The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

by Ori Brafman

To further facilitate trust and bonding, Deborah focused on ideology. She’d refuse to talk to organizations about concrete strategy and nuts and bolts. She’d tell them, “I’m not going to talk about programs or budgets. I’m not going to talk about any of that right now.” Instead, she asked the groups about “what keeps you up at night, what brings joy—tears of joy in your eyes. And I’ll share that with you as well. I want to understand you as a person.” A catalyst’s most important relationships are based on trust and understanding. Deborah “just knew that values were a stronger binding force than authority.” These conversations were difficult at first. “It was a little bit scary for everybody. It was a little bit scary for me. It required me to have a certain amount of vulnerability as a leader.” But Deborah wasn’t running a support group. She was dealing with passionate activist groups. How could she have these conversations with groups that might talk to her one day but, if they disagreed with her actions the next day, would burn her effigy on the steps of city hall? Surprisingly, Deborah welcomed the burning. “I will trust the authenticity of this relationship,” she told the advocacy groups, “when I bring an idea and you guys look at me and say, ‘That is absolutely the most idiotic idea I have ever heard. What is wrong with you?’ As long as you think everything I do smells like roses, we’ve got a problem.” Deborah was pleased when “it got to a point where they’d give me a...