The foundation for traditional corporate hierarchy is crumbling in the face of a more collaborative and transformative approach that elevates the notion of leading without authority. Whereas employers are used to the leadership team setting a direction for everyone to follow, what makes far more sense in today’s evolving business environment is for people to collaborate and co-create.
This is especially true given the frenetic pace of changing technology and need for companies to quickly pivot through all of the changing market dynamics that are making some business models obsolete. Under this democratized approach, employees and managers alike are more empowered to achieve goals that are aligned with the organization.
Leaders evolve from guiding lights to sherpas who grant autonomy, allow people to make mistakes and learn from them, foster peer-to-peer relationships and derive passion from the contributions of their team members. They’re also generous with their time, which makes people feel valued, and are always eager to celebrate others as much as possible and discover what each individual is truly passionate about.
The purpose of this new breed of leadership isn’t to achieve a goal so much as it is to support others to achieve their goals and aligning everyone to the organization’s mission. Employees who are led without authority and encouraged to collaborate are able to see and understand the organizational mission more clearly through teamwork and are better able to achieve their individual goals.
One of the leading messengers of this movement is Keith Ferrazzi, an entrepreneur and team transformation coach who helps teams harness what he calls Radical Adaptability and Co-Elevation to transform organizations.