The power you've lost has a very deep source, so deep that it is not
immediately apparent. In the workplace of the past, managers had power
over people precisely to the extent that those people bought into the
old-fashioned model of success. According to this model, if you were a
successful person, you hitched your wagon to the star of an established
organization, paid your dues, and climbed the ladder. Not every successful
person worked for the same employer for decades on end. Still, that was the
default presumption. That's what success looked like. And that's what most
of the best people aspired to.
What you need if you are going to get your power back is a whole new set of
flexible management practices designed to embrace free-agency, work with the
fluid workforce, maximize market-driven employment relationships and help you to
start winning battles in the talent wars. Make the transition to the new economy,
with or without your boss, with or without the company where you work. You
can't change the whole business all by yourself. So what? Change the way you
are doing business right now. Become the leader who can always mobilize the
best team for any project anywhere, anytime. If you can become that leader,
you will be so valuable on the open market that you'll have absolutely nothing
to fear. Sidestep rules if you have to. Don't ask for permission. Just make it
happen. You will, no doubt, alienate those who are digging in their heels and
resisting change. Whatever. They are obsolete. Avoid them.
Ultimately you can't separate your role as free agent from your role as manager.
As soon as you are willing to walk away, you have all the power you need to do
everything you need to do. Who's going to win the talent wars? I'm going to tell
you the ending of the story right here, right now. Talent wins. And that's good
news because that's you.
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