Leading Organizational Learning

Chapter Fourteen

Rethinking Our Leadership Thinking

Choosing a More Authentic Path

Gary Heil

Linda Alepin

Simple truths are the hardest to come by, and they are often the
most powerful in practice. Simple, powerful truths about leading
people more effectively, about changing the nature of work, and
about redefining our roles in the workplace are well known. For
more than a half a century, Maslow, McGregor, Argyris, Bennis,
and others have consistently described more enlightened ways to
lead people. In fact, it is the consistency of their messages and
the ubiquity of their views that makes it curious that most leaders
continue to talk a better game of leadership than they choose
to play.
The reasons why we have been slow to embrace research that
describes better, simpler, and more effective ways to lead are many.
They range from the lack of a sense of urgency for experimenting
with new ideas to a lack of good role models. The main obstacle,
however, may be the fact that the best leadership ideas are based on
assumptions that are very different from the beliefs that are funda-
mental to present practices. Few challenges are as difficult for a
leader as examining basic beliefs about people and finding the best
ways to organize our collective efforts. Yet that is exactly what is
required.

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