Blockchain Leadership | Work

Blockchain-inspired leadership.
Two-minute read.

In today’s interconnected world, delivering exceptional end-to-end experiences is crucial for organizational success across industries. Ensuring high quality in each stage can be challenging when multiple teams, processes, and stakeholders are involved. This is where the innovative blockchain technology provides a fitting comparison for how taking charge at each point can validate work and ensure desired results.

Understanding Blockchain
To understand the analogy of blockchain, we must first grasp what blockchain entails. Essentially, blockchain is a distributed ledger system consisting of interconnected blocks that hold timestamped records of transactions. These transaction records are permanent and transparent. The power of blockchain lies in its decentralized and distributed nature. It operates through a peer-to-peer network rather than relying on a central authority. Changes to the blockchain must go through a consensus mechanism among nodes in the network before being added as new blocks. This makes blockchain highly secure, tamper-proof, and dependable.

Leadership as Building Blocks
Let’s now apply the concept of blockchain to leadership. Imagine each leader in an organization as a block on the blockchain. Just as each block contains important transaction data, leaders are responsible for approving the quality of work within their area of responsibility.

The stamp of approval from a leader becomes essential to the final outcome. Subsequent steps can trust this output because the leader has verified it, much like how blockchain’s consensus mechanism establishes trust in transaction data.

Blockchain is different from centralized systems because it is distributed. This means that responsibility is shared among the network instead of relying on a single oversight. Even if one part fails, others maintain the security of the ledger. Similarly, ensuring quality throughout an entire process cannot rely solely on one overburdened leader. Distributed and empowered leadership is necessary at every stage—a collaborative effort where each leader takes ownership of their segment while keeping sight of the end goals acts like a blockchain consensus to ensure desired results are achieved.

Distributed Leadership
Using the analogy of a blockchain makes it evident that effective leadership at every stage is crucial for ensuring confidence in the final outcome. Just as each block is essential for the chain’s integrity, leaders play a vital role in certifying and approving work under their supervision, leading to a reliable end-to-end process. Although no single leader controls the entire process, distributed leadership divides the delivery into interconnected stages.

Similar to how each block in a blockchain establishes trust and protects the security of the outcome, leadership at every point is instrumental in crystallizing the desired result. This collective assurance throughout the chain emphasizes why empowering leaders is vital at each stage, particularly in complex workflows.

The concept “Be the change you wish to see” aligns with this idea, as leaders should strive to “Be the block you wish to build.” When leaders certify work quality under their supervision, it paves the way for seamless end-to-end experiences and successful outcomes.