Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion »

Richard Boyatzis is Professor in the Department of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve. Annie McKee is Co-chair of the Teleos Leadership Institute and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education. They are coauthors, with Daniel Goleman, of Primal Leadership (HBS Press, 2002).

The co-authors of Primal Leadership (2004) explain how the stress and sacrifice associated with leadership can produce burnout and bad decisions if not counteracted by a conscious renewal process. Based upon interdisciplinary research in such fields as neuropsychology and management, their Intentional Change Model shows leaders how to use mindfulness, hope, and compassion to become more effective. Exercises and activities are given at the end of each chapter. Boyatzis teaches organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve, and McKee is affiliated with the Teleos Leadership Institute. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

Building on the principles they laid out in their 2002 bestseller, Primal Leadership (coauthored with emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman), Boyatzis and McKee explain how managers and executives can employ mindfulness, hope and compassion to create-and maintain-exceptional business success. "Effective teams and powerful, positive organizational cultures do not happen by accident," they write; they are created by "resonant" leaders who employ emotional intelligence to motivate and nurture their employees. Yet resonance can be exhausting to maintain, the authors have found, and even outstanding leaders can turn dissonant under the pressure of chronic business stress. When that happens, they say, "rest and relaxation" aren't enough to restore a leader's emotional resilience. Drawing upon cognitive psychology, Buddhist philosophy and their own research, the authors propose a series of more effective remedies. Among them: cultivating "openness, curiosity and awareness" about oneself and others; visualizing a positive, realistic dream; and working to understand and improve the situations of others. Boyatzis and McKee argue convincingly that such practices can "favorably impact the bottom line while enabling leaders to sustain their effectiveness for longer periods of time." At a time when business leaders are under scrutiny for moral lapses on financial and social fronts, the exercises and arguments in this book can help executives learn to improve their interests by strengthening their ethics. 60,000-copy first printing. (Oct. 27) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.