Shared leadership

‘Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.’ (Ryunosuke Satoro)

Shared leadership is about outlook, attitude and behaviour. It isn’t strictly about role, although it has special significance for people in leadership roles. It’s about sharing the joys and burdens, opportunities and challenges of organisational leadership. It’s about making my best contribution and recognising the distinctive contribution of others. It’s also about respecting interdependence and valuing fellow leaders and colleagues. Here are some examples of shared leadership, in contrast to and as a shift away from a more individualistic approach:

• I do whatever suits me best – I shape and support the organisation’s strategy
• My own agenda drives my decisions – I plan and work in collaboration with others
• I dismiss ideas I don’t like – I try to hear and understand others’ perspectives
• I ignore or avoid people I disagree with – I speak up honestly when I disagree
• I demand what I want from others – I try to reach agreement whenever I can
• I avoid facing difficult issues and decisions – I negotiate to reach win-win solutions
• I put my own interests first – I support my colleagues’ development and achievement
• I attribute success to my own efforts – I affirm and celebrate others’ contributions
• I depend on my own expertise – I draw on the team’s expertise as a whole
• Relationships with others aren’t important – I build relationships and teamwork

Shared leadership isn’t about being passive or dependent as part of a group. It is about recognising my contribution, recognising others’ contributions too, and working together to achieve shared success. Imagine a scenario in which, for instance, I discover the leader of another team is struggling to reach an important deadline. A person with an individualistic approach may think or say, for example, ‘It’s not my problem, it has nothing to do with me.’ By contrast, a shared leadership response may look something like this:

‘I’ve noticed you are under pressure to meet X deadline. Would you like to grab a coffee to discuss ways I or others could help you?’ Or, ‘Is there anything I could do to help release the pressure for you, e.g. renegotiate what my team is asking from your team or renegotiate our deadlines?’ Or, ‘I have some space in my calendar tomorrow, is there something I could do to help you?’ We see here that the spirit and practice of shared leadership is: contributing my best and, at the same time, drawing on and adding to the contributions of others.