Leadership and Vision (was: Productive Chaos)

Chris Weaver chris at springbranch.net
Wed Jan 10 18:50:43 PST 2001


> isn't he/she who has the vision the one that attracts other people to it
> and is thus bound to become the leader? All under the assumption that free
> flow of people is possible ("law of two feet"), i.e. open space.
>
> In industry and commercial companies where you encounter predefined
> assignments, structures, hierarchy and responsibilities, that part may have
> to be looked at from a different perspective, no?


Christoph,

I believe that there is a pitfall in the popular notion of designated leader
as keeper and transmitter of the vision.

Certainly positions in hierarchical structure each carry predefined
responsibilities.  And I do not consider hierarchical structure to be
antithetical to an Open Space (or InterActive) Organization; I believe that
hierarchy and InterActivity (emergent leadership) can exist simultaneously.

But however visionary the designated leader, if that person is considered by
him/herself and by others to be the vision-keeper, then the vision is
neither big enough nor strong enough.  I am a constructivist.  Each person
in an organization holds the organizational vision in his/her mind and
heart, interacts with it, and recreates it over time.  The vision is alive.
And the time will come (a bifurcation point, to quote Prigogene) when the
living vision of a person far from the top of the hierarchy is the vision
that will hold the key for the next stage of organizational evolution.

If this is so, then "vision-keeper for the organization" does not belong on
the list of the designated leader's responsibilities.  Perhaps "space-holder
for the living vision" does.

Chris

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