To understand good leadership, we must acknowledge its opposite.
The article proposes that patterns of dominance and deference have changed throughout human history. It further proposes that in the last half century such change has-due to culture and technology-accelerated. These fundamental shifts have not, however, had an impact on the leadership industry, which continues, erroneously, to presume that leaders are all-important, that followers are unimportant, and that context is other than central. It is concluded that leadership education and development must themselves adapt to the changing times-times in which leaders generally are losing power and influence, while followers generally are gaining. Keywords Leaders, followers, leadership industry, trajectory of history I've been told the title of my most recent book, The End of Leadership, is somewhat hyperbolic. I incline-sometimes-to agree. After all, I wanted the title to attract attention, not to be taken be taken literally, as if there will be no more leaders, ever. But as I write this particular piece, not long after the electoral defeat of French President Nicolas Sarkozy by his opponent, Francois Hollande, and as I tally up the losses of European leaders since the start of the debt crisis (no fewer than 16 EU nations, well over half the total, have had a change of government), I wonder. I wonder now as I do in the book if something fundamental is changing, if the balance of power between leaders and followers is shifting in ways that are permanent, with leaders generally losing power and influence, and followers generally gaining. This is not to say that the meek will inherit the earth, or that the poor will vanquish the rich, or that those without authority will from here on in lord it over those with. Rather it is to point out that leaders everywhere-in every corner of the globe and in the different sectors-are increasingly vulnerable to forces beyond their control and that followers everywhere are lying in wait, ready to pounce on those ostensibly better positioned than they.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.