Week 5: Leading Without Authority

For this week's first blog post, I wanted to share an article that I found online at LeadersDirect.com which addresses the topic of leading without authority.  The article, written by Mitch McCrimmon, Ph.D., presents a list of ways that a leader moves away from authority and toward the idea that leadership is "an occasional act rather than a relatively long term position" (McCrimmon).  Of these ideas, I find that the following are the most interesting and relevant to our discussions this week:

• A leader is just ANYONE who can show us what direction to pursue on a specific topic.

I like the idea that a leader can be anyone.  Regardless of your position in life, whether you be a CEO, a manager, or some other person with or without much power, it does not matter how much authority you have in order to be a leader.  As long as you have the knowledge and skills on a particular subject or topic then you have the ability to lead.  For me, this point makes it easier to understand what leadership means to an individual that does not have much authority in his or her job.  It does not matter how much power you have overall; as long as you have the knowledge about a certain topic and have the ability to lead a group in a certain direction then you can possibly consider yourself a leader.

• A leader on one specialist subject will be a follower on another - regardless of position.

I like this idea a lot.  Basically what McCrimmon is saying here is that you may know a lot about one thing, but there will always be someone else out there that knows more about something else.  Thus, each person is a leader in his own right.  A manager might know a lot about a certain aspect of his or her job and be able to share this knowledge with his employees but, in turn, an employee might be more knowledgeable about a different aspect of the job and be able to teach said manager a thing or two.  I like the idea of leaders becoming followers.  McCrimmon defines this process as "thought leadership".

Thought leadership, according to McCrimmon, "is the basis of innovative change and is egalitarian because it can shift rapidly from one person to another".  This helps explain the idea that one leader can become a follower and vice versa.  Whenever you share a new idea with your colleagues or boss, McCrimmon says, you are displaying Thought Leadership.  Thought leaders add value to the organization and display "the willingness to risk group rejection in the pursuit of a better way of doing things" (McCrimmon).  

• While we call knowledgeable people authorities, they do not have the RIGHT to tell you what do do - unlike positional authorities in organizations.

This point helps define leadership outside of the context of "manager".  McCrimmon helps this idea by stating that an act of managerial or executive proportions is not necessarily leadership.  "When CEOs make decisions", he says, "they are wearing a managerial hat, not showing leadership".  There is a big difference between being a manager and being a leader.  A manager has the authority to tell someone what to do, but a leader does not always have this authority.  A leader, in turn, might influence others with their ideas and insights, but it is up to these individuals to decide what to do with these ideas.  They are not obligated to follow and do not have to agree with what is being shared. 


View the full article here.