side simply to stir up controversy, because I think better that
way, and the system works better that way.
“The freer the organization is, the more heterogeneity there
is in the system, the more leaders will emerge. One of the
problems with American business is its habit of marching to
the style of one leader, and his style becomes enmeshed in the
organization. This leads to vertical, hierarchical organizations,
and I think that’s the wrong way to get things done. Here we’re
decentralized and open, and people get things done in very dif-
ferent ways.”
All of the leaders I talked with believe in change—in both
people and organizations. They equate it with growth—tangi-
ble and intangible—and progress. Indeed, it might be said that
their real life’s work has been change. But change in the world
at large can be an obstacle, too. “Circumstances beyond our
control” is an organizational reality all too often.
Change, of course, isn’t new. As Adam and Eve left Eden,
Adam might have said, “We’re now entering a period of transi-
tion.” I’ve written more than thirty books, and in one sense or
another, every single one of them has had to do with change,
and coping with change. Still, the world has never been more
volatile, more turbulent, and more spastic than it is now. Un-
certainty is rampant. What’s worse, in too many cases we can’t
even identify the causes or sources of this turbulence.
Leaders not only manage change, they must be comfortable
with it in their own lives. Barbara Corday, as noted above, said,
“I’ve had at least four completely different careers, and may
very well have a fifth.” Since then, she has done just that, be-
coming a professor of media and an administrator at the Uni-
versity of Southern California.
On Becoming a Leader