I took a break from finishing Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee’s Resonant Leadership yesterday to see the movie, The Queen. The movie is a fictional account of the week following Princess Diana’s death, in which Queen Elizabeth and her royal family seem unable to reach out to the British people’s escalating public grief. Surely this was an example of dissonant leadership, I mused, wondering why the Brits continue to humor the monarchy. Yet, the monarchy has remained in this otherwise post-modern nation (it’s interesting that in the movie Charles wants to be seen as modern); certainly this must be some evidence of resonance.Boyatzis and McKee wrote Resonant Leadership as a sequel of sorts to Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. This new book begins with a discussion o emotional intelligence, and includes a table outlining the domains and competencies of emotional leadership: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. These ideas somewhat parallel the competencies that Warren Bennis requires of leaders in On Becoming a Leader: vision, voice, integrity and adaptive capacity. Using emotional intelligence as a building block, Resonant Leadership asks how leaders maintain that resonance over time. Boyatzis and McKee talk about the sacrifice syndrome that contemporary leaders fall into when they deal with one crisis after another, failing to renew themselves along the way. Renewal requires mindfulness, hope and compassion on an ongoing basis, the authors argue.
It might be argued that none of this has anything to do with Queen Elizabeth – she is only a figurehead, and not a leader. However, as the movie reminds us, ten elected British prime ministers have come before her to ask her permission to form a government, and have then engaged her in ongoing discussions about the country. Whether this role will continue after her death is not idle discussion. If she is more celebrity than leader, it is celebrity built on figurative leadership. Regardless of the monarchy’s relevance, Queen Elizabeth (both as portrayed in the movie and the media) would score high in the emotional intelligence of self-awareness and self-management. She embraces and believes in her role as sovereign, and shows tremendous discipline. One might argue whether she has an accurate self-assessment, adaptability or initiative. However, her sustained popularity with the British people would indicate that she exhibits these competencies as appropriate to her role. A critical discussion of her emotional intelligence in the areas of social competencies might be more spirited. While she may be an inspirational leader, as sovereign, she is not allowed to voice a political opinion, negating much of her effectiveness in other relationship management areas.
Resonant Leadership focuses on why leaders stumble, and how they might pick themselves up. The movie, The Queen focuses on such a stumble. The queen’s lack of a response to Princess Diana’s death could be seen as emblematic of a failed monarchy, the sacrifice syndrome, or a momentary crisis. Leaving aside value judgments on the monarchy as an institution, it would be hard to argue that Queen Elizabeth is a failed monarch. Her longevity, popularity and legacy are testaments to her success. However, I wondered if she had fallen prey to sacrifice syndrome, caused by too many threats and crisis for too long of a period with no time for renewal. During the course of the week, the queen’s popularity drops, and the number of Brits calling for an end to the monarchy rises to a record 25 percent, as the queen seems immobilized to do anything. She is a prime candidate for CEO Disease – with no peers, few in her trusted circle would criticize her. Interestingly, it is Tony Blair, as a young prime minister, who takes on this challenge.
Despite the disastrous week, Queen Elizabeth isn’t portrayed as perpetually dissonant. Instead, she exhibits some of the traits that Boyatzis and McKee say leaders need to sustain themselves: mindfulness, hope and compassion. She is mindful of who she is, and confident in her role. As the symbolic head of the Church of England, the media also tells us she is personally religious. Moviegoers see a vulnerable Queen Elizabeth when she stands in awe of a stag, and then, finally, is able to cry. She does stay attuned to what is going on around her, even if her response seems out of step with public sentiment. The movie would have us believe she is acting out of a sense of propriety, as well as some deep ambivalence for Diana herself. Hope is a little harder to gauge. If hope is defined as optimism about the future, Queen Elizabeth’s actions may be seen as hopeful – she thinks she is protecting her grandsons – England’s future. Then there’s compassion, interesting to think about in this woman who is seen as rather severe and formal. She does show affection for her family, even if it is within a tightly prescribed set of rules. (At one point, Charles calls her on this, pointing out what a warm mother Diana was to her sons.) In the end, she participates in Diana’s public funeral. She may have been bowing to political pressure, but she was also reaching out to the British people. For Queen Elizabeth, I wondered if the careful constructs of personal relationships that she subscribes to are what have allowed her to sustain herself for so many years.
At the end of the movie, Tony Blair compliments Queen Elizabeth on handling the crisis. She cautions him that public opinion can turn negative very quickly. Anyone up for analyzing Tony Blair’s leadership issues?
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About the Author: Richard Boyatzis is a professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior and Psychology at Case Western Reserve University. Annie McKee is at the Teleos Leadership Institute.
Questions:
1. Do you have to be THE leader to fall into Sacrifice Syndrome?
2. What can you do to renew mindfulness, hope and compassion?
3. Is CEO Disease related to the Abilene Paradox?
4. Take a look at the activities at the end of Chapter 5. Define your fantasy job. Think about what you would like your legacy to be. Do you have a personal vision?
A Short Webography:
Book Reviews and Summaries
Ten minute audio file of Richard Boyatzis talking about Resonant Leadership on Bill Thompson’s eyeonbooks at http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=1591395631
Case Western Reserve University article on book: http://www.case.edu/news/2005/12-05/resonant.htm
Book excerpt, “Business Week” online at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_48/b3961151.htm. Short discussion of some of the exercises from the book.
Book summary from 800-CEO-READ of first chapter at http://800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/005772.html .
Amazon reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Resonant-Leadership-Connecting-Mindfulness-Compassion/dp/1591395631/sr=8-1/qid=1171850745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-7672359-1488452?ie=UTF8&s=books
Executive Summary from Executive HR Network summit led by Richard Boyatizis on Resonant Leadership: http://www.cognos.com/pdfs/whitepapers/wp_executive_summary_chicago.pdf
About the Authors
Biography of Richard Boyatizis: http://www.eiconsortium.org/members/boyatzis.htm
Publications by Annie McKee: http://www.teleosleaders.com/pdf/Bibliography_of_Annie_McKee.pdf
