Richard Florida is talking about community leaders here, but his point applies to all forms of leadership, including leading and managing in organizations:
Unfortunately, leadership more often than not works in the opposite direction by squashing civic energy. Jane Jacobs once told me that communities everywhere are filled with creative vigor, but that some of them are run by squelchers. Squelchers are control freaks who think they know what’s best for their city or region, even as their leadership (or lack thereof) causes a hemorrhage of bright, talented, and creative people.
Squelchers, he said, are the kind of leaders that use the word “no” a lot. They constantly put roadblocks in the way of community energy and initiatives. I’ve seen firsthand how these squelchers drain the life and energy from their communities. The respond to new ideas with phrases like “That’s not how we do things here”; “That will never fly”; or “Why don’t you just move someplace you’ll be happy?” (From Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life
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