The fundamental substance of organizations is the energy of people. That energy is like the clay a potter shapes, the pigment a painter wields, or the words a poet applies to images. When we organize or reorganize companies today, we usually think about things such as centralization and decentralization, corporate architecture, reengineering, spans of control, and market segments. In other words, we think about everything except people's energy, the fundamental substance. Along with examining our beliefs about the energy of people, we will all benefit from examining our notions about the nature of work itself.
Most work involves the interaction between people and human organizations.
This does not mean that leaders induce people to work harder or longer, but that they set the context in which people bring all of their energies to a vision. Thus, the medium of a leader is the energy of the followers. Leaders create by activating the energy of followers, much as a painter activates the energy of paint and a poet activates the energy of words. So leaders must be acquainted with the nature of human energy in the same way that a painter must be acquainted with the spectrum of color. Leaders must discover how to draw all that energy to a point of union, to a focus-to a vision.