We Need a Commanding Collaborator in Chief

Reading a reprint of a New York Times News Service article, I see that candidate McCain "came of age in a chain-of-command culture"(command-and-control) and that candidate Obama "came of age as a community organizer" (consensus).

Interestingly, my 2007 book Moving Out of the Box suggests that in this millennium we need Chief Executives in all sectors who have demonstrated mastery of BOTH command-and-control and consensus driven decision making skills.

From Moving Out of the Box: "A commanding collaborator in chief is a master of both consensus-driven and command-and-control decision making as well as being a master of meeting facilitation and interpersonal communication skills." (page 153) Which goes on to say:

"The reasons we all need the balanced use of command-and control decision leadership and consensus-driven decision making are multiple-fold. If more commanding collaborators in chief led organizations, more people would feel valued in their workplaces. If more commanding collaborator in chief decision making occurred in organizations, greater creativity and innovation would likely result. If more commanding collaborator in chief decision making ocurred on a daily basis, there would likely be a reduction in national and personal debt."

Moving Out of the Box (Praeger/Greenwood, 2007) has just been picked up by Stanford University Press for a paperback release in the Spring of 2009.