To meet the demands of today’s rapidly changing world, modern leaders can no longer rely on a traditional model for effective leadership. Many of these antiquated methodologies focus on tactics and processes dating back to the early 20th Century (industrial) rather than targeting the complexities and challenges of a modern (post-industrial) organization. As a result, few leaders truly learn to change their own behavior or change organizational culture. Being a good leader does not involve a checklist of actions to meet a desired outcome, nor is it a hierarchical, pragmatic or cost-benefit strategy of an organization. Leadership today—true leadership— requires establishing shared values and encouraging people to lead with you. Leadership is not a model; it is a mindset.
The Institute for Postindustrial Leadership supports a new paradigm of leadership principles—separating leadership from management by debunking traditional myths of leadership that have remained virtually unchanged and unchallenged since the 1920s. The Leader Education and Development (LEAD) program expands on the principles of leadership experts (Burns, McClelland, Rost, Hollander and Barker) through innovative research conducted in collaboration with successful and progressive corporations. Participants move beyond thinking of themselves as motivators toward a bottom line. The LEAD program redefines the principles of what participants view as good leadership, instead focusing on the value of mutually influential relationships built on shared goals.
The significance of the Institute's Mobius logo is that it symbolizes the symbiotic nature of leadership — the Mobius does not confine leaders and followers to distinct and mutually independent roles. The Mobius strip forms a single-sided non-orientable surface that symbolizes the collaborator role and signifies the multidirectional influence relationship among collaborators that reflects their mutual purposes.
The study of leadership has been severely restricted to the leader-centric perspective, even though it is universally known to be a social phenomenon. Our research aims to expand the boundaries of leadership studies by reconceptualizing leadership as a mutual influence process among leaders and followers. We partner with organizations to make a contribution to the field of leadership and to make an investment in leader education.
The Institute for Postindustrial Leadership was invited to participate in the 5th International Conference on Future Education sponsored by the World Academy of Art and Science and the World University Consortium. The conference was conducted on December 6-8, 2021 ‒ as an online international virtual event. The conference theme was “Education is an essential catalyst for social transformation.” The focus was on a new paradigm in education to accelerate global systems change founded on a multi-dimensional, multi-stakeholder approach at all levels.
This session addressed the urgent need to fill the global leadership vacuum in order to address the complex, pressing challenges confronting humanity today. The speakers discussed ways to meet the urgent need to assemble the fragmented perspectives of human knowledge into a comprehensive, integrated perspective of the process of global social evolution and the process and strategies which can be harnessed to consciously lead and more effectively direct its course. Dr. Chodkowski spoke about rethinking education and leadership in the postindustrial world.
Leadership is a mindset, not a model.
True leadership isn't about checklists or hierarchy; it's about establishing shared values and encouraging collaboration.
Dr. Matthew Chodkowski
Institute Co-Founder and Professor
