Why Flat Organizations Don't Create Great Leaders (& What To Do About It)

For some time now, the predominant workplace trend has been to go flat and democratic – everyone working together in a large open space with direct access to supervisors and even the company president. Merit is based on your skills, creative output, and ability to work with the team. Leadership is about having confidence and speaking up.In the book  The Art of Possibility, the conductor Benjamin Zander describes this version of leadership as "leading from any chair"; any individual player can inspire and influence the overall sound of the orchestra.

 

And "leading from any chair" does work – the system has produced many of the most innovative products and services that we use these days. But the trend toward flat organizations also has consequences – and I believe one of them is an emerging leadership gap. As the notion of "coming up through the ranks" dies off, the traditional trajectory to leadership has been short-circuited – without being properly replaced. Read complete article.