Dee Hock
Dee Ward Hock (1929 - ) was the founder and former CEO of the Visa credit card network. Between 1968 and 1984, he led a process of creating a global system without precedent, through many cycles of progress and blockages. As a leader, he was persistent, thoughtful and restrained, but made a stand when he needed to. Throughout these years, he charted a constantly adaptive course with colleagues through incredible obstacles and complexity, without becoming stuck. He called his environment 'chaordic' - a combination of chaos and order. His work exemplifies working productively on the 'edge of chaos' in complexity.
Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself - your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with authority over you and 15% leading your peers.