LEADERSHIP IN THEORY
Here’s How to Lead From the Back
You Should Give Away Power and Walk From Behind
Leading from the back sounds like an oxymoron. The word ‘lead’, in the context of management, has a connotation of someone being at the front. While in command or wielding authority, it can be difficult to imagine how leadership can occur while you’re behind everyone else. Since ancient times, Man had a vision: a leader is someone who stands at the top. The leader is someone who has his or her followers at beck and call. The leader rallies the people under him or her.
In an interview with The New Yorker’s Washington correspondent, Ryan Lizza, one of Barack Obama’s adviser described the former President’s actions in Libya as “leading from behind”. It was a comment on the Obama foreign policy to seek balance, to which the adviser said: “it was necessary for shepherding us through this phase”.
However, the aberrant-looking phrase originated from another influential political figure.
In his 1994 autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”, Nelson Mandela described a leader leading from behind as a shepherd. The shepherd stays behind the flock, letting the weakest go ahead. As the others follow, all of them are unaware that they have been directed from behind. While it may seem like…
