'We' vs 'Me' Leadership

Bill George, the famous author of Authentic Leadership (and True North) who became a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School after leaving his chairman and CEO post at Medtronic recently offered his take on Obama and his leadership in his Business Week column. He characterized it as "We" leadership as opposed to "Me" leadership.

The sweeping victory of Barack Obama ushers in a new era of leadership that will affect every aspect of American institutions and that sounds a death knell for the top-down, power-oriented leadership prevalent in the 20th century.

A new style of "bottom-up, empowering" leadership focusing on collaboration will sweep the country. A new wave of 21st century authentic leaders will take oversee U.S. institutions of every type: business, education, health care, religion, and nonprofits. These new leaders recognize that an organization of empowered leaders at every level will outperform "command-and-control" organizations every time.

The 20th century leaders focused on money, fame, and power, earning the title of the "me" generation. Their leadership destroyed many great institutions, as evidenced by the failures of Enron, WorldCom, and dozens of companies like them. The recent fiascos on Wall Street can be traced to the failure of "me" leaders who put themselves ahead of their institutions.

He contrasted Obama's 'we' leadership approach and Bush's top-down, I-am-the-decider leadership mentality which has rendered ineffective in this era. He then cited Google, IBM, Avon, and even Saddleback and Willowcreek churches as champions of the empowering, collaborative leadership approach. His conclusion is:

The most successful leaders will be those who can align people around common goals of serving people and empower them with a collaborative style. Their organizations will be the winners in restoring the U.S. to global greatness.