The twice-born personality. Interview by Joe Flower

Abraham Zaleznik focuses on some things that might seem old-fashioned: talent, the individual mind, and a fascination with the content, the product, the nuts and bolts of the business. He is the great champion of the individual in corporate life. There has been a lot of discussion about the difference between managers and leaders. It was Zaleznik who started the discussion some 15 years ago in a seminal Harvard Business Review article called "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?" A lot of his colleagues at Harvard, prime developers of the profession of management, thought he was nuts. He argued that management and leadership involve completely different mindsets, and that great business enterprises suffer when they are given over to professional managers. His ideas strike sparks against those of other people we have interviewed in this series. He questions the value of the total quality movement, and the importance of teamwork. Where Russell Ackoff spoke of democracy and free markets within the corporation, Zaleznik praises hierarchy. Where Terry Deal found cohesion and motivation in the meanings and rituals of the workplace, Zaleznik dismisses workplace ritual as a waste of time and energy.