A titled leader relies heavily on positional power to get things done; a natural leader is able to mobilize others without the whip of formal authority.

The real damper on employee engagement is the soggy, cold blanket of centralized authority. In most companies, power cascades downwards from the CEO. Not only are employees disenfranchised from most policy decisions, they lack even the power to rebel against egocentric and tyrannical supervisors.

The fact is, society is made more hospitable by every individual who acts as if 'do unto others' really was a rule.

Top-down authority structures turn employees into bootlickers, breed pointless struggles for political advantage, and discourage dissent.

Power is the ability to get things done.

You can't build an adaptable organization without adaptable people - and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to.