How do great leaders thrive in uncertain times? By changing their mindsets about power.“A leadership manifesto like you’ve never read before. Every page is eye-opening, provocative and energising.” Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit “This book is a breakthrough. I’m buying a dozen copies to share with friends and colleagues.” Seth Godin, author of The Practice“Matthew Barzun might well be the first modest man to write a great book on leadership. This is a gift.” Richard Thaler, Novel Prize laureate and co-author of Nudge __________ What if the biggest obstacle to organizational performance is your leadership structure itself? For decades, we've debated top-down versus bottom-up leadership. But both approaches trap organizations in the same outdated shape: the Pyramid. The Pyramid, with its hoarded authority and rigid hierarchies, blocks the innovation, agility, and engagement that modern businesses desperately need.The alternative is Constellations: a fundamentally different organizational model that distributes power strategically rather than centralizing it.Drawing on his experience as an entrepreneur, political campaigner, and U.S. Ambassador, Matthew Barzun reveals how the Constellation approach transforms teams into dynamic networks where each member operates as both an autonomous leader and an integrated collaborator. What you'll learn: Why conventional hierarchy fails at speed, creativity, and talent retentionHow to structure teams as interconnected networks that scale without bureaucracyWhy giving away power multiplies your influence and organizational capacityThese principles drove a digital payments revolution, built the world's largest encyclopaedia, and reinvented political organizing. Barzun distils case studies from Visa, Wikipedia, and Obama's presidential campaigns into actionable insights for leaders navigating complexity, managing distributed teams, and building cultures of innovation.The Power of Giving Away Power shows you how to lead by distributing authority. The question is whether you can afford not to.__________“An extraordinary book about human flourishing, about linking properly to the best bits of ourselves and others to move mountains. Enlightening and brain reviving.” Alain de Botton‘A brilliant challenge to conventions that have held back organisations for decades and a crisp playbook for making distributed leadership work for everyone.” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer of Netflix

How do great leaders thrive in uncertain times? By changing their mindsets about power.If you let go of hierarchy, chaos will reign…or so many leaders believe. But when leaders find the courage to distribute rather than hoard power, creativity multiplies, trust deepens, and inclusivity expands…and a new kind of order emerges. For decades, leaders forced their organizations to look like a pyramid, with all authority flowing from the top. That didn’t work. Next, experts told leaders to adopt “bottom-up” leadership. But that’s not working either. Top-down and bottom-up are the same organizational shape. And neither approach really enables innovation, collaboration, or enthusiasm. The problem is the Pyramid.A few rare leaders have seen the pyramid for the trap that it is and have learned to embrace a new shape and mindset: Constellations. Organizations designed as constellations are dynamic and flexible networks of distinct yet interwoven individuals. Each member of the team feels like a singular star and is also connected to others to form something greater. That is how Visa reimagined how we pay for things, how Wikipedia beat the richest company in the world and how Barack Obama and his grassroots team revolutionized political campaigning. These leaders did what most leaders dread – they gave away power.In this practical and personal journey, Barzun brilliantly layers lessons across history and industries with his own experiences as an internet entrepreneur, political organizer, and US ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. With lessons for leaders of all types, The Power of Giving Away Power shows how the Constellation mindset shines in some of the most impactful organizations and innovations the world has ever known. And it encourages us all to recognize, as Barzun writes, "the power we can create by seeing the power in others" — and making the leap to lead. Together.

How do great leaders thrive in uncertain times? By changing their mindsets about power.“A leadership manifesto like you’ve never read before. Every page is eye-opening, provocative and energising.” Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit “This book is a breakthrough. I’m buying a dozen copies to share with friends and colleagues.” Seth Godin, author of The Practice“Matthew Barzun might well be the first modest man to write a great book on leadership. This is a gift.” Richard Thaler, Novel Prize laureate and co-author of Nudge __________ What if the biggest obstacle to organizational performance is your leadership structure itself? For decades, we've debated top-down versus bottom-up leadership. But both approaches trap organizations in the same outdated shape: the Pyramid. The Pyramid, with its hoarded authority and rigid hierarchies, blocks the innovation, agility, and engagement that modern businesses desperately need.The alternative is Constellations: a fundamentally different organizational model that distributes power strategically rather than centralizing it.Drawing on his experience as an entrepreneur, political campaigner, and U.S. Ambassador, Matthew Barzun reveals how the Constellation approach transforms teams into dynamic networks where each member operates as both an autonomous leader and an integrated collaborator. What you'll learn: Why conventional hierarchy fails at speed, creativity, and talent retentionHow to structure teams as interconnected networks that scale without bureaucracyWhy giving away power multiplies your influence and organizational capacityThese principles drove a digital payments revolution, built the world's largest encyclopaedia, and reinvented political organizing. Barzun distils case studies from Visa, Wikipedia, and Obama's presidential campaigns into actionable insights for leaders navigating complexity, managing distributed teams, and building cultures of innovation.The Power of Giving Away Power shows you how to lead by distributing authority. The question is whether you can afford not to.__________“An extraordinary book about human flourishing, about linking properly to the best bits of ourselves and others to move mountains. Enlightening and brain reviving.” Alain de Botton‘A brilliant challenge to conventions that have held back organisations for decades and a crisp playbook for making distributed leadership work for everyone.” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer of Netflix

How do great leaders thrive in uncertain times? By changing their mindsets about power.If you let go of hierarchy, chaos will reign…or so many leaders believe. But when leaders find the courage to distribute rather than hoard power, creativity multiplies, trust deepens, and inclusivity expands…and a new kind of order emerges. For decades, leaders forced their organizations to look like a pyramid, with all authority flowing from the top. That didn’t work. Next, experts told leaders to adopt “bottom-up” leadership. But that’s not working either. Top-down and bottom-up are the same organizational shape. And neither approach really enables innovation, collaboration, or enthusiasm. The problem is the Pyramid.A few rare leaders have seen the pyramid for the trap that it is and have learned to embrace a new shape and mindset: Constellations. Organizations designed as constellations are dynamic and flexible networks of distinct yet interwoven individuals. Each member of the team feels like a singular star and is also connected to others to form something greater. That is how Visa reimagined how we pay for things, how Wikipedia beat the richest company in the world and how Barack Obama and his grassroots team revolutionized political campaigning. These leaders did what most leaders dread – they gave away power.In this practical and personal journey, Barzun brilliantly layers lessons across history and industries with his own experiences as an internet entrepreneur, political organizer, and US ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. With lessons for leaders of all types, The Power of Giving Away Power shows how the Constellation mindset shines in some of the most impactful organizations and innovations the world has ever known. And it encourages us all to recognize, as Barzun writes, "the power we can create by seeing the power in others" — and making the leap to lead. Together.