Co-Leadership: Leading for the Future at VSO

“It’s time to abolish the “great man” myth, that rusty, outdated notion that one smart person... should lead a company or a country. We need teams of talented leaders and co-leaders working together to unravel the complexities, find new ways of doing things and get complicated stuff done. In other words, we need co-leadership.” (Dede Henley, Leadership Strategy Contributor to Forbes, Feb 2023)??

At VSO, we have long cherished the idea that the most effective leadership encompasses a diversity of perspective, shared accountability, and collaborative problem-solving. This kind of leadership resonates powerfully with our development approach which values bringing people together to solve complex problems, builds values-based relationships, and champions solidarity for a common purpose.

For several years, we have adopted a distributed leadership model as an organisation, investing in a strong global strategic leadership group drawn from nationalities across the world, responsible for collectively shaping VSO’s future. It was an intuitive next step for VSO to extend this idea to the most senior executive level.

Focusing on inclusion, collaboration, vulnerability, continuous learning and transparency, the co-leadership model provides the framework for us as leaders to live out the values of our organisation and continue to align ourselves closely with the feminist leadership practices embedded in VSO’s People First principles.

With Donné from and based in the Global South, and Kathryn in the Global North, this move also provides us with the opportunity to build on VSO’s commitment to a single global organisation with a shift in power and decision-making towards the Global South where our programming is delivered.???

Co-leadership has proven to be an effective approach for many organisations. Research establishes that by combining complementary and distinctive skills and perspectives, practices and energies, co-leadership can leverage better performance, especially when it comes to tackling complex issues. This happens through more strategic and creative problem solving and more informed and balanced decision making.

Many co-leaders also say that it helps them make much bolder decisions and reduces the loneliness and burn-out prevalent in senior leadership. Together, we believe our shared leadership experience and broad expertise will support decision-making at VSO that is robust and constructive in addressing the challenges the world is facing.

We recognise the imperatives for co-leadership to deliver on its promise, the most important being mutual trust and a shared commitment to VSO’s mission and values. We also recognise that co-leadership is an opportunity for all of us at VSO – primary actors, volunteers, partners and employees. Just like leadership itself, co-leadership is not confined to any particular title or person. Anyone can make the choice to collaborate, invite a different perspective into a discussion, or make their work more available and transparent to others. The promise of co-leadership is that we all see ourselves as connected to one another, in trusted relationships with each other, bound by our commitment to deliver our mission and willing to share with one another both the burden of our responsibilities and the joy of reaching our goals.

In this next stage of VSO’s journey, we look forward to amplifying the exceptional value created through VSO’s global network. We are committed to learning from everyone in the VSO system and are grateful for the privilege to lead VSO in achieving our shared vision of a fair world for everyone.

Donné Cameron and Kathryn Gordon