Leadershift: Reinventing Leadership for the Age of Mass Collaboration

209 Pages·2009·1.19 MB·English

by  Emmanuel Gobillot

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LEADERSHIFT
Reinventing leadership for the
age of mass collaboration
Emmanuel Gobillot
London and Philadelphia
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this
book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot
accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility
for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a
result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher
or the author.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2009 by Kogan Page
Limited
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism
or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this
publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the
publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
www.koganpage.com
© Emmanuel Gobillot, 2009
The right of Emmanuel Gobillot to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 978 0 7494 5531 6
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gobillot, Emmanuel.
Leadershift : reinventing leadership for the age of mass collaboration / Emmanuel
Gobillot.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7494-5531-6
1. Leadership. I. Title.
HM1261.G632 2009
303.3’4--dc22
2009008502
Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
To Charlotte and George
for questioning everything I think, say or do,
even if I don’t always come across as grateful when you’re doing it!
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
Why am I asking for your time?
1 The day of reckoning 13
Leading in turbulent times
2 The demographic trend 21
Making your experience irrelevant
3 The expertise trend 29
Making your knowledge irrelevant
4 The attention trend 39
Making your efforts irrelevant
5 The democratic trend 47
Making your power irrelevant
viii Contents
6 Pay or play? 53
Who matters most?
7 Leadershift 69
Are you worth following? Are you easy to follow?
8 Shift 1 – from clarity to simplicity 87
Securing engagement
9 Shift 2 – from plans to narratives 105
Ensuring alignment
10 Shift 3 – from roles to tasks 121
Creating accountability
11 Shift 4 – from money to love 135
Obtaining commitment
12 The Elvis fallacy 151
From here to there and now to then
Concluding thoughts 167
Could it all be a bad dream?
Don’t take my word for it 171
Index 181
Acknowledgements
From the day I got my first cassette tape as a child (Kate Bush’s The
Kick Inside if you must know) I discovered the fascinating world of
acknowledgements. Here was a way of getting closer to the artist. Here
I could not only enjoy the work itself but understand more about its
creation and the person behind it. Later, as I became an avid reader as
well as a music fan, my love for acknowledgements never disappeared.
Until, that is, I realized how hard it was to write my own. There is
something really difficult about naming everyone who contributed to
your work when you have been influenced by so many people without,
at times, even realizing it. So I want to start by apologizing to anyone I
might have omitted from this. I did not do so willingly or knowingly.
Along with desk and library-based research, most of my ideas come
from and are refined with executives in organizations I am lucky to
visit and work alongside. There are some in particular who have given
me license to operate freely within their businesses in a way that has
directly enriched this text.
My thanks and gratitude go to Hayko Kroese, Global Head of Human
Resources at Philips, and his team (especially Lucille Adriaens,
Country Talent Manager Benelux, Kirsten Menes, Senior Director