In Chapter 12 of his text The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, Stephen Denning describes "a different kind of leader," specifically, one who practices an "interactive mode of leadership." Basically, they get involved and have an understanding of how everything around them relates to each other.
Denning describes a number of dimensions involved in interactive leadership, several of which are quite similar to several I've heard in the past from other texts on leadership and have been attempting to integrate in my own leadership style. Certainly, the dimension of working with the world evokes a strong image of collaboration on overcoming challenges in a team effort or, as Denning suggests, channeling the energies of others towards a particular end. Collaboration I'm familiar with, but this idea of channeling energy is something I hadn't thought of in the leadership context, and one I may well experiment with.
The idea of adding and subtracting elements from the leadership palette gives, in a certain sense, another means of expressing the ways in which one emulates positive leadership techniques while rejecting the negative. An interactive leader will add to the general formula of management by adding the other dimensions, and will dismissed manipulation or otherwise. Knowing this gives me some flexibility in not necessarily sticking to a set formula and setting my out to develop my own style of leadership.
Active interest in promoting integrity and authenticity seems to have become more of a norm for leadership lately, and certainly one that can have an impact. For my leadership, integrity will remain a standing rule, but I think being more explicit with what I stand for and represent could lend well to being more of a distinct personality rather than just a name with a rank. Other dimensions that might tie well to this are those on not depending on hierarchical authority and understanding different narrative patterns. Being flexible with how the organization is directed and where the next big idea comes from, as well as being able to see different patterns, seems to me best suited to someone that practices authentic leadership and has subtracted negative elements from their leadership palette. The ability to lead without the formalized authority and with the ability to recognize patterns would, I believe, lend the greatest opportunity for fresh ideas and methods with the broadest range of execution patterns.
Regarding how Denning's dimensions manifests itself in my present leadership style, I'd say that the dimensions of working with the world, adding and subtracting from the leadership palette, and not depending on a hierarchical structure. Much of this comes through the nature of my working environment and from the benefit of past study. I learned early in my communications degree about the idea of horizontal communication and giving members a say when it was feasible, and it's something that gets practiced around my office. Every so often there's a project for the unit that solicits thoughts and ideas from the unit as a whole, and hardly a meeting goes by where there isn't an "around the room" to allow anyone present to get in their two cents.
On the note of palettes, young officers are reinforced on the basics regularly but are also just as often given anecdotes (or first hand experience) in leaders adding in positive (and on occasion less than positive) twists to leadership. I make an effort to add in what I can of being available for my subordinates and getting their needs taken care of, and being very conscious not to play any rank games if I can help it.
Finally, although I work in an organization with a very well defined hierarchy, I'm in a stage of my career where there's a great deal of crossover between myself as a junior leader and my most senior subordinates. There is a very strong expectation that senior enlisted members help teach new officers what it means to lead, and we're often told to learn well about what we work with from our experienced enlisted members. This creates an environment where although there is a formalized chain, one might say there's leadership happening at the top and bottom halves in parallel, and as funny as it may seem from the outside it's a system I make strong efforts to heed (particularly since they're the technical experts!)
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