Chapter One: Primal Leadership

The first chapter of the book opens up by explaining the double meaning of the title. "The emotional task of the leader is primal--that is, first--in two senses: It is both the original and the most important act of leadership." It goes on to talk about the notion that since organized human civilization began people have needed a leader they can follow and look to for support. This chapter also introduces two terms that appear frequently throughout the book.
Resonance is when a leader drives positive emotions in the people who follow them, bringing out their best.
Dissonance is when a leader drives negative emotions in the people who follow them, which undermines people's ability to perform at their best.
The chapter also talks a lot about the open loop of the limbic system, which controls our emotions. This emotional center is considered an open loop because it is impacted by external factors. As others demonstrate strong emotions (positive or negative), our own limbic system reacts and often comes in line with the emotional stimuli around it. So, if you're relaxed and happy walking into a meeting but everyone else is angry and stressed out, you will begin to feel that way too after a period of time in the room with these other people. It refers to this as 'contagion.' All the discussion of brain physiology leads up to the notion that while we all impact each other emotionally, the boss is the one who has the most impact. People are always looking toward the boss for direction. His or her behaviors have the strongest effect on those in the room or in the office.
In my own leadership development classes, we refer to this as the idea that every leader is telling a story about what they value and believe whether or not they mean to or even realize it. Actions speak much louder than words. A leader may view themself as being very open and warm, or committed to work and passionate about their career. Maybe they see themselves as someone who loves to develop people, or as a highly efficient leader. All of this internal characterization means very little if our external behaviors don't align with the way we perceive ourselves. We tend to judge ourselves by our intentions, while others judge us by our actions, since they see our intentions. A great challenge to a leader is to take a week to step outside of themselves and 'observe' all their behaviors at work. Do they observable behaviors support the story you think you're telling? Or do they undermine that story?
The rest of the chapter references quantitative research that demonstrates the business results behind positive leadership. There are studies quoted about cardiac unit death rates with nurses who demonstrate positive vs negative emotions with their patients; and CEOs and their top management teams who regularly demonstrate positive emotions and behaviors and the correlated business results of the company. They talk about studies which have shown that 1% increase in positive service climate between happy employees and customers results in a 2% increase in revenue for the company. The bottom line for this chapter is about setting up the framework that the better leaders (at all levels of the organization) are able to demonstrate positive emotions in the workplace, the more successful the company, it's employees, it's customers, and it's bottom line business results will be.