My 5 Key Takeaways of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation

My 5 Key Takeaways for Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation 

After reading Leadership, Communication, and Social Influence: A Theory of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation by Ruben & Gigliotti, I explored 5 key takeaways which will be explained below, but first I wanted to point out how the book is organized. The following sections are divided by: 

• Leadership, Communication, and Social Influence
• An Overview of Foundational Perspectives on Leadership and Communication
• An Integrated View of Leadership and Communication: The Dynamics of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation
• The Role of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation in Leading Change and Transformation
• Implications and Applications for Those Who Aspire to Influence
• The Decision to Lead; The Choice to Follow

Ruben & Gigliotti (2019) explore how leadership, communication, and social influence impact the relationship between leaders and followers, emphasizing the shared responsibility as social influence impacts teams, communities, and organizations. They explore the connections between leadership and communication, and how messages and behaviors between leader and follower impact the responses and reactions between each other. 

Leadership and Communication

According to Ruben & Gigliotti, “leadership and communication intersect with and build upon each other” (p. 1). They explain that their focus is on the way leadership dynamics are described and understood, and how those messages are translated into practice across multiple levels, from small informal groups to more complex interactions. They specifically discuss the challenges confronting the nature of leadership and leadership practice.  It is noted that leaders’ engagement serves as a “necessary condition for realizing leadership outcomes, however, followers provide the sufficient conditions that form the backdrop of any given communication encounter” (p. 7).  

Foundational Perspectives on Leadership

While some leaders are believed to be natural-born leaders, the consensus is that a person’s natural leadership capabilities can be developed, enhanced and or refined by anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to this goal. “Being skilled at selective communicative engagement and careful decision-making about with whom and when to assert one’s views” can be just as important and impactful in different situations (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2019). Another key point is that the term “leadership” does not necessarily apply to just those who occupy formal positions. It could apply to other individuals who demonstrate informal leadership and who may be extremely influential in relationships, teams, groups, organizations, and communities.  

Foundational Perspectives on Communication

Different models of communication were explored to better understand the relationship between leaders and followers, with a focus on issues of persuasion, news, and entertainment. The earlier forms of communication emphasized the elements of speaker, message, and audience, and viewed communication as a one-way process in which one individual influenced others through messages (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2019). This underlying theme is still considered “as a one-way event that includes a unidirectional transfer of information from source to receiver” (pg. 49). The key takeaway in this section is a shift in thinking: “message sent is not equal to message received” (pg. 50). A leader must know how to construct better messages and deliver them more effectively.

The Dynamics of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation

Resonance is the potential for communicative connection between initiated messages shared between leader and follower. The zone of resonance is the place where “a fit” between leadership actions and follower receptivity connect. 

Activation is the response or rejected response by the potential followers. 

Cultivation is growing people much like growing plants. You must water a plant and nourish it so it will provide you with beauty. When cultivating people, you must provide them with long-term support and opportunities for growth so you can make meaningful connections with them. You do this through the intentional design of your message to hopefully create connections. 

Resonance, activation, and cultivation are interconnected and provide us with a better understanding of the relationship between leadership, communication, and social influence that impact follower response. When cultivation efforts succeed, the zone of resonance and activation expands, resulting in less effort required to trigger a response (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2019).  

The Role of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation

Leading change was discussed as one of the key takeaways, and how to use the stages in the change process to apply the theory of resonance, activation, and cultivation. The stages discussed were attention, engagement, resolve, action, and integration. Successful change requires progression through the change process. If all things align well, activation and long-term cultivation will exist. As change leaders, it is important to expand zones of resonance to overcome obstacles to change, and ensure individuals feel heard and supported. 

Implications and Applications

This section discussed competency categories necessary for engaging in social influence. Being aware and becoming experts at applying this knowledge may be useful when influencing in different capacities. Leadership excellence is shaped by the interplay of leader behaviors, followers, and the context (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2019).  

The Decision to Lead and the Choice to Follow

The challenges faced by leadership and leadership practices were discussed to shed some light on how social influence is interconnected with leadership and communication. The decisions we make as leaders and followers in how we use and present the ideas shared by Ruben & Gigliotti (2019) will help shape our perspectives in our roles. However, our efforts should focus on what makes us as individuals feel important and valued. 

 

A group of my colleagues got together to film a podcast to collaboratively discuss the 5 key takeaways from this week’s reading (Leadership, Communication, and Social Influence: A Theory of Resonance, Activation, and Cultivation). The video is about Leadership, Resonance, Activation, Cultivation, and Presence, which are framed around Ruben & Gigliotti’s ideas between leadership, communication, and social influence. While our ideas and interpretations were from different perspectives, we all concluded that leadership, communication, and social influence are interconnected and promote resonance, activation, and cultivation patterns.

You can access the filmed Podcast here: Group Key Takeaways

 

Reference

Ruben, B. D., & Gigliotti, R. A. (2019). Leadership, communication, and social influence: A theory of resonance, activation, and cultivation. Emerald Publishing.