Leading Leaders

CHAPTER 1

LEADERS AS FOLLOWERS

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

—BENJAMIN DISRAELI

UNLESS YOU ARE a total megalomaniac, you recognize, readily or grudgingly, that many of the people you are supposed to lead are smarter, more talented, richer, or more powerful than you are. They are not the faceless, docile ‘‘middle managers,’’ ‘‘troops,’’ or ‘‘team members’’ so often the subject of books and lectures on leadership. Many of the people you lead, whether you like it or not, are themselves leaders.

Leading Without Authority

The challenge of leading leaders arises in a multiplicity of situations and contexts in modern life, but it is particularly present in managing high-talent organizations, organizations that have high concentrations ...