JANUARY 2018

members are still told that ‘management is a
function, not a status’ at Suma. The sort of charisma
authority used above by ‘A’ is rare although some
individuals can block changes until they are
over ruled with difficulty by elected or delegated
authority. Suma has both but neither are as strong
as a ‘normal’ business.
Suma has just the same conflicted position
with corporate leadership. People yearn for ‘good’
leaders and ‘direction’ and some have a go, often
with self-destructive and ineffective results. It’s
a lot more complex ‘leading’ even a medium
size business than it first appears. In fact I don’t
think it’s possible unless you simplify the task by
wielding management authority, as happens in
most orthodox organisations. At least at Suma,
you get told quickly if your changes are making
things worse.
These are all people in old-style businesses trying
in their ways to make sense of guiding colleagues
through collective business life. There is a flurry
of new ideas and re-invented old ways to make
leadership more collective and more distributed.
Should it even be called ‘leadership’ any more?
Unless you take a leaf from Suma and say “leading
is a function, not a status”. So anyone and everyone
can and should be doing it, like the Suma ideal,
(if not always the reality, to be honest). I still say the
44 | JANUARY 2018