In any organization, on any given day, the leadership question at hand is, “what is more important, the people or the goal?” FutureSYNC would submit that if you are a TEAM MEMBER, it is the GOAL. Team members need to put their own agendas aside to effectively complete the objectives and outcomes that drive each project. But for the LEADER, it has to be the PEOPLE.
Engaged employee behavior manifests as effective organizational performance. In fact, new research may confirm this if you consider Daniel Goleman’s Leadership That Gets Results; a landmark 2000 Harvard Business Review study in which Goleman interviews 3,000 mid-managers regarding the efficacy of their own leaders. Goleman’s study identified both resonant and dissonant leaders and found that “resonant leaders have a higher degree of emotional intelligence and a greater ability to connect personally with followers. They show empathy for employees struggling with life challenges. They are more likely to create harmony in a group and motivate workers to follow direction, even in tense company situations. Employees typically believe that a resonant leader cares as much about them as people as he does about their work performance.” The research also discovered that a resonant leadership style was responsible for 30% of the company’s bottom-line profitability.