exercise, I discovered that I am a resonant leader,
but I need to find a balance between overworking myself due to being too emotionally
invested and at the same time be authentic and genuine to myself finding a balance
between work and personal life. According
to Puddicombe (2012), our mind whizzes away like a washing machine that keeps
on turning trying to deal or process varied emotions that are complicated and
confusing. Those conflicting emotions are distractors that pull us away from
the most significant and essential things of our lives, and subsequently, we
are no longer present in the world that we dwell in. We assume that this is normal, and we just
get on with it thinking that we cannot do anything about it. I need to learn to be more mindful of my personal
psychological and mental condition by doing nothing for 10 minutes on a daily basis
to recharge and relax.
Last Friday, our Corporate Labor Counsel informed my
HR Executive Director and me of an EEOC Charge.
My reaction was not very good. I was
anxious, and my first response was to attempt to contact the employee that I
know had instigated the charge. My recollection
was very clear when I sat down with the employee to tell her that due to her continuous
performance and behavioral issues, she was released from work. She was given multiple chances to correct her
behavior and performance, and her rebuttal was that she was being discriminated
due to her age while bursting into tears. After 45 minutes of consoling, she calmed down
and thanked me for treating her humanely by listening and showing her compassion
by letting her express her frustrations without judgment. In addition to comforting her, I assured her that
I will help her find another job by introducing her to my friends who are managing
local temporary agencies. Considering that
she filed an EEOC complaint, maybe I should not have overextended my help.
As a Human Resources leader, I have learned that best practice
is to make sure to have documentation for every employee encounter. Our Employee Relation Specialist and I were confident
that EEOC Charge will be dismissed. We followed protocol and documented the release
appropriately. If I were not too, emotionally
involved with the case, I would not be stressing out right now. As an HR professional, I am very confident that
I took the appropriate recourse and decision regarding the release of said employee.
On Monday, I will tell our Legal Counsel
that I had anticipated the outcome, and I have all the documentation that they
may need to defend or arbitrate on behalf of the company.
Through the exercise, I have also discovered that to be
a good decision-maker or a resonant leader, it would be of my advantage to consider the key
stakeholders. This approach has been an asset
to me but sometimes very challenging.
Like for example, right now, I have been asked to be a member of a
Committee that is focused on the retention and turnover within the Central Florida
Division – North Region. With my first
meeting attendance, I was concerned on the credentials of the members involved
like what are their expectations to gain from this committee. Do they represent their department or team or
are they serving their own expectation and purpose? Before my next meeting, I will have to make
sure that I know what my objective and focus as a member of this committee and
know every member of the committee. As a
leader or a team member, I need to have to understand every stakeholder’s
purpose and commitment for our committee to succeed. I have to overcome my own biases and not be
judgemental of the other member’s culture, education, position, etc. The Committee will be presenting our
recommendations to improve retention and reduce turnover to the Central Florida
Division – North Region’s Executive Team.
Our proposal has to be solid for our Executive Leaders to take
action.
Lastly, the strategy that would be most helpful in tuning
myself and with others, it is of importance that I consider or get other
views. Getting different views from other
people will provide me more advantage or benefits to me. It will be an excellent practice to always
consult with my CEO, VP or Executive Director before I make my decision on
issues that are very delicate. Their views and intake are essential for my
course of actions to be efficient and fruitful.
It is imperative for leaders like me to find ways to improve our quality
of life. Experiencing stress will always
have an adverse or negative effect on me and the individuals that I encounter every
day.
References:
Boyatzis,
R.E. (2012). The Resonant Team Leader. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved
from
McKee,
A., Boyatzis, R., and Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a Resonant Leader (8th
ed.).
Harvard Business Press.
Puddicombe,
A. (2012). All it takes is 10 mindful minutes [Video
File]. Retrieved from:
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