"Leadership is really about listening and encouraging people to find their own creative way to perform," says Mr. Nierenberg, now New York-based principal of an executive coaching company, the Music Paradigm. "You can require obedience and force compliance with your directions, but you can't mandate enthusiasm, creativity, fresh thinking or inspiration. If you value those, then people need to feel ownership of the work and the leader must cede some control," Mr. Nierenberg explains.
