I’ve always been interested in the topic of Leadership. For many years the topic of Leadership seemed to me to be a twin-sister to History.  As a boy I loved reading about it because it was inspiring and provided me with a lot of good role models and heroes. Later as an Air Force officer I had to read it as part of formal professional development courses.  In both cases what I read seemed good to know, but it was hard to connect the dots on what I could actually do in an intentional, informed and ongoing way to become a better leader.

That changed noticeably when I began to learn about Resonant and Transformational leadership. These two styles of leadership fall under the Relationship theory of leadership, which is just one of the eight major leadership theory categories below.

1. “Great Man”
2. Trait
3. Contingency
4. Situational
5. Behavioral
6. Participative
7. Management
8. Relational

Unlike other approaches, Resonant and Transformational leadership can really help you move the needle if you’re seeking to build practical leadership skills for immediate application.  And those 2 approaches makes sense, as their main focus is on the connections formed by leaders and their followers. As John Maxwell says, if you think you are leading but no one is following then you are simply taking a walk (so “check six” to see if all you’re doing is strolling).

Resonate Leadership stresses the competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Transformational Leadership flows from resonate leadership and is an expression of how leaders motivate, and inspire their followers to “get on the bus” and adopt their vision. These leadership approaches provide concrete examples and action steps that allow you to observe, reflect and then act on what you learned. Being a strong Resonant leader allows you to lead yourself well and in turn, then allows you to be a transformational leaders of others. In other words, you need both; a “secret” if you would, although little is said about it.

First off, are you a leader? This recent podcast by Michael Hyatt gives 12 ways you can know for sure.  Are you a resonate leader? Are you a transformational leader? If so, how do you know?  Taking a quick pulse check could be a good first step (access via the respective preceding hyperlinks).  If not, what should it look like for you? What can you do about it?  All great questions and ones we’ll explore plus much more over the next several posts.

Finally, applied leadership is a big space. If something is working well for you, I’d love to hear about it. Please make a comment and share the wealth.