“The Power of Leadership”

Have you ever asked yourself why some companies seem to be able to not only survive but sometimes excel during times of a leadership crisis?

I found an interesting book by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrong called The Starfish And The Spider.

A spider is a creature with eight legs coming out of a central body. It has a tiny head and usually eight eyes. If you chop off the spider’s head, it dies. That’s exactly what happens with a centralized organization. A centralized organization has a clear leader who’s in charge, and there’s a specific place where decisions are made. Get rid of the leader and you paralyze the organization.

A decentralized organization is a different animal, it is actually a starfish. At first glance, a starfish is decentralized. The starfish is similar to a spider in appearance. But the starfish is decentralized. The starfish doesn’t have a head. The major organs are replicated throughout each and every arm. In reality, a starfish is a neural network. Instead of having a head, like a spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network.

Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom address the fundamental differences between a starfish like organization and the spider like organization. You must have a clear understanding of what kind or organization your company is. Succession planning and good leadership development training for senior level leaders is critical to spider like organizations. Were as management development and individual productivity development for middle level management and senior staff personnel is critical to starfish like organizations.

“Success doesn’t come to you. You must go to it” … Sam Maitz.

Have A Good Day!

Russ

Performance Institute – A Global Leader in Human Capital Development

Russ M. Miller, LLIF, Chairman & CEO
Sunny Hong Zhang, Managing Parter – China
Shawn M. Miller, Managing Partner – USA