The aspiration to work as one is the timeless leadership challenge. "The marketplace is constantly - and for the most part efficiently - selecting winners. Whether the competition is for capital, talent or market share, the winning edge can almost always be determined by the organization that is best able to work together as one. Collective power is a powerful competitive force. Frequently the case studies on leadership point to the enterprise as a whole, and its leader, generally the CEO. The winning edge that the "As One" approach can provide, is clearly available to an entire enterprise and its CEO - but these leadership concepts also cascade throughout an organization. Business unit leaders, product managers, and account team leaders that are able to work as one will perform at a higher level. Whether as a team of five or a team of 50,000, the aspiration to work as one is the timeless leadership challenge."

"Leadership can come in many different shapes and sizes" Every day, millions of people around the world collaborate. We join, share and cooperate with others from different countries and backgrounds, across organizations and industries. The world continues to advance because people are problem solving, innovating and collaborating to make things happen. Some even argue that, throughout history, our very survival and progress have depended on working together. Some collaborations may be unintentional; others are quite deliberate. Some are modern and supported by web-enabled technology; others are traditional and draw on community beliefs and customs. Yet despite significant studies into human behavior, our knowledge of deliberate collaborative endeavors is still formative, especially as it applies to large organizations and corporations. Furthermore, the study of collaboration may be about working together, but it isn't necessarily about working as one.

Adding the phrase "as one" to another word changes its entire meaning. Working versus Working As One. Winning versus Winning As One. Stronger versus Stronger As One. Think of the possibilities. The sources of inspiration are endless. Believing As One. Succeeding As One. "As One behavior" represents something entirely different and distinctive - but not formulaic. We often look for strong and dominant leaders in our working world, but based on what we are learning about collaboration, leadership can come in many different shapes and sizes. It can sometimes be about creativity, empowerment, top-down direction, emergent strategy, strength in numbers, precision, autonomy, as well as hierarchy. It is all about further defining the different shapes and sizes and applying them to your unique situation.

“Successful organizations align 1 of 8 leadership styles for different strategic goals,” is the conclusion of a new book – As One: Individual Action, Collective Power – that in part examines the artistry and teamwork of Cirque du Soleil.

Management consultant Mehrdad Baghai and former Deloitte global CEO James Quigley, writing with top Deloitte managers, relate widely diverse stories to show how leaders interact with followers, sharing what was learned from a two-year Deloitte Flagship Project whose purpose was to examine the challenges of working together “As One.” The project's scope was global, nourished and supported by best resources available from the US, UK, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, and Japan, and addressed a number of key questions. For example: What does it take to work As One? To succeed As One? To overcome barriers As One? To cope with failure As One? To become stronger As One? Baghai and Quigley used an advanced forensic data analytic technique called a self-organizing map (SOM), drawing eight leadership models of collaboration – each of which is proven to work in the right circumstances, and each of which can be applied to organizations today. These eight are:

• Landlord and tenants: The leader controls a resource others want.
• Community organizer and volunteers: In a reversal of power, leaders inspire, but followers set the agenda and act.
• Conductor and orchestra: A leader sets rules; followers offer their “personal best.”
• Producer and creative team: The organization gives a team of experts and innovators the resources and the creative freedom to meet the producer’s goals.
• General and soldiers: The leader’s “mission” and the followers’ sense of security depend on clarity, hierarchy, and command and control.
• Architects and builders: Architects ask a team of diverse but interdependent builders to bring their blueprint to life in clearly defined stages.
• Captain and team: Captains inform the team and help it adapt to change.
• Senator and citizens: Like-minded people work together as a community, choosing to observe the same “constitution.” Their leader is a mentor, not a dictator.

Baghai and Quigley thoroughly explain how leaders and followers can coordinate individual action with a group's collective power. There is so much to be said about what this book offers. Where to begin?

Research and discussion about leadership skills tend to center on a leader’s qualities and to pay little attention to followers and what motivates them to contribute and succeed. Organizations are likely to fail when they suffer a “disconnect” between leadership styles and strategic goals – and between prevailing and preferred ways of working. For people to reach their full potential, leaders and followers need to work as a collective a single organism united for a common purpose. Examples from politics, business and the not-for-profit sector suggest eight models or archetypes of collective leadership. Spanning command-and-control and laissez-faire leadership formats – and hybrids of the two – these models offer a taxonomy for “As One” behaviors.

1. Landlord and Tenants

Under this model, a leader’s power rests in a valuable or scarce asset, which the leader, or landlord, controls from the top down. Followers agree to the landlord’s rules in return for access to the asset or resource. Apple’s App Store typifies the relationship. Apple contracts with independent developers to create apps for the iPhone and iPad and sells them through its online store. It splits the earnings 30/70, giving a share to the developer. Strict rules – no porn, no distribution outside the App Store and no disclosure of sales terms – keep Apple in control. Developers (like tenants) accept the arrangement because it gives them access to millions of buyers and, given the 30/70 split, they also gain a chance to get rich. These characteristics distinguish the landlord and tenant model:

• Landlords gain structural advantage through control of a power base: Union boss Walter Reuther used his major asset, labor, to force US carmakers (the tenants) to accept union demands in the 1950s.
• Landlords articulate the overall direction and strategy: With funding of $60 billion, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest philanthropic organization. Perhaps the greatest benign landlord, it uses its power and influence to attract institutions and scholars to its projects.
• Landlords…define and reinforce the rules: They “set precedents and resolve conflicts.” Firms must follow 6,000 rules to stay on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Landlords reward “the best performing tenants: Wal-Mart promises that suppliers who agree to its terms will benefit from a high volume of business.
• Landlords gain more power as they get more tenants: Rupert Murdoch provides access to what advertisers want most: media. The more print space or broadcast spots they buy, the more Murdoch’s empire grows.

2. Community Organizer and Volunteers

In this model, leaders and their followers work more as an “ecosystem” than as a formal organization. The leader has a compelling vision that inspires people to act. Consider the Linux open-source movement. Engineer Linus Torvalds built a community of developers dedicated to improving the kernel of his operating system, an open source alternative to Windows. Torvalds allowed people to profit from their contributions, provided they kept the source code open to all. As a result, he won the support of major corporations such as Dell, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Nokia. By 2010, the Linux ecosystem was worth an estimated $40 billion. Participants in this model have these traits:

• Volunteers are independent decision makers: The Visa credit card system unites autonomous banks into a “chaordic” – both chaotic and orderly – organization.
• Volunteers…opt into campaigns case by case: To keep followers motivated, community organizers actively engage them, treat each one equally, and show all of them that their opinions and passions matter.
• Community organizers…use narratives to motivate the volunteers: Barack Obama channeled his personal story into a message of hope and change.
• Community organizers’ power increases as the number of volunteers grows: When the Nazis ordered the extradition of the Jews from all occupied territories, the Danish king, Christian X, refused to comply, and, one by one, the Danes followed his example. The Danes offered more than 7,000 Jews refuge from their persecutors or helped them escape to neighboring Sweden.

3. Conductor and Orchestra

An orchestra’s goal is to play a musical score flawlessly. The conductor must help the musicians meet the highest standards. In this model, followers conform to strict guidelines that cut the risks of mistakes. This archetype is commonly found in the healthcare sector. For example, at Medco Health Solutions, the pharmacy benefits manager provides 1,000 specially trained pharmacists with tools and technologies to prevent medication- dispensing errors. Medco’s expertise and emphasis on precision and quality have helped make it the world’s “largest mail-order pharmacy.” This model’s key characteristics are:

• Orchestra members have clearly defined roles and tasks: FedEx Ground relies on 15,000 independent contractors to deliver more than 3.5 million items each day; “task clarity” means each driver can earn money based on the number of deliveries.
• Musicians follow “detailed and scripted processes: Conductors encourage people to pursue their interests and hone their skills, but not at the cost of other members. The orchestra must be greater than the sum of its parts.
• Musicians undergo extensive training and orientation to perform with precision: Only when you master the basics of your craft can you enjoy the freedom of creativity.
• Compliance and incentives are closely related: People continue to fly with Ryanair and comply with its rules because its low-cost basic fare acts as an incentive.

4. Producer and Creative Team

On a movie set or in a theater, a producer takes care of the “big picture” and lets innovative, independent artists put on a show, harnessing, not unbridling, creativity. Cirque du Soleil’s scouts search worldwide for unusual creative artists for its productions. Its huge pool of employees and performers creates unique, crowd-pleasing spectacles through discipline and hard work: training “boot camps” push performers to their limit; taking a show from “page” to stage can involve years of work. This model’s primary traits are:

• Producers articulate an overall goal; the creative team brings it to life: Despite often toiling in anonymity, producers create the vision that guides the team.
• Members complement the rest of the team: The Mayo Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the US, expands or reassembles surgical teams as cases demand.
• The creative team has complete freedom: Following an illness, Star Wars creator George Lucas had to cede directorial control of The Empire Strikes Back; the film was later acclaimed as the best in the series.
• Leaders use dissent to push the creative boundaries of the team: Bridgewater Associates investment managers invite their colleagues to criticize their proposals harshly as part of a mutual effort to produce the best plans for clients.
• The creative team collaborates closely: To foster participation, creative teams usually have a broad set of skills but relatively few members.

5. General and Soldiers

Under this command-and-control archetype, leaders expect people to do specific, assigned tasks that show their place in the hierarchy. The structure of the model, however, is supportive not oppressive. “Soldiers” use their training and experience to advance through the ranks. At the Marriott Hotels, entry-level employers do routine tasks but have a chance for promotion. The company runs an English program to increase opportunities for nonnative English speakers. For example, Mexican Sara Redwell began as a housekeeper but retired as a hotel general manager. This model’s characteristics are:

• Generals take charge of a mission: Patriarchs in the “Bamboo Network” run expatriate Chinese family businesses in Asia, creating huge industrial complexes.
• Leaders clearly define roles, processes and tasks: Baristas train rigorously, so each outlet offers the same service.
• The organizational model relies on hierarchy and rank: Multilevel marketing networks, such as health care, beauty and homecare specialist Amway, organize their sellers into ranks and offer motivational awards. The more people independent business owners recruit to sell products, the greater their chances of promotion.
• Training is highly specialized: Jesuit priests spend spend 10 years in study, training, religious retreat and charitable work before taking their last vows. Uniforms and rituals reinforce…common identity” – Boot camp unites soldiers.

6. Architect and Builders

The architect is a leader with a vision who relies on the skills, ingenuity and creativity of others to bring it to life. Ratan Tata, chairman of India’s Tata Group, typifies the architect. He dreamed of producing a car that would sell for $2,500. To do so, he had to win the support of his suppliers. His company used minimalist design and innovative production processes to bring the Tata Nano, the Indian “people’s car,” to life.

• Architects are visionaries with a goal that seems an impossible: Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place, wants to “change the world” by building a global energy network for electric cars.
• Architects unite a team: Builders need skills and commitment to realize their dream.
• “Revolutionary” problem solving is critical: Capital One saw credit cards as information, not as banking and pioneered the balance-transfer service.
• Builders have “freedom within a frame: They can be creative, but they must meet the architect’s goals on time.
• Builders are interdependent links in a chain: Architects must make sure that they see the bigger picture and don’t work in isolation from each other.

7. Captain and Sports Team

The followers in this model abide by the game’s rules but make strategic decisions during the match. The captain isn’t the boss so much as first among equals; team members work on the field, assessing the game and conveying information to their teammates. Mumbai’s 5,000 dabbawalas, or “lunchbox men,” act as a highly coordinated, dynamic unit. They punctually and consistently deliver 200,000 hot meals a day – handing over lunchboxes to colleagues at set relay points. Their low failure rate – one lunch in 16 million, or one in 60 days – has earned them Six Sigma certification. The key characteristics of this model are:

• Recruits primarily join to meet their personal goals: The person wants to excel, but within the team’s “strong sense of shared identity” and “pride.”
• There is minimal hierarchy and sometimes no clear leader: The captain serves as the team’s “mouthpiece” and coordinator.
• Tasks and processes are clearly denied: And “internal communications are extensive.” When players are tuned in to one another, the team operates as one unit.
• Strategy emerges gradually: Training prepares people; it doesn’t provide a how-to manual. For example, registers must adapt in a moment to changing conditions.

8. Senator and Citizens

Using this model, citizens unite to help their community, bound together by shared values. As their representative, the senator wields minimal power. Design and engineering company W.L. Gore & Associates eschews titles and organizational charts. People work in ad hoc teams that coalesce and disband as needed. “Sponsors,” not bosses, guide projects; the company lets its employees select work that interests them and tolerates mistakes “above the waterline” – errors that puncture the boat but won’t sink it. This model’s main traits are:

• A constitution enshrines the principles and values that govern the citizens: The senator safeguards the tenets of a mission statement.
• Citizens voluntarily join the community: Harley Davidson motorcycle riders enjoy being HOGs, members of the Harley Owners Group.
• Autonomy is a fundamental right, and participation is a core responsibility: Citizens trust that their constitution and system make sure the right behaviour and they believe that dissenting voices give to improving processes.
• The community only functions if the structure is fluid and adaptive: Japan’s Kyocera, a manufacturer of electronics components, encourages using “amoebas,” or small working groups, to resolve issues.
• Communities can be both physical and virtual: The Internet and social networks can help Senator & Citizens communities.

No brief commentary can possibly do full justice to what this book offers. Its scope and depth of coverage, as well as the eloquence with which Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley present the material, are unsurpassed. Moreover, the book's design, lay-out, and abundance of illustrations are of the very highest quality. So if you’re looking for a new ways to lead or just want a brief peek into the world of Cirque du Soleil, this is your opportunity!

As OneIn 1984, Cirque had 73 employees and a single show. Today, over two decades later, it has 20 shows around the world across five continents, such as Mystère, Dralion, KOOZA, "O", OVO, Saltimbanco, Allegria, Love (based on the music of The Beatles), Corteo, Quidam and a new vaudeville act, Banana Shpeel. A team of 4,000 employees represents 40 nationalities, speaking 25 different languages. Each person brings something new from their own culture to the creative process. Lyn Heward, former president, creative content division, states, "Brazilian percussion and capoeira, Australian didgeridoo, Ukrainian and Africa dancing, Wushu, Peking Opera and Kung Fu have all found their way into our multidisciplinary shows."

There is no "cookie cutter" approach to Cirque--the combined work of the performers, directors, and backstage crew add up to a show that's never been seen before. Multiculturalism, peace, mythology, joy or isolation, power, water, color, burlesque, martial arts, and vaudeville --the endless list of Cirque's themes toys with the imagination.

From concept to stage

The success of Cirque du Soleil, however, is not based on unbridled creativity. The diverse team brings a wealth of creative ideas to the initial development phase, but thereafter it's about discipline and hard work. Taking a production from concept to stage takes years. Kà--showing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas--took four years and cost $165 million to conceive, cast, design, train, and produce.

First, the theme is created. Sometimes it emerges from the staff themselves; sometimes it's suggested by Laliberté himself. For Kà, Laliberté instructed creator Robert Lepage to craft an epic tale that included martial arts--a form no other Cirque show had yet explored.

When working with artists to develop a concept, the frame of reference can be broad. Acrobat "mentor" André Simard says: "I try to use a personal approach with every artist to bring out his or her own energy ... We can't close any doors. Instead, we let ourselves go and join in the adventure." Once there, though, personal energy is harnessed, used to transform performers into characters on stage. The creativity, theme, music, and costumes provide the context for the visual adventure; the performers provide the "life."

Cirque has more than 20,000 artists in its databank who wish to be performers, and over half of the recruits are gymnasts. But Cirque scouts don't just go after dancers, gymnasts or athletes. Their huge list is said to include "24 giants, 23 whistlers, 466 contortionists, 14 pickpockets, 35 skateboarders, 1,278 clowns, eight dislocation artists, and 73 people classified simply as small." They have even had a 7-foot tall, 400-pound Argentinian opera singer, a septuagenarian Danish husband-and-wife acrobatic team, and an acrobat from Brazil, who stands 3-feet-10 inches tall.

Recruitment

To achieve a combination of athletic and artistic perfection, they often recruit the near-great and accomplished athletes who have competed in the Olympics or World Championships teams. Twenty-one of the approximately 1,000 Cirque du Soleil performers are former Olympians; two won gold medals in synchronized swimming. From this basis, Cirque can transform both the athletes' exceptional tech - nical skill and drive to succeed and create circus magic.

Gathered from around the world, these special performers are pushed to their limits, learning their craft for up to four months before a performance. Although auditions are demanding, people are not hired for who they are, but for what they may become. Transformation is the key. Heward states, "Creative transformation is the most important doorway for us. We're trying to find the ‘pearl,' the hidden talent in that individual. What is the unique thing that person brings?"

At Cirque, it's all about spontaneity, creativity, imagination and risk taking--not always qualities associated with Olympic athletes. Many gymnasts, athletes, and dancers come from competitive environments where individual excellence, instead of team work, is reinforced. Boris Verkhovsky, Cirque head coach and trainer notes, "A lot of athletes come from an environment where they are literally told when to inhale and when to exhale."

Training

Before stepping on stage, performers must complete an intense multi-stage training and immersion program to hone their acrobatics, artistic performance, and, importantly, their team skills. With new productions constantly being developed and a high annual attrition rate of 20 percent, a key to Cirque's success has been the ability to recruit, train, and replace injured or retiring performers. Scouts from Cirque's recruiting team are constantly on the lookout globally for talent--many of them dedicated to specific skills.

Cirque has a trainer who scouts out talent in the Mongolian State Circus where they specialize in contortionists. Athletes who haven't achieved the medal are good targets-- the scouts are constantly at Olympic and World Championship competitions. Talented gymnasts and dancers are being sought from around the world to support the creative machine that is Cirque du Soleil.

At training "boot camps," new recruits are, over the course of many weeks, pushed to their limits. Cirque's mission: "Turn athletes into artists and form a cohesive team of brothers."

The immersion program not only hones performers' technical skills, but also develops their understanding of and connection with their roles. Cirque's long-time stage director, Franco Dragone, aims to get beneath the stereotypes and self-parodies that often dog young performers. It's a visceral exercise to bring forth the raw emotion and discovery of the character, and has been described as being "like peeling an onion to get to the sweet, intense core." Another Cirque analogy is that of Michelangelo's David: the sculptor simply revealed a figure who already existed within the stone.

More than 90 million spectators around the world have seen a Cirque show. In 2008, Cirque had sales of $733 million. In a poll of brands with the most global impact, Cirque ranked twenty-second--ahead of McDonald's, Microsoft, and Disney. Productions have captured the imaginations of children and adults in Japan, Brazil, Canada, China, the US, Barcelona, Russia, Mexico, and Dubai. Live music, costumes, mood, and stunning visuals are used to transcend global boundaries and language barriers to transport audiences to another world.

Through the creativity and vision of the production team, and the grace, strength and flexibility of the people on stage, Cirque continues to enthrall audiences each and every night. And whether the company is recruiting contortionists in Mongolia, martial arts experts in China, or fire jugglers from Brazil, one thing is clear: the way it transforms athletes into performers while continuously reinventing the medium of the circus is nothing short of magic.