When we picture an organizational structure, typically a pyramid comes to mind. Under the pyramid model, power and privilege are concentrated at the top. It then trickles down through the ranks, leaving those at the bottom with the heaviest workload and the least privilege.
For centuries, the pyramid structure kept monarchies stable, dictated the rank-and-file system of the military, and enabled factories to manufacture highly reproducible goods from assembly lines. The model served America’s manufacturing economy well, helping it surge for most of the 20th century.
In the 21st century, information economy, however, leaders must remove the layers, get rid of the bottlenecks, and create a culture where their organizations can transform at the speed of change. Not only do they need to help their organizations transform, but they must be willing to be transformed themselves.
How to we do this? Where do we start? These are questions Dr. Tony Baron and I will address tomorrow at The Re:Imagine Leadership Summit. Among the topics of the day, we will share:
- How economic systems have shaped our leadership models over time.
- How those leadership models hold up in today’s information economy.
- The principles of transformative leadership.
- The 7 key practices of a transformative leader.
If you don’t like change, you’re going to hate extinction. Leaders who successfully navigate the 21st century will be transformative role models who ditch the pyramid mindset, and with it, the paradigm of power.
Question: Are you willing to ditch the pyramid? To learn and grow from those you lead?
