Soft Power, Smart Leadership
| September 29, 2007 |  View for printing |
I have been thinking a lot about the style of business leadership that is most appropriate in our increasingly flat, globally integrated world, a world in which we are now able to tackle problems of an incredible complexity, in markets that are fiercely competitive and constantly changing, with organizations that reflect the complexity of the systems and markets with which we are dealing. It is pretty clear that the classic hierarchical style of management that served us well in the Industrial Age is not up to the task.
Similar discussions about leadership styles are taking place in political circles, most prominently around the concept of soft power. Soft power was first coined by Joseph Nye, professor of international relations at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. According to Professor Nye, if power at its most general level is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes one wants, there are several ways to accomplish that. You can coerce them with threats; you can induce them with payments; or you can attract or co-opt them.
Irving Wladawsky Berger
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