Umair Haque writes a blog for the Harvard Business Review. He too, is highly motivated by the “Open Management” school of thought and like others, offers his own interpretation and checklist.
His hippy/heretical views include “20th century leadership is what’s stopping 21st century prosperity”, “we should be seeking to reboot leadership” and the maniacal “yesterday’s organizations from carmakers, to investment banks, to the healthcare system, to the energy industry, are broken”.
And he offers the idea that we need “Builders”, not Leaders, and he observes that just as the idea of “Boss” transformed into “Leader” so now “Leader” must transform to “Builder”, something he calls “Constructivism”. Here are Umair’s ten principles of Constructivism:
- The boss drives group members; the leader coaches them. The Builder learns from them.
- The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will. The Builder depends on good.
- The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The Builder is inspired — by changing the world.
- The boss says “I”; the leader says “we”. The Builder says “all” — people, communities, and society.
- The boss assigns the task, the leader sets the pace. The Builder sees the outcome.
- The boss says, “Get there on time;” the leader gets there ahead of time. The Builder makes sure “getting there” matters.
- The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The Builder prevents the breakdown.
- The boss knows how; the leader shows how. The Builder shows why.
- The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes work a game. The Builder organizes love, not work.
- The boss says, “Go;” the leader says, “Let’s go.” The Builder says: “come.”
