The Myth of Leadership: Creating Leaderless Organizations

by Jeffrey S. Nielsen

Can we really run organizations without leaders? Yes, says organizational consultant Jeffery Nielson in this provocative book. According to Nielsen, it's time to stop structuring businesses as "rank-based" organizations run by a privileged elite who are so isolated from the front lines that they are downright counterproductive. Debunking the leadership myth, Nielsen calls for an end to leader-based corporate hierarchies, which foster secrecy, encourage miscommunication, and steal the joy and dignity from work. His new paradigm is the "peer-based" organization. No matter how you feel about Nielsen's theory of leaderless organizations, you are sure to find this book thought provoking. It will challenge your assumptions about the role of leadership in modern organizations.

Genres: Leadership, Business

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2004

Reviews

[Mark Terry]

Challenges the assumption that leaders are a necessary component of organizational life. I'm drawn to descriptions of "peer based thinking" that is clearly more egalitarian than most business worlds. On the other hand, I struggle with the idea that leadership should be rotated among all organizational members. In my experience, leadership talent has not been evenly distributed and there are times when a clear leader is beneficial - if not downright necessary. Three stars for challenging conventional thinking.

[Peter Wolfley]

If I was in charge of a company, city, organization, etc., this is how I would want to run it. It's interesting that in the United States democracy has penetrated everything we do except business. Our business organizations are run like the Stalin-era Soviet Union with one "great man" at the top who makes all of the decisions and everyone under that person can get in line or get out. The main idea here is to ditch the corporate hierarchy, empower all of your people to make decisions and take ownership, treat them with dignity, and watch your organization sky rocket.

The most discouraging thing about this book is that nobody has been able to pull it off yet. There are companies out there that have incorporated bits and pieces but no one seems to embrace it fully.

[Kenton Moore]

This book was written by my current Ethics and Values teacher at UVSC. If you're like me and you feel that there is an unfair and unbalanced business system currently being used and taught in the U.S. then you will find this book an interesting read.

[Grant Weaver]

I was skeptical of this book at first, but I really enjoyed it and agree with it in theory... for the most part.