Shared leadership
Shared leadership is a collaborative approach to leadership where multiple individuals within a team or organization share the responsibilities and authority typically held by a single leader. This model contrasts with traditional hierarchical leadership, where one individual directs a group, and can also be referred to as collective, horizontal, or distributed leadership. Emerging from the fields of business and psychology in recent decades, shared leadership encourages individuals to leverage their unique expertise for the benefit of the entire group, thereby enhancing personal investment in organizational goals.
The rise of teamwork in the modern workplace has highlighted the effectiveness of shared leadership, as it allows for greater adaptability in rapidly changing environments, such as global expansion and organizational restructuring. In this context, shared leadership enables organizations to draw on a wider range of knowledge and skills, making it easier to navigate challenges. To successfully implement shared leadership, organizations must meet certain prerequisites, including a commitment to change from upper management, investment in education and planning, established management practices, and a culture of accountability and engagement. This inclusive approach not only empowers team members but also fosters a sense of collective responsibility and collaboration.
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Subject Terms
Shared leadership
As implied in its name, shared leadership refers to a team of people leading each other rather than following one appointed leader. Collective leadership, horizontal leadership, and distributed leadership are similar concepts. The traditional leadership model is called vertical or hierarchical leadership, in which there is one leader for each group and one group leads another group. In contrast, shared leadership involves the broad distribution of leadership across a team or organization, in which individuals pool their expertise for the benefit of the entire group.
Overview
A shared leadership model maximizes the human resources of an organization by giving multiple individuals the opportunity to lead in their areas of expertise. This opportunity empowers individuals and, in turn, makes them more likely to work hard toward goals for which they are personally responsible.
The concept of shared leadership emerged in business and psychology literature in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, even though its existence can be traced back to the ancient Roman Republic, when a system of coleadership lasted for several centuries. Most scholarly studies of leadership have focused on the hierarchical model in which a single leader inspires, commands, and controls followers. Scholarly work on shared leadership, in contrast, notes that leadership may be collective, with two or more individuals involved in leadership roles.
Teamwork has become increasingly important in the workplace, and leaders of these teams are credited with the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of their teams. This emphasis on teamwork, along with an understanding of the importance of team leaders, has led to an increase in shared leadership among teams of many organizations.
The modern business world consists of organizations that are expanding globally, merging with other organizations, and restructuring both within the organization and throughout the industry. Given the challenging nature of these changes—particularly for a single leader who is unlikely to have all of the expertise necessary—a number of organizations have turned to shared leadership to help ease the transitions and grow. Shared leadership combines the best of each leader’s abilities so that a broad base of knowledge may be drawn from to help an organization take the right steps.
Shared leadership models increased in popularity in the late 2010s and into the 2020s. As more organizations shifted to this type of leadership, research aimed to identify the qualities of its successful implementation and use. In many organizations, shared leadership increases creativity, contributing to complex problem-solving and decision-making. Shared leadership also increases team engagement and may provide greater inclusivity by leveraging the perspectives of all group members. However, this shared leadership is not appropriate for all groups. If implemented poorly or in a group unsuited for shared leadership, this structure can cause conflicts, reduce efficiency, and create ambiguity in work product accountability.
Research conducted by Susan Misra, Michael Allison, and Elissa Perry for the Nonprofit Quarterly highlights four prerequisites for shared leadership:
- A commitment to change on the part of senior leadership
- An investment in education and planning
- Existing management practices already in place
- Accountability and engagement
The three researchers examined organizational leadership transitions and the potential application and successful implementation of shared leadership. Their research found that teams with the four traits listed above had higher success rates in implementing shared leadership models. These traits create a cycle of improvement so that when one area improves and adapts, other traits are also positively impacted. The report also identified several themes present in successful shared leadership groups. Most restructured their organizations and modified management, communication, and decision-making processes, communicating changes along the way. Group members in successful shared leadership transformations were able to modify their self-concept to view their workplace roles differently and accept a new company culture.
Bibliography
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