Who do YOU think is really in charge?

Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company magazine, is the author (well, more compiler than author) of Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Yourself.  One of those truths is a recounting of Google Director of New Business Development and Strategy Megan Smith's three maxims for success:

1.  The customer participates.

2.  The customer drives.

3.  Open systems beat closed systems.

It's worth writing these down and carrying them around, and not just if you happen to be a high-tech entrepreneur.  They explain lots about modern leadership in a blogged and twittered age that makes almost every principle of leadership based on hierarchy and authority obsolete.  Still think you are in charge (or, even worse, still want to be in charge)?  Think again!  

Oh, there's a whole board retreat that could focus on the implications of these three principles for your institution.  There's an idea for this coming school year.