School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

LeMonaid:
Driving Your Leadership with Resonance

Cal LeMon | Contributing Editor

If you think you are in management because you are so smart . think again!

Think again about the best boss you have ever had. I would bet an Allison transmission your best boss was chosen because he/she "connected" with you.

Your ability to make a connection, a physical and psychological connection, is the essence of great leadership.

Back in 1995, Dr. Daniel Goleman wrote a best-selling book entitled "Emotional Intelligence." His research into the factors that guarantee success in leadership were startling. The IQ of a leader came in a very poor second to "emotional intelligence."

In other words if a leader cannot or chooses not to "connect" with those who follow his/her lead the followers will find a way to drag their sorry rear bumpers through every work day.

So what does this all mean for someone like yourself who is in a leadership position in pupil transportation?

Well, you may know how to schedule regular fleet maintenance, how to efficiently design routing, how to write up an incident report about a bully on a bus and how to zip your lip with an assistant principal . but can you get people to follow you because they do not want to disappoint you?

That's right, disappoint you.

Have you ever gone the second mile with an assignment because you did not want your boss to be disappointed in you? This boss "connected" with you.

Another word for "connecting" is "resonance."

Resonance and dissonance are two musical terms that will illustrate my premise.

Resonance, from the Latin resonare, means to "resound with synchronous vibration." If you could hear my voice right now you may say, "He has a resonant voice." Resonance means my voice "carries."

Therefore, resonance in leadership means your "influence," your "connection" goes on . even when you are not around. You have imprinted the people who work for you with trust and integrity and the last thing they would do is disappoint you.

Dissonance, on the other hand, means "off key."

In leadership, anyone who is a dissonant leader is someone who is first uncomfortable with himself/herself and then non-verbally communicates that "off key-ness" to the people who follow.

I believe there are some management people in pupil transportation who should not be in a leadership role. They are good people with good ethics and good hearts, but they are just in the wrong position.

Think about it. We reward people for working so well alone that we "promote" them to a supervisory position where they have responsibility for 14 of the most difficult people on the face of the earth. When difficult people pick up on their sonar that the boss is unsure of himself/herself, they load tubes one and two with their worst tormenting torpedoes.

So, if you are interested in "connecting" with resonance leadership, what do you do? I have two suggestions.

First, ask yourself, "Do I enjoy managing people?" I did not ask if you were having a bad day. I am asking about whether or not you are having a bad life.

If your answer is "a bad life," do yourself and those drivers, dispatchers and mechanics a favor.stay in pupil transportation but find a place where you are comfortable with your responsibilities. If you never make that hard choice, you may feel like you are doing "hard time" every day at work.

Second, monitor your responses during the first three to seven seconds when you walk into your workplace.

Did you give people eye contact? How would you describe the tone of your voice? Did you call your staff by name when you entered?

In the first three to seven seconds, you will "imprint" the people who follow you with your resonance or dissonance.

Make note of these facts: (1) Your eyes are the most expressive part of your body. If you fail to make eye contact (because you are scanning the contents of a clipboard) your staff will find ways to create distance between the two of you. (2) Your tone of voice constitutes 37% of all face-to-face communication. (3) Your name is the sweetest word in the English language. Calling someone by name gives him/her worth.

So, if you think you are in management because you are so smart.think again. Are you smart enough to develop resonant leadership?

LeMon is president and CEO of Executive Enrichment and a frequent keynote speaker for the school bus industry. He can be contacted at execenrichment@aol.com.