Leadership

I’m enjoying Peter Block’s book “Community” on a recommendation from Michael Bungay-Stanier. A quotation that leapt out of the page at me yesterday morning:

The role of leaders is not to be better role models or to drive change. Their role is to create the structures and experiences that bring citizens together to identify and solve their own issues.

As I read this, I experience a shift in my personal thinking. In our work with clients, we define leadership as

1. creating a clear vision (and sharing that vision)

2. the example of one’s own personal behaviour and

3. letting go of management (always the real bungee jump for clients)

But Block’s definition – and his book, which is about ignoring hierarchical structures and facilitating change from within, will have a profound effect on my thinking and leadership with clients.