Leadership in Unlikely Places
What do you do when the leaders in your country or city or industry no longer inspire you? Do you take a step back, or do you step it up?
A lot of people are feeling dejected, uninspired, and demoralized by the state of the country, the planet, and the world right now. And rightfully so. It’d be a mistake to ignore that the world is literally on fire one moment and freezing over the next, while politicians talk about blowing things up and tech titans tease us with the promise and peril of AGI—supposedly just around the corner (but also, maybe not).
But there’s movement in the reeds. And that's what I wanted to write about today.
In the decade that I've been closely working alongside various communities, I’ve never felt so much grassroots energy as I do today. Blocks like mine are stepping up, hyper-local stewards are convening, and when I ask for help—as I’ve been doing more often amid life’s chaos—people show up. They deliver.
By the first week of January, I received four invitations to vision quests, community-building sessions, and small working groups aspiring to take big action. This tells me people are seeking fresh starts, new commitments, and different approaches.
So what do you do when the leaders in your country or industry no longer inspire you?
You look for leadership in unlikely places. Then you share the load.
Seeking Out Shadow Leadership
Back in 2017, while I was at Union Square Ventures, Henry Ward, CEO of Carta, published a blog post titled “The Shadow Org Chart.” He explained how, even in a traditional top-down organization, real influence often exists at the edges and the in-betweens.
To uncover which employees held the most influence, Carta conducted a survey with three key questions. Then they mapped the connections and intersections of influence in their org chart in a giant web through Innovisor.
Here were the questions:
Questions From Carta's Corporate Influence Study
Who energizes you at work? (list 4 or more people)
Who do you go to for help and advice? (list 4 or more people)
Who do you go to when a decision needs to be made? (list 4 or more people)
What they found was – In a 250-person company, just 10 individuals influenced 70% of their colleagues.
Interestingly, not all of these influential people held high-ranking titles. As Henry pointed out, even as CEO, he didn’t make the top 10. These so-called “sticky” individuals, often operating in the middle, are the ones quietly influencing the majority, regardless of their formal rank.
What this tells me is that there’s hope for the rest of us. Or—in a world where you may not feel seen by those at the top—maybe it’s time to step into the role of a shadow influencer yourself, quietly shaping and connecting from the middle.
Finding the Sticky People in Your Network
As a network leader and community builder, I think about the shadow org chart a lot in my day-to-day life. In a world where I operate outside of a typical corporate structure and traditional job, I've long ago forfeited the benefit of so-called "built-in leadership" that happens when you work in a purely top-down or hierarchical organization.
What this has meant is–over the past several years, I've spent a lot of time seeking out and bolstering the strongest influencers and nodes in my personal network. And they aren't the ones at the top of the food chain; they are my peers. For me, the "stickiest people" are the ones who bring different kinds of energy to help me stay grounded and motivated—whether it’s anchoring, advocacy, creativity, or drumbeat-keeping.
Recognizing the power of this unlikely source of leadership means I'm a little less bothered by the changing whims of people in power struggles far beyond my own control. All in all, that's a pretty great thing.
There’s a shadow org chart in our country too. Not to mention in your company, your community, your neighborhood, and your block. The more we start to pay attention to these “glue people” among us, the more you’ll start to notice the leadership in unlikely places.
Maybe this starts by asking yourself these questions:
Who energizes you?
Who do you go to for help and advice?
Who do you go to when a decision needs to be made?
Your answers might reveal the people who carry the energy you need to spark momentum and meaningful change. Even if the formula feels unconventional: Get mad, get motivated, and then—get to work.
DIY Network Mapping: As I've written about before, I routinely plot out my own “network map,” an exercise that helps me stay grounded among the people and community most important to me right now. You can read more about my approach or you can do it yourself here.
