“Peer to Peer Leadership: Why the network is the leader” by Mila Baker (2014) is a leadership book before its time. She was a big player in the organizational development space (she suddenly passed at age 71 in 2017 ). This is a leadership development book that argues the role of a leaders is to set goals and optimize the health of its network – not tell it what to do. Her concepts of leadership in the digital age are now starting to permeate corporate america, 10 years later!
Overview: The book is organized in 10 chapters surrounding two main concepts – leadership and organizational design. The main terminology includes node communities (communications via devices, data, etc), equipotency (equal participants in a larger whole) and relational dynamics (egalitarian network).
Areas of Strengths: For those in tech, this is a great way to connect emerging concepts of GenAI, the digital worker, and engagement/collaboration of the future. She has a very targeted market and the concepts will flourish there.
Supplemental Information: In Memory: Dr. Mila Baker – OD Network Peer-to-Peer Leadership by Mila Baker: 9781609947477 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
Where it Falls Short: While I agree in what Mila says should be true of the role of the future leader as health advocate, I believe in the concept of the tipping vote – the person who makes the call when there is no consensus. I also believe that this same person should be well suited and in a position to be more influential than the rest of the community.
Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it an 7 out of 10 in terms of a leadership development book. As a woman in tech, I love that she defines each part of her mental model of future leadership and that she uses technology, but I also think its hard to translate portions of it for the masses. You either need to consume the entirety of the framework (which takes time and patience, which not many companies have for a full program), or you can only associate the author with the key message of connection as king.