Thought 09NOV2007

A LEADERSHIP PRIMER - [lesson 9]
"Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing"
Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a work place that ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you. If people really followed organization charts, companies would collapse. In well-run organizations, titles are also pretty meaningless. At best, they advertise some authority, an official status conferring the ability to give orders and induce obedience. But titles mean little in terms of real power, which is the capacity to influence and inspire. Have you ever noticed that people will personally commit to certain individuals who on paper (or on the organization chart) possess little authority, but instead possess pizzazz, drive, expertise, and genuine caring for teammates and products? On the flip side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the perks and frills associated with high positions, but they have little influence on others, apart from their ability to extract minimal compliance to minimal standards.
General Colin Powell - Chairman (Ret), Joint Chiefs of Staff - Former Secretary of State - USA

It is by believing in roses that one brings them to bloom - French Proverb