Great story, Tom. A wonderful parable on leadership.
I especially like the organic quality of Follett's 1918 description: 'It
comes from the intermingling of all, of my work fitting into yours and
yours into mine." She seems to be saying that great leaders develop in
part out of a realization of thair interdependence with followers.
Interdependence is a great driver of quality work and leadership, as well
as of knowledge sharing in organizations.
But what about those who haven't 'gotten it,' and likely won't?I recently
started an interesting book on managerial narcissism: Beyond the Looking
Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism, by Alan
Downs. He suggests that these egoistic people are concerned only for
themselves. For them, interdependence (and other words like 'trust) take
on a twisted, look-out-for-number-one meaning. Realizing that their fate
lies with the common good, these 'leaders' are driven to desperate,
authoritarian acts focused on appearance and self-aggrandizement.
Perhaps this is the start of a thread on leadership. Your
thought-provoking contribution might equally start one on the power of
storying and narrative, also of great value for leaders.
Neil Olonoff
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com>
Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>