Don’t Follow The Leader

I have often used this space to grumble about the many rules and regulations those of us in the field of serving individuals with developmental disabilities face. Good intentioned as many the regulations are, too many seem like a solution in search of a problem. The end result is that we spend more time, energy, and resources trying to meet the needs of the regulations than we do trying to meet the needs of the people we serve.

I was thinking about this issue when I came across an article written by Andrea Ovans for the Harvard Business Review entitled “When No One’s In Charge – What Leaderless Movements Mean for Management.” The article discussed several books that had a similar theme – how “allegiances around the world seem to be shifting not to new leaders but to the exact opposite – to leaderless movements like Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and the Tea Party.” These leaderless movements “aim to show that crowds can and should wield as much power and influence as those individuals officially in charge.”

One of the books mentioned in the article, Barbara Kellerman’s The End of Leadership, even goes so far as to describe the history of leadership as a devolution of power from those up top to those below. The logical end result of this devolution is a society in which “the governed are no longer willing to give their consent to any leaders – political or corporate, despotic or democratic.”

It was an interesting article, and certainly gave me pause to think. What would the regulatory environment look like in our field if everyone came together to “discuss problems and forge solutions through civilized debate” rather than a group of people “in charge” handing down regulatory edicts like they were passing out candy on Halloween night. I can’t say for certain, but I have a strong feeling that the services we provided would be guided much more by outcomes that were deemed beneficial to those we serve, and not by outcomes designed to create the least amount of financial and legal risks for the service provider and those funding the services.

Of course, if the system truly became leaderless, I would be out of a job.

As strange as it may sound, I would welcome that result, as it would mean that society will have truly recognized that individuals with intellectual disabilities are integral members of their communities, and therefore should be afforded the same opportunities (and responsibilities) as any other citizen.

I’m not convinced I will see that day come, but this article at least hints at the possibility. I hope I’m around to see it happen.

 Then again, what do I know?