Give your opinion about this chapter from operations management class.

If Its Lonely at the Top, Youre Not Doing Something Right My fathers generation believed that leaders should never get too close to the people they lead. Keep a distance was a phrase I often heard. Good leaders were supposed to be a little above and apart from those they led. As a result, when I began my leadership journey, I made sure to keep some distance between me and my people. I tried to be close enough to lead them, but far enough away to not be influenced by them. This balancing act immediately created a lot of inner conflict for me. Honestly, I liked being close the people I led. Plus, I felt that one of my strengths was my ability to connect with people. Both of these factors caused me to fight the instruction I had received to keep a distance. And sure enough, within a few months of accepting my first leadership position and I began developing close friendships. We were enjoying our work and the people in the organization.

Kanter stated that arrogance is a major enemy of innovation and motivation as it precludes a willingness to learn. The 21st century knowledge-based economy requires knowledge creation and sharing, not knowledge management. Learning is a critical element of adaption and agility. Without learning, individuals and organizations will keep doing what they did before; and fail. Frese notes that dynamic self-reliance is increasing in value as an employee characteristic necessary for success of 21st century organization. The critical components of dynamic self-reliance are the ability to acquire knowledge and skills by oneself and to self-start motivational processes. The accelerating pace of technological and social change makes ongoing workplace learning a requirement of most businesses. The ability to learn on the job is a necessary skill. In the complex and dynamic workplace, self-directed learning is a key aspect for development of employees. Smith wrote that adult learners who are self-directed are likely to recognize the importance of interaction with others, to share others knowledge, and to build new networks with others. The implication is that the primary thrust of employee development is not directive teaching, but, instead, the facilitation of learning and making learning environment in organization. The goal of teaching, therefore, is to develop an employee to the point where he or she functions as self-sufficient learning individual and may interact as equal with other employees and create, acquire and transfer knowledge within organization.