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Resonant Leaders
Name
OBLD 641 Resonant Leadership: Leading Change
School
Professor
Date
Organizational leaders showcase different leadership styles that are needed for building their business and workplace culture. Several business leaders use traits such as compassion, hope, and mindfulness in their leadership practice (McKee et al., 2008, p. 38). These traits help leaders to sustain their resonance cycle with the use of sacrifice and renewal cycle and ensure they can overcome crises. These leaders are categorized as resonant leaders. One such leader that comes to mind from the business world and has showcased these traits in their business practices and decisions throughout their career is Jeff Weiner. As the former CEO and active executive chairman of LinkedIn, Weiner led, installed, and cultivated a posture of empathy and trust in the company’s culture (Schuetz, 2020). The following analysis will explore and define the reasons Jeff Weiner has been selected as a resonant leader.
Situation of Resonant Leadership
Jeff Weiner has been selected because his leadership style embodies hope, compassion, and mindfulness. Different leadership practices can be used to highlight these traits in a multitude of varying scenarios. Throughout his leadership term at LinkedIn, Weiner was inspiring others to accomplish their shared goals and building hope for future success. As the leader, several executives were empowered to feel like owners who needed to turn their start-ups into global enterprises (Meister, 2012). Compassion was shown with subordinates by taking time out of coaching leaders, as several LinkedIn executives were directly groomed by Weiner (Haigh, 2018). These experiences’ impact helped connect with executives and develop personal resonance. Finally, mindfulness is a trait that stands out in their leadership practices of Weiner, as he believes in taking time out of challenging work environments and responsibilities to reflect on their work and decisions (Meister, 2012). The ability to reflect on their actions helps in course correction and finding ways to serve themselves and others.
But is he an inspiration?
Weiner and his career at LinkedIn can be a tale of inspiration, as he managed to create economic opportunities for billions of professionals worldwide. As the leader, Weiner focused on listening to their customers and taking actions that inspired critical changes on the LinkedIn platform. As a social media business, LinkedIn connected people to jobs related to their skills and helped employers close their recruitment gaps (Parker, 2015). The platform worked for people and corporations and ensured the right people were connected to the right organizations. By the time Weiner sold LinkedIn to Microsoft in 2016, Weiner had managed to create billions of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for their users. Thus, Weiner should be considered an inspirational leader who changed the social media landscape for business professionals.
How is his emotional tone?
As previously highlighted, Weiner encouraged his executives to think they were the owners of the company. The reason behind the decision was to develop an emotional connection between the executives and LinkedIn, as every success or failure would impact them. Executives were hopeful and aspirational of making transformative changes by connecting with their customers both personally and professionally. Rather than focusing on performing multiple tasks, Weiner developed a culture where executives provided the impetus to do things right by focusing on fewer tasks (Meister, 2012). These practices became part of the LinkedIn culture and helped Weiner to develop an environment of constant improvement. Thus, a positive emotional tone was employed at work that was ingrained in the culture of the workplace.
Is he really in touch with his people?
Jeff Weiner stands out as a resonant leader when we consider being in touch with others, such as subordinates, customers, and the business community. Weiner claimed that he took time out to socialize with his subordinates and highlighted the importance of a sense of humor. Weiner claimed that creating economic opportunities for billions of people worldwide required several challenges, and having an emotional connection with subordinates was essential for overcoming tough circumstances (Meister, 2012). Similarly, Weiner often took time out to introspect and understand the market’s changing needs. Some of the actions required engaging with customers and understanding their expectations from LinkedIn. These efforts helped communicate the LinkedIn vision to customers and allowed them to share their feedback on improving the services, thus bolstering their emotional connection with the company.
Does he show compassion for others?
Compassion is an essential measure of Weiner’s leadership skills, as along with himself, he encouraged his executives to take time out and develop their vision. These efforts helped Weiner chart a LinkedIn path and manifest achieving it (Meister, 2012). Thus, executives were encouraged to follow the same route and use the opportunity to understand their career ambitions and hopes. These measures helped many executives find their place at LinkedIn and their vision for future services and pushed others to develop their career paths away from LinkedIn. As a result, Weiner’s compassion helped build LinkedIn and its services and provided new service offerings to users to improve their career outcomes (Parker, 2015). Realizing that executives at LinkedIn can have their passions and aspirations is a sign of compassion from Weiner, and many leaders cannot showcase such as personal resonance towards their subordinates.
What’s his secret to success?
Weiner was successful as a business leader due to his ability to resonate with their peers, customers, and industry needs. LinkedIn kept changing and improving its services, as Weiner and his executives used mindfulness and compassion to develop the platform in a manner that served users’ interests. Satisfied and ambitious executives prioritized customer needs and ensured new enhancements benefitted active and paid members. Since customers were always prioritized at LinkedIn, competition struggled to challenge their market domination. Apart from connecting with users and peers, Weiner also took time out of work to connect with his executives and scheduled buffer time for himself (Haigh, 2018). These measures helped determine how they could improve LinkedIn and enhance their productivity. Collectively, these measures ensured creativity poured out of the executives for LinkedIn’s continuous improvement.
Did he leave a lasting impact?
Weiner’s behavior and business practices positively impacted their subordinates and LinkedIn, as their success and the multibillion-dollar sale can be credited to the resonant leadership employed. Through the compassion-based leadership style of Weiner, he managed to take time out to develop the strategic vision and people at LinkedIn (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005, pp. 175-181). By structuring his priorities, Weiner impeded his professional and personal commitments. While he provided hope to his subordinates and customers of serving their needs to LinkedIn, the use of introspection helped identify gaps hindering LinkedIn’s ability to grow. Ultimately, I believe Weiner is an appropriate example of resonant leadership, as he combined critical traits such as mindfulness, hope, and compassion for building LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Jeff Weiner’s career is an exceptional example of resonant leadership, as he combined traits such as hope, compassion, and mindfulness. These traits helped Weiner empower his peers and subordinates to consider themselves owners and transform the professional social media network. Compassion helped connect with their customers and executives, as Weiner used the opportunity to understand their needs and modify LinkedIn to serve their changing needs. While on the professional front, these aspects helped develop LinkedIn; Wiener used mindfulness to introspect and develop connections with his peers. These efforts helped in building balance between professional and personal front and identified gaps that could be closed by motivated subordinates.
References
Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership: Renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope, and compassion (5th ed.). Harvard Business Press.
Haigh, M. (2018, September 20). LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner says these 4 simple practices helped him grow as a leader. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/this-routine-helps-linkedin-ceo-jeff-weiner-be-a-better-leader.html
McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader: Develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness (8th ed.). Harvard Business Press.
Meister, J. (2012, September 10). 10 Leadership Lessons From Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/09/10/10-leadership-lessons-from-jeff-weiner-ceo-of-linkedin/?sh=2ac391d539a4
Parker, L. (2015, March 23). LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner shares 5 things that make products truly great. The Business Journals. Retrieved from https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2015/03/linkedin-ceo-jeff-weiner-on-great-products.html
Schuetz, M. (2020, February 5). LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner steps down after 11 years. Fortune. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2020/02/05/linkedin-ceo-jeff-weiner-steps-down/
