LEADERSHIP AND BOUNDARYLESS CAREER

Abstract

What is leadership? “The great leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things; he is the one who gets the people to do the greatest things” Ronald Reagan. The boundaryless career is the antonym of the 'bounded' or 'organizational' career. Within this general meaning lie several particular meanings, or emphases. The most prominent is when a careermoves across the boundaries of separate employers. A second meaning is when a career draws validation — and marketability — from outside the present employer. A third meaning is when a career is sustained by extra-organizational networks or information. A fourth meaning occurs when traditional organizational career boundaries, notably hierarchical reporting and advancement principles, are broken. A fifth meaning occurs when a person rejects existing career opportunities for personal or family reasons. A sixth meaning depends on the interpretation of the career actor, who may perceive a boundaryless future regardless of structural constraints. A common theme to all these meanings is one of independence from, rather than dependence on, traditional organizational career principles