Nobody in Charge

Harlan Cleveland, one of the world's top thinkers about leadership, developed his way of thinking as a successful executive leader--in government under four presidents, in three universities, and in private enterprise. In this book, drawn from writings around the edges of a leader's life during half a century, he distills his insights and wisdom on the future of leadership-the get-it-all-together profession. The fourteen essays in this collection have an underlying theme: with everything getting more complicated, nobody can possibly know enough to be in general charge of anything really interesting or important. Cleveland argues that this means everybody has a chance to be partly in charge; but since most people won't reach for the brass ring, those who do will be leaders, mostly self-selected. Nobody in Charge suggests how and why the worldwide spread of knowledge, speeded and enhanced by information technology, is fundamentally changing what it takes to bring people together to make something different happen-in business and government and education and in international affairs. Sprinkled with stories from his own experience and observation, Cleveland describes the attitudes, qualities, and learnings that will work best for people who point the way, create networks, build organizations, and inspire others to act. He also examines the ethics of public leadership and the education of citizens-in societies where a rapidly growing proportion of citizens will opt for leadership.