In response to a question, `what managers need to know to manage well in this new and more challenging world,' Peter Druker said, `You have to learn to manage in situations where you don't have command or authority, where you are neither controlled nor controlling'. This, he said, `is the fundamental change'. To manage such a change, organizations, once created, do not call for great visionaries: All that they call for is competent and devoted leaders who are generous in using `grace' and `concern' while nurturing their organizationslooking after and caring for them, steadily and consistently. And, that is what this article desires to revisit. Organizations need people for what they can do for them and what they can mean to them. Those needs can be direct or indirect but one thing is certain: Organizations have no choice. In the normal course, higher the employee engagement, better the organization's performance. There are six drivers of employee engagement: Peoplesenior leadership, peers, culture and values; worknature of work, motivation for work, and availability of resources; opportunitiesscope for career progression, skill development via training and recognition; quality of lifebalance afforded between work at organization and personal life; procedurespolicies and procedures under HR; and compensationbenefits and rewards. It is these six drivers that influence the people to engage, either positively or negatively, in work which ultimately defines the return on investment. So, the ultimate question is what is it that heightens employees' engagement and how is it accomplished? One obvious answer is `leadership'.

The moment we think of leadership what comes to our mind is `top-down' leadership that is based on the myth of the triumphant individual. These leaders like the Welches, the Gateses have all become heroes. Our current thinking about leadership is so entwined with the notion of heroism that the distinction between "leader" and "hero" has almost become blurred. Today leadership is too often seen as an individual phenomenon. But in a shrinking world where technological and political complexity is increasing at an incredible pace, top-down leadership cannot suffice. However gifted the person at the top may be, the top-down leadership cannot all alone identify and solve the mounting problems nor can it build the many connections required to be made across the globe.

Leonard Bernstein once said that "the hardest instrument to play in a symphony orchestra is second fiddle". It reveals that what is today needed in organizations are "great partnerships". It simply calls for collective engagement of all the employees. To cite an example: Who built the varadhi to Lanka? Is it Rama shouting commands, giving direction, inspiring the monkeys, leading the way and changing the paradigms? No, it is the monkey-force and their creative alliance with Rama's need that built the varadhi across the ocean. So where does all this lead us? It tells us that nothing can be achieved by an organization "without the full inclusion, initiatives and cooperation of followers". It is through lifting others that leaders find themselves lifted up i.e., their organizational objectives are achieved.