Called, or Installed?

Power and leadership go together like ham and sandwich; separate items, but both integral to an effective outcome.

If you do not yet see yourself as a leader because you sit somewhere down the line from the top of the hierarchy, think again. If you are a leader, do you occupy a position of power, or do you bring power to the position? Can you define the source of your power? Where does your authority come from?

Hierarchical forms of governance, control, communication, and management, like the great pyramids of the ancient world, are crumbling. Our times are witness to a rapid transformation away from command-and-control systems characterized by one-way flows of power and information, towards networked communication, teamwork, and decision-making. Rising levels of global competition, broadened education, and shared information via networked technologies have undermined the effectiveness of the hierarchy. No one leader or leadership caste has the information, intelligence, or integration necessary to deal with the speed and complexity required today. A system must lead itself at every node of the network, or risk perishing.

Hierarchical power is necessary in organizations whenever there is a great imbalance in financial, social, or knowledge capital between an elite and the masses. The cynics’ cite their ‘golden rule’: “He who has the gold, rules.” That was true, at least in part, for most major institutions–empires, bureaucracies, and religions–for thousands of years. It is changing now within the space of a single lifetime–mine, and yours.

You see, that great imbalance is being flattened in most of the developed and developing world. Elites are not what they used to be. Knowledge capital is no longer the province of the few. In our knowledge economy, it’s a rare manager that understands the job of her direct reports as well as they do. Social capital used to rest with the glitterati and jet set; now anyone with a great idea, a great voice, and an internet connection can become an instant celebrity. And the captains of finance have been shown up to be as greedy and vulnerable to their own avarice as the average Joe (no offense to average Joes intended). The point is, financial capital is also becoming democratized.

Worse, that imbalance of capital as a source of hierarchical power always came with a fatal flaw; it bred dependence on the leadership to lead. The masses had to wait for instructions, either through ignorance of what to do or fear of punishment for non-compliance. Initiative was for leaders. Passivity and passing the buck up the ladder are typical features of a hierarchy.

So if your power as a leader comes from a capital imbalance, beware: the times, they are a’changing, and fast. If you’ve been installed in a position of power, and you exercise power from on high, you are essentially borrowing power from the position to make things happen. Your “troops” move when you tell them to, and in the direction you specify, as fast as you compel them to move, for as long as you’re watching. The best you can hope for is compliance.

Another kind of power emanates from a leader with a strong core. This is the kind of leader who does not need to borrow power; she’s got plenty to give away. This is the power that comes from within (someone who has done the work to know exactly who they are and what they believe). It’s a leader who knows why they are called to lead (to enable others to achieve things they never thought possible). A leader within a purpose-centered organization who can lead and follow simultaneously. Someone who knows where they’re going, and how to get there, and who constantly checks and corrects any and all gaps in integrity and knowledge along the way. This is a true leader, from whom power flows to others in service, and to whom power flows from others who willingly follow.

All our systems need such BUILT TO LEAD leaders at every node in the network. This is a mission-critical need; hierarchies are crumbling around the world faster than we realize.