No leaders needed – Author promotes peer-based management structure

Jeffrey Nielsen has a fix for corporate scandal, and it doesn’t involve ethics lessons for top executives.

A Brigham Young University professor, Nielsen advocates "leaderless organizations" in his new book The Myth of Leadership (Davies-Black Publishing, $25.95).

Nielsen spent several years in the leadership industry, including training Fortune 100 companies as a Franklin Covey consultant, but left when he realized the problem wasn’t that people need better leadership skills. The real issue: The entire concept of leadership.

His book rests on two premises: Real communication can occur only between equals; and secrecy breeds corruption and abuses of power. Cultivating leaders in the traditional sense means denying others the opportunity to share information and decision-making, Nielsen says.

"We don’t need character makeovers in our organizations," Nielsen says. "The problem is the rank-based [nature of leadership]."

By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2751276