John Engle posed a critical question: what is the relationship between leadership and power.
In the context of Open Space and mature leadership, leadership and power ought to be an oxymoron, but hardly ever is. Let me explain as follows: a strong leader gives power away to people to achieve balanced decision making, commitment and develop potential. In order to "get," you must first "give." Sadly, most leaders see power in ego terms, something they are entitled to have and wield. Power is seen as an "exclusive right," not to be shared unless forced into a corner. As a result, we have a hierarchical, lopsided world, often excluding and alienating the best and rewarding the worse. When are we going to bury the concept of the "strong" leader and celebrate the fully participative team? Apologies for this minor rant on a pet peeve. Regards Kerry Edinburgh * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
