Synergistic leadership: The leadership paradigm for the knowledge-based global socio-economy

The direction of this study was inspired by the recent focus of knowledge both as the driving force that has transformed the global socio-economy to be knowledge based and the realization by organizations as a strategic and valuable asset. Synergistic performance is defined as the collective intelligence and the talent base of a workforce whose focus is to co-learn and co-create knowledge. Synergistic performance is a key strategic deliverable required of leaders to lead a work force that can succeed and command global domination in the new knowledge-based global socio-economy.;This study will seek to find and define a significant gap in the leadership paradigm between a knowledge-based organization and a non-knowledge-based organization. In addition, this study will conceptualize an innovative leadership paradigm that bridges the theoretical leadership gap. This study will analyze the required leadership attributes a leader should possess in an organization that encourages a workforce to co-learn and co-create knowledge as a learning community to synergize organizational performance.;Forty-seven participants that belong to six teams in a Fortune 50 company were subjects in the study. Four transformational leadership attributes were studied: Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation and Individual Consideration.;The research findings revealed that the subjects ranked Individual Consideration highest as a leadership attribute that encouraged co-learning and co-creation of knowledge, Intellectual Stimulation as the second highest. The results also revealed a significant correlation relating to one's educational level, Intellectual Stimulation and Idealized Influence. The results of this study sustain the findings of the literature that argues that constituents/followers are leaders in their own right and that they demand opportunities to co-learn, co-create and co-lead knowledge-gaining experiences for synergistic performance.;The transition of the global socio-economy from task/labor-based to knowledge-based has necessitated a need to reexamine existing leadership theories. The new leadership paradigm will need to address the leadership requirements in a knowledge-based global economy. The synergistic leadership prescribed by the study facilitates the integration of talent-based and collective learning, creation, capturing, dissemination, and application of knowledge without the restriction of time, space and cultural bias.