3 Comments
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Tristan Hood's avatar

Solid. A leader isn’t a leader without followers, but followers by force is slavery…or employment.

Michal Piekarczyk's avatar

I worked in an organization that did this. Found the annointing very confusing.

One related term, superior, also often used, I learned, in Latin is just above. Look in medical text books, superior is closer to head , inferior closer to feet. So it is borrowed for org charts.

Wonder if any etymology for "leader" that helps to explain all this weird language absurdity 😆.

Allen Holub's avatar

I think it's deliberate obfuscation combined with ego. Replacing "manager" with "leader" puffs up the individual—makes them feel more important than they actually are. In badly managed organizations where "manager" has a negative connotation, the change puts a positive spin on the position. This change is quite deliberate.