Politics And Resonance—And How You Can Apply The Same Principle
Potential energy becomes rapidly kinetic when barriers are removed. Politics offers some potent examples of this principle of resonance available to all leaders.
Politics And Resonance—And How You
Can Apply The Same Principle
By Ginny Whitelaw
Originally published on Forbes.com on August 1st, 2024
Image created by Frank Wagner/Getty Images
In the past month, we’ve seen it from both US political parties: a huge burst of galvanizing energy, unifying Republicans behind former President Trump and now Democrats behind Vice President Harris. The pace of political shifts has been almost dizzying. Fresh from the high energy Republican National Convention, Wisconsin Republican Party Chair, Brian Schimming, commented on PBS, “I can’t think of another time in recent history where so much was packed into so little time.” A week later, reporting by APnews quoted his Democratic counterpart, Ben Wikler, on the rapid crystallization of support behind Harris, “The level of unity and energy is through the roof. There is a surge of focus, of enthusiasm, a flowering of the kind of unity we’re going to need to beat Donald Trump.”
Both examples highlight the power of resonance, whereby events seem to turn on a dime or at a tipping point, to use Malcolm Gladwell’s term. This principle behind all change is available to all leaders—anyone sincere about making a difference. Examining how resonance worked in these high-profile situations offers guidance on how leaders can get it working for them.
Notably the kind of resonance we’ve seen on both the Republican and Democratic sides did not come about by persuading one person at a time. Rather, in both cases it was like a flood of pent-up energy released as a dam breaks or as a rock in a river flow is removed.
On the Republican side, Trump supporters had a whole spring to build up their indignation or anticipation as their candidate sat in a dingy courtroom and was found guilty on 34 felony counts. Their natural motivation was to support “their guy” but how would he come out of this? How many criminal cases would make headlines before the election? Likening Republican support of Trump to a river, one could say it had some rocks in it. But then the rocks started getting removed: further criminal trials got delayed and then all but dismissed by the Supreme Court ruling for presidential immunity. Polls showed Trump leading by growing margins after President Biden’s terrible debate performance. A failed assassination attempt filled supporters with relief and pride that their candidate was still standing and pumping his fist. All that energy poured into the Republican Convention and pulsated for four days.
On the Democratic side, President Biden’s supporters had a whole spring to worry. Their natural motivation was to support “their guy” but how much was he in decline? Further fueling their worry were the high stakes involved: democracy versus autocracy, rule of law versus chaos, facts versus conspiracy theories, with not only the presidency at risk, but both houses of Congress. After a most worrisome debate, increasingly influential Democrats started calling for Biden to step aside. Part of the Democratic donor base revolted by freezing funds. Polls showed Trump pulling further ahead. Likening Democratic support of Biden to a river, the Democrats felt on an urgent mission yet stuck in rising waters that were dammed. In stepping aside and endorsing Kamala Harris, President Biden broke the dam and initiated a flood of relief and support toward the new Democratic nominee.
In both cases, the flood of energy released when barriers were removed came from people doing what they were already motivated to do. Those motivations had been frustrated, building latent energy, and then were suddenly freed to manifest—like potential energy becoming kinetic. So, while tipping points change the tide of events quickly, they only work in systems where there’s been a more gradual buildup of pressure or potential energy. In the emotional sphere, that might include feelings such as grievance with the status quo, desire to win or stay in power, fear of losing, the need to belong or love of country.
How might leaders apply these energetic principles more generally? In some sense, leaders have been doing that for thousands of years. Viewing life as a flow of energy and leadership as a way of co-creating with it has deep roots in Taoism and Zen and is central to Zen Leadership. It also accords with the science of resonance, which recognizes life as a flow of energy—including matter as a condensed form of energy—and resonance (i.e., vibrating with) as the way that energy changes form. Sensing the pulsing of the universe as chi or energy and ourselves as participants in that great dance, we can become increasingly attuned to energy in all natural processes, from our own energy to the vibe of relationships, the mood of a crowd, the yearnings of a generation or the spirit of the times. Here are a few ways leaders can work with the energy surrounding an important project and get it moving toward their goals.
Quiet Down to Feel Energy
Because energy can be hidden and manifest—potential and kinetic—we tune into it more readily when we slow down or quiet down enough to sense subtlety. Sensing energy is not a thought, but a physical feeling. As practitioners of energy-based arts such as Tai Chi or Aikido know, once we have a felt sense of the energy of a situation, we can operate at speed, but getting that sense calls for momentary quietude and tuning in. The practice of breath regulation, particularly slowing down one’s exhale is useful in this regard. For big projects, it’s also useful to have multiple people doing this sensing, as each person is a unique antenna for sensing the field.
Sense Where Energy is Moving or Stuck
Tuning into the system of relationships and conditions surrounding the project or goal, we can imagine it as a river and feel for where the current is fast or slow, healthy or stuck. We do especially well to sense where emotions are building, but movement is stuck or where motivation is present, but actions are thwarted; those are places where latent pressure is building in the system.
Remove Barriers, Measure and Adjust
Next, we look for barriers to flow that we’re in a position to remove. On removing them, we see how that changes the flow and adjust. Some barriers will be conditions that we can’t remove, but we can wait for the right timing when they change on their own. Multiple perspectives and partnerships are again helpful in expanding the view of barriers and capacity to remove them. While working with energy starts as an intuitive process, it’s good to augment it with analytics that quantify the manifest aspects of energy, and confirm or adjust one’s felt sense of movement toward the goal.
The examples of Republicans and Democrats show a couple of ways this process of sensing and removing barriers can play out. For Trump, he couldn’t fail to show up in the courtroom, but he could keep building latent pressure by increasing the frustrated emotions of his supporters during the process. He couldn’t further delay the trial at hand, but he could remove the barrier of future trials by delaying them beyond relevancy. He certainly wouldn’t have asked for an assassination attempt, but he had a keen sense of how to use the burst of emotional energy it unleashed.
For Biden, it was even more personal because he had to see that he, himself, was the barrier. For a leader whose life has centered on public service and overcoming obstacles, this must have been near-impossible to see. Yet, as he put it, “I revere the office, but love the country more.” He committed what rarely happens in political life: a selfless act of love. The rightness of the act became apparent in the energetic flood and quantifiable results that followed, from rapid consolidation of support behind Harris, to record-breaking fundraising and new voters registering.
Would that we as leaders be equally selfless and successful in restoring the flow of energy to projects that make for a more loving world.
Ginny Whitelaw is the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Zen Leadership.
Do we know how to find you?
If you received this from a friend and want your own monthly boost of insight and resources, let us know.
Published on Aug 12 2024
By emilya