FOLLETT TALK: Mary Follett’s Words & Principles | online, worldwide
Event Details
The Power of Words – Mary Follett’s Words & Principles
I am very pleased to contribute an input to one of the ongoing FollettTalks on January 24. Since 2025, the inspiring Mary Parker Follett Foundation has been built and shaped through the committed work of Matthew Shapiro, Lark Corbeil, and Margaret Major. I am delighted to support this initiative and to be part of this growing network and collaboration.
January 24, 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada), 5 PM (Austria, Vienna)
Online | Worldwide
send an email to get the zoomlink: events@sichtart.at
The Power of Words – Mary Follett’s Words & Principles
This session focuses on Mary Parker Follett’s understanding of the power of word, particularly her use of key concepts such as power, control, authority, leadership, and management. Follett Follett did not describe democratic principles in abstract terms — she built them directly into language. Through the meanings she gave to key words, democracy was clearly different from domination-based and anti-democratic management theories.
Like the cybernetician and philosopher Heinz von Foerster observed: “People always thought that if you have the word for something, then you have the principle behind it.”
Language does not merely describe the world — it constructs it. This is where Follett’s thinking shows its strength: her careful use of language made democratic organization, power-with, and co-creative leadership real in practice.
In this FollettTalks session, I will:
– highlight some central concepts in Follett’s work,
– contrast them with some dominance-oriented management approaches, and
– discuss examples of organizations where these principles are alive in practice.
Elisabeth Sechser is an organizational development consultant and a specialist in Follettian management. She supports organizations in moving beyond outdated management theories and in building democratic, value-creating, team-based companies inspired by Mary Parker Follett. Elisabeth lives and works in Vienna, Austria.
