Is there a style of leadership appropriate for the age of the Internet and our information-based society? Manz and Sims suggests there is:

What kind of leader is needed for an information-based organization that operates in a rapidly changing world? How can highly independent and physically dispersed telecommuters be effectively led? What kind of leadership is appropriate for leading empowered team members who are supposed to be leading themselves? Is there another model? We believe there is.

We begin with the idea that true leadership comes mainly from within a person, not from outside. At its best, external leadership can provide a spark and support the flame of the powerful self-leadership that dwells within each person. At its worst, it disrupts this internal process, damaging the person and creating conflicts between inner and external influences.

The perspective demands that we come up with a new measure of leadership strength—the ability to maximize the contributions of others by helping them to effectively guide their own destinies, rather than the ability to bend the will of others.

Source: C. C. Manz, and H. P. Sims, Jr., The New SuperLeadership: Leading Others to Lead Themselves. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers), p. 4.

1		Would the kind of leadership described in the passage above (basically, leading others to lead themselves) be appropriate in classroom discussion groups?
2		To what extent do you believe that leadership comes mainly from within a person, not from outside? In your interpretation of this idea, does this seem to mean that some people are destined to never become leaders?
3		From your reading of this quotation, what are the strengths and weaknesses of a group leader (external leadership) of a classroom group discussion? As you read the section, "Approaches to Leadership", which style do you think best capitalizes on the leader's ability to maximize the contributions of others by helping them to effectively guide their own destinies?