The Membership Organization

By Jane Galloway Seiling

It is not surprising that leaders want to create a new way of working. The old way, with the "inner circle" directing, controlling and de-valuing, no longer works. The inner circle must be expanded to include all memebers of the workplace community in the responisibility of actively contributing to achievement. In an article in the Harvard Business Review, Mintzberg (1996) suggests that the organization is a circle, with the leaders in the center. Around the edges are the people who know the everyday operations of the organization. Although their view is limited to tehir own perspectives, their ability to contribute to the welfare of the overall organization is no longer questioned. Within the expanded circle, the boundaries that separate the leaders from the other members are blurred, making it easier for all to work together.
The old way of working offered token gestures inviting participation while withholding true permission to take action. This is counterproductive and keeps the inner circle intact and remote. Employees sense that competence and influence are related to their ability to be top performers. When they achieve competence in their jobs, they want to exert influence.
Limiting employee involvement can also directly affect feelings of community, raising barriers to group interactions in the organization. As a result, the organization can become increasingly dysfunctional in its ability to achieve organizational goals.
Working together is not easy and the Membership Organzation is not a utopia--it takes work. Work that is the responsibility and accountability of all members of the workplace community while requiring leader-members to constantly give it purpose. Briefly, the Membership Organzation

  • Requires us all to think and do together
  • is relational
  • will include constructive conflict across blurred lines
  • addresses issues of control and power
  • takes more time
  • adds and detracts from leadership activities
  • diversifies the location of decisioning


Achieving membership requires each of us to be personally responsible for the success and growth of the community we work in. To do so requires each member to understand and actively partner with others in identifying what needs to be done.