Have you ever heard of Mary Parker Follett? Her ideas and writings (from the 1920’s) had a profound influence on many of the greatest leadership luminaries.
Warren Bennis said, “Just about everything written today about leadership and organizations comes from Mary Parker Follett’s writings and lectures.”
According to Peter Drucker, she was one of the “most insightful of the early management scholars” and it is said he called her “the mother of modern management.”
Drucker believed she is not well-known today because she was “too far ahead of her time.”
Today’s world is ripe to understand and embrace Mary Parker Follett’s leadership principles.
Drucker may have been right that she was ahead of her time then, but we are ready for her now. In fact, we need her now. And because she was a social scientist, her lessons apply not only to business, but to government and all kinds organizations.
These 15 quotes provide wisdom and guidance for today’s world. Each quote stands alone, but together they point the way to creating a world that benefits all.
– Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.
– The best leader knows how to make his followers actually feel power themselves, not merely acknowledge his power.
– That is always our problem, not how to get control of people, but how all together we can get control of a situation.
– Whereas power usually means power-over, the power of some person or group over some other person or group, it is possible to develop the conception of power-with, a jointly developed power, a coactive, not a coercive power.
– Coercive power is the curse of the universe, coactive power, the enrichment and advancement of every human soul.
– The most successful leader of all is the one who sees another picture not yet actualized. He sees the things which are not yet there… Above all, he should make his co-workers see that it is not his purpose which is to be achieved, but a common purpose, born of the desires and the activities of the group.
– The best leader does not ask people to serve him, but the common end. The best leader has not followers, but men and women working with him.
– Leader and followers are both following the invisible leader – the common purpose.
– The ignoring of differences is the most fatal mistake in politics or industry or international life: every difference that is swept up into a bigger conception feeds and enriches society; every difference which is ignored feeds on society and eventually corrupts it.
– Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.
– Fear of difference is fear of life itself.
– In crowds we have unison, in groups harmony. We want the single voice but not the single note; that is the secret of the group.
– There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.
– Democracy is not brute numbers; it is a genuine union of true individuals…the essence of democracy is creating. The technique of democracy is group organization.
– We have thought of peace as passive and war as the active way of living. The opposite is true. War is not the most strenuous life. It is a kind of rest cure compared to the task of reconciling our differences … From War to Peace is not from the strenuous to the easy existence; it is from the futile to the effective, from the stagnant to the active, from the destructive to the creative way of life … The world will be regenerated by the people who rise above these passive ways and heroically seek, by whatever hardship, by whatever toil, the methods by which people can agree.
If you would like to know more about Mary Parker Follett, here is an article that summarizes her philosophy and approach to management and one with information on her technique “what business are you really in?” Also, you can purchase her original writings: Collected Papers and her classic work in democratic political theory.
I never heard of Mary Parker Follett until you introduced us today, Jesse. Ahead of her time? How about way, way, way ahead? Each of her 15 poetic diamonds in the rough is worthy of awe and deep assimilation, in my very humble opinion. Thank you for sharing her wisdom with us.
So glad to make the introduction, Lowell. Her work greatly influenced my own thinking about purpose as described in my article: The Key to Visions that Work.
I know this post is a few months old, but like Lowell I had not heard of MPF until Jesse published this work. Valuable quotes and I look forward to digging into the links soon.
So glad you found this post and I was able to introduce you to MPF. Wisdom is irrespective of age.
I was especially struck by “In crowds we have unison, in groups harmony. We want the single voice but not the single note.” In the past, we believed assimilation was the key to creating our great country. And then those with differences began to see their differences as “beautiful” and worthwhile. But how do we create a great country with so many differences? I think the key is in striving for harmony, not a single note.
I agree with you James. The key to creating harmony is to serve a greater good, a shared purpose. Mary Parker Follett said, “The best leader does not ask people to serve him, but the common end… a common purpose, born of the desires and the activities of the group.”
The implications for the United States is to move beyond an “us vs. them” mentality and find a common purpose that serves all, and to avoid electing leaders who promote polarization.
Most of us who were or are leaders had some great mentors and sources that inspired us and nurtured our spirit of leadership. Loved the war and peace reference having just watched “Saving Private Ryan” as a tribute to Memorial Day. My mantra, along with others, was “if you want peace, work for justice.” Thanks for sharing the MPF references, real gems for further appreciation.
This! -> “if you want peace, work for justice.” A gem for further appreciation. Thanks for your insights Gary.
Thank you so much. Mary’s words are indeed critically needed in this time in which leadership is solely lacking in so many arenas. In fact, I am seeing teens with more leadership than what is presented as “leadership”. I resonate with them all and loved this one in particular: “A leader has not followers, but men and women working with him”
I especially like that quote also. It challenges the traditional top-down, authority-based view of leadership. It is more empowering and productive to follow a shared vision than to follow a leader.
Many thanks for these Jesse. I love being able to quote female leaders and thinkers. These are predictably wonderful gems from the everlastingly wise Mary Parker Follett.
There is as much wise and helpful leadership advice and quotes by women as by men, but I discovered, when doing a search for lists of leadership quotes that women on these lists averaged 9%. I questioned why that would be, and also why no one seems to notice this imbalance, in my post: Are You Unconsciously Perpetuating an Outdated View of Leadership? That sparked an intense and interesting conversation in the comments.
Great blog post! I shared it with all our staff at Kepler’s Books and Kepler’s Literary Foundation. Thank you.
Great to hear that. Thanks Praveen!
Great post Jesse, acknowledging, as many have done before, the profound influence MP Follett has had upon many thought leaders, on leadership, negotiation, diversity, power, collaboration etc.
I am continually surprised that when people reference leadership gurus how rarely she included. I appreciate your acknowledging her influence in so many areas, Peter.
“– Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.”
This is the best. I think most leaders get caught up in mission accomplishment as their main goal. While the mission is of course of the utmost importance, it’s the people who accomplish the mission! The more leaders you create the stronger your org.
I wrote an article on this very topic and would love feedback!
leaderlabhq.com/community/main-blog/great-leaders-do-more-than-just-accomplish-the-mission/
I agree this is one of the most important lessons leaders must learn if they want to be successful. And the likelihood of whether a leader will be successful in mission accomplishment is directly linked to the extent the people in the organization feel empowered to take action. Appreciate your thoughts on this subject. Keep up the good work.