IntelliVen Principal Brent Green led a session at the International Society for Organization Development and Change and The Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry Information Exchange forum on Creating Flourishing Organizations Through Trust and Collaboration. The audience of 25 participated in a lively discussion format.

The relationship between leader and followers has changed over the past 50-years and is still changing. Leaders used to command-and-control workers. In the ‘70s and ‘80s more democratic models emerged. Over the past decades we see more emphasis on a leader’s capacity to build and sustain an inclusive and high-trust relationship with a loyal, capable, and motivated followership.

Leadership is being redefined as a relationship between leader and followers, and requires a new set of competencies centered on a broader range of interpersonal and communication skills to engage an active and informed followership. At its heart is the realization that today’s leaders are expected to understand themselves and others as well as the impact of who they are, how they behave, and how they communicate with a stakeholder community.

We explored how today’s top leaders function at the highest levels by engaging those that follow them, by thinking and working differently, and by using new technology and tools.