As individuals, we share many basic values and desires. Yet when we join an organization, we!|re immediately slotted into a hierarchy based on a caste system of !!±leaders!!L and !!±followers.!!L We then become trapped in what author Jeffrey Nielsen calls the !!±myth of leadership!!L ￠Fw a set of false assumptions that divide our efforts, limit our growth opportunities, and rob us of meaningful, dignified work. In this unconventional book, Nielsen calls for an end to !!±rank-based!!L organizational structures, which foster miscommunication, corruption, and abuse of power. He argues that our obsession with leadership has blinded us to the fact that top-down, hierarchical control doesn!|t work. It creates top-heavy, inefficient organizations that are slow to adapt to changing business conditions. Nielsen!|s new model is the !!± peer-based!!Lorganization, which relies on peer leadership councils and cross-functional task forces. These new entitles are better suited to making decisions based on organizational competencies and customer needs, rather than on static functional groups or other artificial divisions. The author uses real-world examples form contemporary Peerbased organizations to help make his point for creating leaderless organizations.

Jeffrey S. Nielsen is an internationally recognized consultant who specializes in strategy, organization development, and training. His firm, Intellectual Capital Development, focuses on helping individuals think strategically and act like business owners. Nielsen began his consulting and training career with the Franklin Covey Company, traveling extensively to consult with Fortune 100 companies and agencies of the U.S. government. He has alsoworked with Right Management Consultant, Inc. an international outplacement and organizational consulting firm. A former Teaching fellow at Boston College, Nielsen is currently a visiting lecturer at Brigham Yung University.