
Today, <a title="Smartblog on Leadership" href="http://smartblogs.com/leadership/" target="_blank">Smartblog on Leadership</a> published the second post of a new relationship for Lead Change.  Twice a month, a contributing author from Lead Change will write original content for the Smartbrief folks.  The <a title="Leadership Reality Check: 5 Ways To Tell If You're Really In Touch" href="http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2011/05/10/leadership-reality-check-5-ways-to-tell-if-youre-really-in-touch/" target="_blank">first post</a>, by Jennifer Miller described some ways a leader can tell if they're in touch with their team.</p>
<p>The post today is about how free markets make ideas central to leadership.  We used to just line up with whatever org chart we joined.  If you went to work for IBM, you lined up with the IBM org chart.  You followed the people above you on the org chart and they followed the people above them.  The people "below" you were expected to follow you; to do what they were told to do.</p>
<p>Over time, people desire more autonomy.  They want to choose the path to their future, and their future may not lay along the path being navigated by your org chart.  So I make an analogy to streets and highways to talk about the types of ideas and how people actually choose to "follow" ideas as paths to their future like streets.  We all know the value of planning our path.  People now are choosing to purchase from and work for organizations who's ideas will help us get where we want to go.  Check out the post here and let me and the SmartBrief folks know what you think.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp">SmartBrief</a> is a daily newsletter service that pulls together the best articles on a number of topics like Leadership, Small Business, Workforce, even Social Media.  They've featured a number of Lead Change articles an several by other great leadership names and friends of the group.  If you haven't subscribed, please go here and check it out.