I hear about Leaderless Movements a lot. Some seem to be good, some negative, some have purpose, some unruly mobs.
But at times I am suspicious of Leaderless Movements. Why?
Because why assume they’re leaderless?
Humans organize, humans form structure. There are leaders, of one kind or another. The ones that truly want things to be leaderless reroute their power and use it to uplift and engage, so you don’t see them. If their goal is a leaderless movement, they do this – prominent enough to show they’re not taking power.
There are no truly leaderless movements. Take it from a manager.
Now, when you hear of a Leaderless Movement, ask yourself not if there are leaders (they are) but what are their goals? Because there may indeed be leaders, and unless you are aware of them you don’t know their agendas, or goals, or reliability.
And “Leaderlessness” may just be a cover.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.