Editorial leadership: The next-level superpower of high-performing executives\” />
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Terri is a thought leader in Digital Journal’s Insight Forum (become a member).
“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” — General Colin Powell
Almost all Gen Xers or older entered a workforce dominated by a top-down leadership style. Until pretty recently it has been the default style of most companies, with only a few exceptions. Today, however, the assumptions around leadership are dramatically different, largely because of the workstyle preferred by Millennials and Gen Z, something more akin to the collaborative style of an editor-in-chief.
A recent Robert Walters UK survey found only 14% of the Gen Z workforce believe hierarchical structures still work, preferring flat, team-based models instead. Millennials are also drawn to inclusive, non-directive approaches. According to research, about 66% of Millennials prioritize a flat environment over traditional hierarchy, desiring more input and connection.
It’s clear that today’s workforce doesn’t want to be managed pyramid-style. It wants leadership that listens, includes, explains, and shapes outcomes with their involvement.
The age of top-down dictates is ending. The era of collaborative editorial leadership has arrived.
Leadership for the 21st century
If the 20th-century business leader was like a general issuing orders on the battlefield, the 21st-century leader is more like an editor.
An editor doesn’t create the entire newspaper, novel, or film. They don’t sit alone generating every idea and then give marching orders to make it so. Their power lies in curating talent, recognizing what’s good, shaping it, and ensuring it builds into something coherent and meaningful.
The editor’s way is collaborative, not coercive. They work with writers, designers, photographers, videographers, media strategists, product leads, and analysts — the creators of business things — and help them bring together the pieces to make a whole product.
The best editors listen, clarify, and synthesize.
These same skills are essential in successfully leading today’s teams.
Three key traits of editorial leaders
“Clarity is the most important thing. I can compare clarity to editing in film. When you do editing you eliminate what is not necessary, what is confusing, what is ambiguous, what is too long, what is repetitive. The same applies to clarity in thinking.” — Edward de Bono
So what does an editorial-style leader actually do differently?
They provide clarity by answering the most important question first. The one a top-down leader might brush aside or shout you down for asking: Why.
(Why?! Because I said so, that’s why! Now get back to work!)
1. Collaboration over certainty
Traditional leadership rewards certainty. Editorial leaders prize curiosity.
Jacinda Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, wasn’t afraid to say “I don’t know.” She leaned into listening tours, asked questions, and brought voices into the room that politics usually shuts out.
Her success came not from having all the answers but from amplifying voices collaboratively.
Editorial leadership doesn’t mean indecision. Listening is not the opposite of leading. It’s what gives decisions context and power.
2. Curiosity over control
Editorial leaders create the conditions for curiosity.
Think of Satya Nadella at Microsoft. He asked his leadership team to shift from a “know-it-all” mindset to a “learn-it-all” one. That single editorial shift to humble inquiry reset the tone of interactions across the entire company.
3. Clarity over commands
Editorial leaders offer clarity of purpose. They create the conditions for good people to do good work.
One tech founder I’ve known says her entire job is “framing chaos into narrative,” with narrative framing being the key concept. Every week, her team ships experiments, kills bad ideas, and iterates fast. Her leadership doesn’t come from barking orders, but from setting direction and giving the team the space to try new things.
Editorial leadership in action
Politics: Barack Obama once said his role as President wasn’t to be the smartest person in the room. It was to gather smart people, hear divergent views, and shape coherent decisions. That’s editorial leadership: synthesizing input, not steamrolling it.
Business: Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard never saw himself as a “CEO.” He acted more like a guide and curator, trusting his team to lead in their domains while shaping a business with radical coherence between values, product, and action.
Tech: Slack founder Stewart Butterfield believes the CEOs’ role has evolved, from being that “smarter than everyone else” person towards a leader who curates ideas and gives narrative clarity. His role as he sees it is to align the product, the team, and product users around a shared language of work.
From compartmentalization to clarity
“We are in the midst of a profound shift … one that asks leaders to go beyond being controllers with a mindset of certainty to becoming coaches who operate with a mindset of discovery and foster continual rapid exploration, execution, and learning.” — McKinsey and Company
Leadership used to be about command silos and the “need to know” mindset. Now, people aren’t content to just know enough to get the job done. They want to know what the work is for. Why should they share their talents on this thing in this place with you?
The “why” matters and it needs to be shared before it’s built into products and customer promises by the team around you. Not under you. That’s the difference.
In today’s business world, leadership is about clarity of purpose, coherence, and creating room for talent to thrive. There is still structure, just different kinds. A worthy leader now gathers expertise to create shared business outcomes. No pyramidal hierarchy. Just one collaborative purpose. If you want to lead well in this era, and have teams rally round and care about the work, don’t bark orders, just become a better editor.
