Hosts Better Than Heroes?
Should we seek leaders who are visionary, inspiring, brilliant and trustworthy to follow or those who create change by relying on everyone’s creativity, commitment and generosity?
When people discuss how to respond to the challenges we’re facing, a lack of leadership comes up. My thinking about this was helped by a distinction made by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze in a recent article between ‘leader-as-hero’ and ‘leader-as-host’. They argue that we shouldn’t be looking for leaders who are visionary, inspiring, brilliant and trustworthy to follow and that the idea of such heroic leadership rests on the illusion that someone, somewhere, can be in control. In contrast, they suggest that hosting leaders create change by relying on everyone’s creativity, commitment and generosity.”
