Margaret J. Wheatley Leadership Quotations

Most people associate command and control leadership with the military.

I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control.

They have eliminated rigidity, both physical and psychological, in order to support more fluid processes whereby temporary teams are created to deal with specific and ever-changing needs. They have simplified roles into minimal categories; they have knocked down walls and created workplaces where people, ideas, and information circulate freely.

I believe that the capacity that any organization needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.

In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.

It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do.

I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.