Operating from Dearth or Abundance: A Leadership Choice (Wendy Samson and Curt Swenson, 2016)
This idea of operating in abundance rather than in dearth occurs from the micro to the macro level in businesses today. In fact, according to an article written for the Management Innovation Exchange by Hamel and LaBarre in April of 2013 titled, The “Leaders Everywhere” Challenge, the writers apply the abundance theory to dramatically enlarging leadership capacity in any organization:
- “First, you have to redistribute power in a way that gives many more individuals the opportunity to lead.
- Secondly, you have to equip and energize individuals to lead even when they lack formal authority.
- Third, you should acknowledge that as traditional hierarchies get supplanted by networked, or social organizations, leadership will become less a function of where you sit, than of what you can do. In a tumultuous environment, where customers expect lightening quick responses, decisions have to be made close to the action. And when the next game-changing idea or disruptive threat can come from anywhere, everyone needs to feel responsible for thinking and acting like a strategist.”
Do you share easily or keep ideas and information close to the chest? Do you view others in your industry as community partners or as the competition? If we asked your employees about your communication style, would they say you are inclusive or exclusive? Did you know that by extending opportunities and information to the largest amount of people in all levels of your organization and even to your competitors, you are operating from a place of abundance rather than dearth? This prepares your organization for relevancy in the near future, and is the right leadership choice for today.