John Dentico wrote:
> The job of the leader in the knowledge era is to
> initiate and facilitate the leadership relationship and create and
> environment where leadership can flourish at every level of the
> organization. I call this model collaborative leadership only to
> distinguish it from the industrial models.
I hate to disagree with a noted author, but I think the nature of leaders
is what it has always been: to tap into the motivation of those they lead
and get them focused on a common goal. The means have changed, the style
has changed, the goals have changed, but the core has not. In the early
industrial era, you tried to motivate people to get more efficient at what
they were doing and keep them in line. In the more recent era you tried
to motivate people to be good corporate citizens. Today you try to
motivate them to stay focused and enable rapid change and adaptability.
The underlying motivation of leaders has shifted somewhat (I speak from
data here) from primarily influence-plus-efficiency-based to
influence-plus-affiliation-based (collaborative leadership, in fact, is a
term we were using at Hay/McBer five years ago in describing Catholic
healthcare execs), but I see the differences as a matter of form, not
substance.
In fact, the description above could probably be applied, without
alteration, to Julius Caesar as readily as modern leaders.
Steve Kelner
Director, Educational and Advising Services
Center for Quality of Management
http://www.cqm.org
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