We've been grappling with that question since we launched this magazine. Issue by issue, over the past three years, we've touched on the new work of the leader. Now, for this issue's cover package, we've decided to present as coherent, consistent, and complete a definition of leadership as we could develop. The package consists of four parts, and we eagerly await your reactions and responses. And, sure enough, the 12 businesspeople who offer their insights and experiences identify compelling differences between leading on the Web and leading in other kinds of organizations.
Authenticity is contagious.
The principles around which the kit is built represent our best effort to take the practices and precepts that we have collected in the pages of Fast Company and to distill them into a model for leadership in the new economy. In developing those principles, we generated a long list of themes. While the work of leaders is undergoing radical redefinition, the importance of leadership is greater than it's ever been. Walk into any fast company, and you'll feel the influence of its leaders. Walk into any fast company, and you'll also sense that there are leaders at all levels, in all functions, and in all parts of the organization.