Where Will We Find Tomorrow's Leaders?

Linda A. Hill, Professor, Harvard Business School, discusses the leaders of tomorrow.

Hill does not think we will meet new global effective leaders by looking in traditional

workplaces for people who do things in traditional take-charge ways. Instead,

companies should look for people who can lead from behind (one who promotes

collective genius from their teams). Linda Hill is currently the faculty chair of the

business school's High Potential Leadership Program and of the Leadership Initiative, a

research program aimed at bridging the gap between leadership theory and practice.

Linda Hill suggests some predictions about the character of leadership in the next half

century, in part, by two notions: 1) leaders will emerge who can lead from behind; 2)

leaders will be a part of collective genius (those who unleash and harness the creative

talents).

Hill warns that most intelligent people all over the world have been invisible often

because of explicit limitations (e.g. lack of political rights in South Africa). Hill asserts

there are two types of invisible groups:

1. Demographic Invisibles - those who do not have access to the resources of upward mobility due to gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc.

2. Stylistic Invisibles - those who do not fit the ordinary image of leaders because they

are not action oriented, lack vision, and have no plan to achieve what is in the best

interest of the organization.

It is becoming clear that the complexity of today's diverse, interdependent, and

collaborative work environments require immense cooperation for effective problem

solving. Professor Hill thinks tomorrow's leaders should be comfortable with sharing

authority, altruistic, should be able to find extraordinary potential in ordinary people.

African Leader, Nelson Mandela compared a great leader with a "shepherd": " He stays

behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not

realizing that all along they are being directed from behind". This image of the shepherd

behind his flock is a recognition that leadership is a collective activity in which different

people, depending on their strengths, or "nimbleness"-come forward to drive the group

in the direction it needs to go.

Hill defined leading from behind as creating the context that others are willing and

able to lead, allowing others to excel. This leadership style involves some crucial

responsibilities and judgment calls: selecting the members of the group; articulating the

values that will inform the group; developing the talents of members; setting boundaries

for the