The distortion of leadership

How many times have you seen managers, directors, VPs and CEOs referred to as leaders? The business school I went to had a slightly different idea of a leader, but once I was out of b-school and inside the bowels of a big corporation, I saw the other meaning of the word.

Corporate leaders are more akin to feudal lords than they are to real leaders. They are no more worthy of the word than a baron or knight or fief is. Feudalism in the 17th century created an elaborate heirarchy. At the top was the king and the bottom was the peasants and serfs. Somewhere in between were the barons, the knights and so on. These decorated positions owed allegiance to the king and the king promised to give them land and protection. The poor people at the bottom worked for the profit of the nobility and did not own any land. The people above them were not chosen by them but thrust upon them by layers of "nobility" above. Of course this begs the question, how did they obtain this "nobility" in the first place? But I'll side step that question for now.
The whole point I am trying to make is, the poor serfs and peasants worked away their lives to make profits for their "lords". And these poor people had no say about who their lords were. It all depended on the king and how he chose his men and how that process trickled down.

I see a great parallel between this and the modern American coporations. The CEO and his entourage of VPs and Directors and Managers are like the "nobility". The individual contributor at the bottom is like the serf or peasant, who has no say whatsoever in the choice of their "lord". You can absolutely not speak up against your vassal, your fief. If you do, you run the risk to suffer the equivalent punishment of beheading: firing! Well not all companies are like that. But most are.

How are these people leaders? How can you be a leader if no one is willing to follow you? Sure people will follow if you threaten them with dismissal, after all most people have families to feed. But if you remove all incumbrances and allow people to make free choices would those people still claim that their bosses are leaders? Or would they rather call them oppressors? I have not seen one person in corporate America that can or will address this issue.

I do not mean to carry on. This is a relatively new idea but there are others that have done a great job explaining the whole issue. I highly recommend Dhruve. He has already done a fabulous job in explaining this line of thought. Read his manifesto when you have time. I have a copy, email me if you want it.