Turning the Pyramid Upside Down: A New Leadership Model
()
About this ebook
—Jim Estill, Partner at CanRock Ventures, owner of CEO Blog, Time Leadership
Globalization and hyper-connectivity are significantly affecting the way all organizations are led, requiring a shift in both leadership approaches and the organization’s context/culture. Leadership attributes and behaviors must move from a concentration on what I need to do to what WE must do, if the organization is to succeed. Leaders need to focus on ensuring that within the organization, there is a high degree of engagement. Flat organization structures, operating without command and control hierarchies, will be better able to respond effectively to this new complex, fast-paced, global environment.
Through discussions with industry leaders and drawing on her years of consulting and coaching experience, Marilyn Jacobson covers the necessary tools needed in both leadership approach and organization culture to make these adjustments. Jacobson provides examples of positive organizational changes leaders can make to tackle future challenges, highlighting engagement and adaptability as keys to success in this complex, fast-paced, global environment.
Related to Turning the Pyramid Upside Down
Related ebooks
Broadening Your Organizational Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo You Want to Be a Strategic Leader: Here Are the Essentials to Get You Started Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeadership Excellence: Creating a New Dimension of Organizational Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeadership Strategic Enablers for the Future: Stars for Analyzing the Present and Planning for the Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leadership Contract: The Fine Print to Becoming a Great Leader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leadership in Action Series: On Selecting, Developing, and Managing Talent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForceful Leadership and Enabling Leadership: You Can Do Both Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Indubitable Leadership Principles: The Most Practical Approach in Leading Today's FOUR Generation Workforce Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOperational Excellence and Respect Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Competent Organizations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Cure for the Common Company: A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeadership In Disruptive Times: Negotiating the New Balance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTalent Tectonics: Navigating Global Workforce Shifts, Building Resilient Organizations and Reimagining the Employee Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Intentional Leader: A Practical Guide to Leadership Essentials New Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nature of Organizational Leadership: Understanding the Performance Imperatives Confronting Today's Leaders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe ten Golden Rules of Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuman Resources Leadership with an Anchor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManaging the Mobile Workforce: Leading, Building, and Sustaining Virtual Teams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Frontline CEO: Turn Employees into Decision Makers Who Innovate Solutions, Win Customers, and Boost Profits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFusion Leadership: Unleashing the Movement of Monday Morning Enthusiasts Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Leading Organizational Learning: Harnessing the Power of Knowledge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy the Bottom Line Isn't!: How to Build Value Through People and Organization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBusiness Across Cultures Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Values-Driven Change: Strategies and Tools for Long-Term Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeam Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Executive Career Advancement: How to Understand the Politics of Promotion the X Factor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMeasuring the Success of Organization Development: A Step-by-Step Guide for Measuring Impact and Calculating ROI Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Management For You
The 360 Degree Leader Workbook: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Malcolm Gladwell's Blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional Intelligence Habits Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The Laws of Human Nature: by Robert Greene - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Company Rules: Or Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the CIA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New One Minute Manager Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Managing Oneself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, 20th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Developing the Leaders Around You: How to Help Others Reach Their Full Potential Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Managing Oneself: The Key to Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Ceos Are Lazy: How Exceptional Ceos Do More in Less Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/52600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews: Ready-to-Use Words and Phrases That Really Get Results Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win | Summary & Key Takeaways Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Get Ideas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge Study Guide: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Turning the Pyramid Upside Down
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Turning the Pyramid Upside Down - Marilyn D. Jacobson
Turning The Pyramid Upside Down
A New Leadership Model
By Marilyn D. Jacobson, PhD
Copyright
Diversion Books
A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 1008
New York, NY 10016
www.DiversionBooks.com
Copyright © 2013 by Marilyn D. Jacobson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For more information, email info@diversionbooks.com.
First Diversion Books edition January 2013
ISBN: 978-1-938120-75-6
To lead people, walk beside them.
Lao Tzu, Father of Taoism
Dedication
For Mark
Introduction
As a professor of management for seventeen years and a consultant to scores of major businesses, I have witnessed a fundamental change in effective leadership practices.
For generations, the historic and prevailing certainty that organizations are pyramids, with the leadership at the top and workers at the bottom, no longer applies. What we have learned from today’s most forward-looking companies is that only by turning the pyramid upside down can an organization in a global marketplace gain and secure competitive advantage. The lesson is that organizations must change significantly if they are to have a future in this rapidly changing world.
In the old paradigm, aspiring leaders were taught that the way to the top was to wring the most out of each of their employees. For a new reality in a new century, a different kind of leadership is required. Leaders must partner and collaborate with their employees to respond to escalating complexities and inspire new thinking and discovery of fresh ideas. The continuous pressure for innovation and new technologies means involving others at all levels within the organization. Employees cannot simply be instruments to achieve leaders’ goals; they must be allowed and even encouraged to participate in the decision-making and be fully engaged in achievement of organizational goals.
Talent, skills, and leadership capability exist throughout the organizations and emerge when there is need and support. Since decision-making increasingly depends on multiple points of view and candid dialogue, the more perspectives the better. Therefore, restricting leadership to the top and rank and file to the bottom has lost currency; the reality is frontline employees collectively know more of what is crucial to wise policy making.
Globalization influences leadership in the U.S. in a number of ways in respect to buying or selling goods and mergers, acquisitions, and investments. Mastering more than one language and learning how cultures differ in significant ways so that meaningful relationships can be made happens only with effort, research, and sensitivity. The decision is to either train people internally or hire those from the outside who are skilled in these multiple areas.
Arab Spring and the worldwide clamor for voice in leadership affairs are mirrored in American workers’ increasing dissatisfaction. Worldwide connectivity has brought attention to these uprisings, especially in terms of taking action to deal with what is perceived as despotic leadership. The response seen abroad is reflected in a widespread lack of trust within the U.S. workforce. Employees seek to have a voice. Managers are experiencing burnout and disillusionment. Morale is low. Because most corporations are hierarchical, many employees feel they are marginalized from what is most essential and, not incidentally, most interesting in the business. The irony is that while executives want thought leaders, they do not involve their employees, ask for their input, and most egregiously, do not share information. How can employees be expected to have a reliable thought or point of view? If they are not encouraged to think and are not invited into the dialogue, how can they contribute to discussion or decision-making?
The fundamental issue that leaders face in this global, high-tech environment is how to handle the complexities of strategic planning, decision-making, identifying and developing talent, building relationships and alliances, branding, pricing, marketing, and timing. Obviously, a single leader cannot undertake all this. Even the military that once served as the model for unilateral hierarchical leadership has changed. Partnering and collaboration are replacing command and control hierarchies. Cultures that promote thinking and empowerment provide incentives to contribute on a higher level. Breaking down the hierarchy and internal silos and creating an atmosphere that encourages engagement and attention to employee welfare are the prerequisites to meeting, welcoming, and thriving on change.
My experience consulting with leaders from a broad spectrum of industries informs the thesis of this book. Their stories reflect the need to partner and collaborate, develop new thinking, invite employees into the planning and decision-making process, encourage creative thought, and promote initiative.
They are a distinguished group. Because my consulting engagements extend for years and span a variety of fields (healthcare, retail, financial, manufacturing, service, legal, and government organizations), I have witnessed how leaders made decisions, what they learned, and what others may learn from them. Each story launches commentary based on the author’s experience and research.
While these leaders’ experiences and accomplishments take us to the frontier of a new era, their organizations are still basically top-down. The next bold step is to move away from command-and-control organization structures and toward flatter, inverted pyramid-type organizations. The future role of tomorrow’s leaders will be quite different from the ones of yesterday. Instead of directing, leaders must develop, support, assist, and foster.
As a result, organizations will change significantly. Only if organizations redesign the structure and the culture to facilitate communication and productive interaction, at a level rarely seen outside of Silicon Valley, can the race to the future be won.
Leadership
The idea of turning the pyramid upside down may seem a bit radical because to be competitive in the new global economy, the