The basic task of the leader is to build a highly motivated, highly productive workforce. That means moving across the boundaries both within and outside the organization, investing in people and resources, and exemplifying personal commitment to the common task. Leaders build bridges. The boundaries between sectors, between organizations, between employees, and between customers and other stakeholders are blurring. The challenge for leaders is to build a cohesive community within and outside the organization, to invest in relationships, and to communicate a vision that speaks to a richly diverse workforce and marketplace.
Leaders today have to be healers and unifiers.
They accept responsibility for what lies outside the walls as well as within. They understand, too, that in a world where no individual can possibly have all the answers, it is the inclusive organization that excels. Leaders of those organizations know they must disperse leadership across the organization, ban the hierarchy, and create more circular, flexible, and fluid management systems based on collaborative relationships, the wise use of teams, and mutual respect. People want to be part of something that makes a difference, that transcends the ordinary. They want a star to steer by.