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LEADERSHIPPOWERNew Sources of PowerWe need a new model of leadership.by Sally HelgesenOVER THE LAST 15years, three forceshave transformed thenature of organizations, rendering traditionalmodels of leadership obsolete.By examining these forces, we can bettersee what leadership we need.First, the nature of our economy hasshifted. In this knowledge era, primaryvalue is vested in the knowledge andexpertise of those who comprise andserve it. Human knowledge––not land,capital, or machines––has become theessential asset, shifting the balance ofpower away from organizations andtoward individuals.The shift to a knowledge economyhas three implications for leaders:1. Individuals now own the primarymeans of all production. The knowledgeeconomy offers more freedom, choices,and scope for action to those whoseskills and talents have real value. In aknowledge economy, talent can’t becompelled, but must be encouragedand coaxed. Leaders must attract andinspire people to use their best talents.2. Knowledge must be broadly vested.In the industrial world, knowledge wasoften prized only at the top of the pyramidor chain of command. Decisionswere made by “heads”at the top;implementation was done by “hands”in the ranks. By contrast, in a knowledgeeconomy, knowledge must bedistributed broadly to be effectivelyleveraged. Leaders must build collegialityand spread decision-making.3. Since a great idea has greater worththan costly machines or even access to capital,competition can come from anywhere.A 100-year investment can be trumpedovernight by a smarter vision of howto offer a product or perform a service.This puts a premium on innovation,continually adapt to changing conditions.Since new ideas are paramount,leaders must be skilled in creating aculture in which innovation flourishes.Second, a new architecture of technologyis reshaping organizations.Today’s networked systems are fast,flexible, interactive, and non-hierarchicalin shape and structure, facilitatingdirect communication. Those who arecomfortable communicating directly,rather than up and down a chain ofcommand, have a distinct advantage.This has two primary implications:First, technology distributes informationmore broadly. Information and powerare being pushed down to those on thefront lines, no longer isolated at the top.This undermines hierarchies and thestatus of those at the top, as they relyprimarily upon the mystique of theirposition. Leadership is becoming decoupledfrom the power of position; itmust be constantly earned, not assumed.Second, using the technologies of workto manage private lives breaks down barriersbetween public and private, work and home.As technology becomes ubiquitous,zones of privacy erode. Public and privateconcerns can no longer be separated.Private issues are resolved in public;private behaviors that were in the pasttolerated have become the subject ofpublic debate; public and political mattersare increasingly viewed as mattersof private concern; and private and workinghours encroach upon each other.Leaders must negotiate the frontierbetween public and private, aligningtheir private actions with their publicface and respecting privacy that theirstakeholders value. Failure to do sobrings rapid and severe publicresponse, even for those whose positionmade them unassailable in the past.The third change is demographic. Thisis manifest in the inclusion of womeninto positions of authority and influence.Women bring with them many ofthe talents, attitudes, and presumptionsthat were formerly honored in thedomestic sphere into the public realm.This has had a profound impact uponwhat is required of leaders. Relationshipskills, intuitiveness, inclusiveness,coaching, the capacity to listen—thesewere considered “soft” skills, antitheticalto heroic conceptions of charge-ahead leadership. Recently, these skillshave moved front and center.Women tend to evince a healthyskepticism about the perks and privilegesthat define high position, in partbecause they have long been excludedfrom traditional hierarchies. But thisskepticism is also the result of the factthat women, as the Harvard psychologistCarol Gilligan argued in ADifferent Voice, are comfortable being atthe center of things rather than at thetop, and making moral judgments on acontextual rather than abstract basis.Such attitudes undermine the presumptionsand disciplines by whichhierarchies have been maintained.Diversity is the order of the day. Inevery organization, people of divergentbackgrounds are working side-byside.This is the result of greatermovement across borders; direct immigrationto non-gateway cities; theassimilation of African-Americans intothe mainstream of American life; andthe fact that members of subculturesno longer necessarily find value in submergingethnic, national and religiousidentity in order to adjust to notions ofa fast-fragmenting “mainstream.”Thus leaders must show nimblenessand sensitivity to cultural difference tobalance the needs of their diverse constituency.They must also see that diversityis not simply openness to race orgender, but to different values as well.Power and InfluenceThe economic, technological anddemographic changes work together,resulting in a rapidly shifting landscapein which the power and influence ofthose in the ranks becomes integral tohow organizations function. This turnstraditional notions of leadership upsidedown. For if people in the ranks areempowered, if their knowledge constitutesa primary value, if they can communicatedirectly, and if they prizediversity, they will not be led by myway-or-the-highwayautocrats.To the extent that leadership is equatedwith and derived from position, itwill be less potent. New concepts ofleadership will be vested less in positionthan in the power of connections,relationships, individual expertise, personalqualities, aspirations, and earnedpersonal authority. Leaders need tomake the mental shift away from traditionalmodels and sources of power andexercise flexibility and sensitivity tomeet the challenge of the new model. LESally Helgesen is a leadership development consultant andcoach. Visit www.sallyhelgesen.com or call 518-392-1998.ACTION: Tap into new sources of power.6 May 2008 Leadership Excellence