The philosophy of leadership implicit in leadership development programs of the past is no longer adequate for dealing with the complex problems inherent in communities and organizations today. This implicit philosophy assumes that leadership rests in individuals who must be capable of inspiring and influencing others to solve problems and achieve goals. A new philosophy of leadership is emerging. Dubbed "post-heroic" leadership (Huey, 1994), it is based on bottom-up transformation fueled by shared power and community building. John Nirenberg's (1993) The Living Organization, quoted earlier, eloquently expresses the fluid, distributed, community, and action-oriented nature of leadership from this perspective.

Although various scholars and authors differ in their scope and focus when describing changes required by the new leadership philosophy, there are at least three common themes: shared leadership, leadership as relationship, and leadership in community. The idea of shared leadership is variously termed dispersed, roving, distributive, collective, or group-centered leadership, and organizations are referred to as "leaderful." The assumption is that all of us have leadership qualities that can be pooled and drawn upon as needed, when working with others on vital common issues.

The related theme, leadership as relationship, revolves around the idea of a network of fluid relationships and is built on the concepts of empowerment, participation, partnership, and service. The third theme, leadership practice in community, envisions community as the conceptual setting in which the leadership relationship takes place.