Resonant leadership

The Annual Leadership Conference just ended around noon on 17 June 2011. The delegates were leaving the exhibition hall carrying packed lunch provided by the organiser together with their bags, notes and perhaps business cards of their newly-made friends. As they were going towards the escalator leading to the ground floor of the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham they were met by a man standing just in front of the escalator, holding a plastic box to collect back the name tag holder for recycling. When it was my turn to hand over my plastic tag holder together with the lanyard attached to it, I was surprised that the collector was none other than Mr. Steve Munby. It struck me with a resonance that made my heart beat faster and stronger. That probably made me brave enough to request a photo of both of us standing together to be taken.

Just a day earlier, in his keynote address as the Chief Executive of the National College, the organiser of the conference, Steve Munby mentioned that in the modern era, the best leaders are not necessary those with great physical strength but more of those who draw on their character, passion and values and those who shape the environment around them for the greater good. According the Steve, successful leaders are those who see change not a threat but an opportunity betterment and what is needed most is the resonant leadership.

In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate with larger amplitude at some frequencies than at others.....At these frequencies, even small periodic driving forces can produce large amplitude oscillations......                                (Wikipedia) 

Resonant leaders are those who are able to strike a pure note so that they, and their teams, resonate. They energise those around them during changing times when there is a greater risk of confusion and dissonance. Steve elaborated on the five key characteristics of resonant leaders.

1. They know themselves and strive to develop their own leadership style through a combination of skills, personality, context, and the core beliefs and values.

2. They motivate and energise others. They help those they lead to understand their connection to the bigger picture and the part they play in it. They are very good at prioritising their presence and demonstrating empathy at the right time and place. They strive to get the best out of people, to motivate them, reducing disharmony and creating a resonant culture.

3. They focus on improvement and achieving positive impact in the implementation of evidence-based policy development. Steve cautioned the possibility of being side tracked in the effort to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom due to lack of focus on the correct details. Resonant leaders seek to build on the best practice and are also quick to challenge underperformance in a robust and rigorous way.

4. They collaborate to make organisations stronger and more resilient. Steve mentioned that an effective collaboration culture must be based on moral purpose and about doing the best for young people. Schools in colloboration should be able to identify and draw on great practice from across them to accelerate school improvement.

5. They develop a compelling narrative about the direction of their organisations and make it something to aspire to. They must be able to create resonance out of potential dissonance and react fast to a rapidly changing environment to develop new vision and narrative.

Music and leadership

The National College’s Annual Leadership Conference on 15-17 June 2011 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, UK has brought together a unique blend of world-class speakers to share their insights into modern leadership. One particular speaker who has left a very deep impression on me is Mr. Dominic Alldis. Dominic Alldis is an orchestral conductor, jazz musician and business speaker.

According to Mr. Dominic, a great conductor is a focal point and an inspirational leader. Even though in an orchestra, each individual musician can play equally well in the absence of a conductor, they will play their parts all on their own. It is the role of a respected and inspirational conductor that brings about the focus and the musicians respond to his direction, bringing together the music as a whole. It is not about control but to provide a beat, a pulse and feedback to people on how they sound. The conductor generates the necessary energy and inspires enthusiasm.

Through illustration and live performance, Mr. Dominic explained how a conductor conducts will set the dynamism of the orchestra and by this parallel, how a leader leads will determine the chemistry and dynamism of his organisation. He demonstrated three ways of conducting and explained each respectively in relation to leading and managing in an organisation.

1.      Micromanage – Lack of trust; try to control and at times disruptive.

2.      Indifference – Not interested; boring. 

3.      Passion – Confidence and trust; move together.

Mr. Dominic made a comparison between jazz and managing change. Just as in jazz, managing change is frequently about embracing uncertainty and being curious about what happens next. Jazz provides a structure through common understanding, but has plenty of space for improvisation and finding something new. Within the structure, there is a greater degree of freedom in jazz compared with classical music. Improvisation keeps the music vital, fresh, exciting and new. Occasionally, there will be mistake and Mr. Dominic reminded the audience the saying of Miles Davis: "If there's no mistake, it's a mistake" and stressed that a mistake that is being modified, improvised is not a mistake. He further added that the biggest failure is to have no failure.

During the live performance of a good jazz music, each of the musicians takes turn to play solo and backed-up by the rest of the team. This illustrates the fact that leadership should be rotational and not about one-man show. With proper set-up and environment, each can take turn to lead. Bad jazz is with players on their own, each trying to outdo each other. Good jazz happens when people listen to each other and knowing when to play and when not to play. Music is not just about noise, it is also about silence and listening. What the music teaches is not about competition but it is about collaboration.