Is the tide turning in favour of co-leadership? Part 2

Since publishing my research and guides to co-leadership in Spring 2023 at www.coleadership.info, I’ve been privileged to work with a range of co-leaders who are preparing for interviews and others who are settling into new co-leadership roles. These coaching relationships have offered me fresh and deeper insights into how to make co-leadership work well. Whilst client confidentiality is paramount in coaching, I can share my wider observations about what works well in terms of supporting co-leaders.

I’ve also been in contact with experts in North America including GeoffreyWinder who has a brilliant newsletter Shared Leadership Shared Power https://www.dhirubhai.net/newsletters/shared-leadership-shared-power-7142902521219457024/. Wendy Reid’s research has been extremely useful in helping me understand the evidence base for the design principles I recommend when supporting co-leaders in defining their roles and crafting working agreements. I’ve also shared experiences and examples with UK peers working as coaches with co-leaders including George Perrin MBE and Ciara Eastell OBE (who also convened a brilliant seminar on this topic in March 2023) including around examples and case studies.

This is what I’ve learned so far:

?

1.???? All co-leadership arrangements are unique, but there are common principles that underpin all successful co-leaderships

No two co-leadership arrangements are the same. Even in theatre, where the co-leadership model is well-established as the industry norm, exactly how Artistic and Executive Directors roles are configured, and how they work together, differs from one pairing to another. Each individual co-leadership arrangement needs to reflect the wider organisational culture, context and structure and the strengths and interests of the individual co-leaders.

?

In structural terms, I describe co-leadership as overlapping circles. All arrangements involve collaboration as well as differentiation but they differ in the relative proportions of each and the areas where co-leaders collaborate. You can read more about the other principles that underpin successful co-leadership here https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/6df3dddb-4699-4876-ada2-2f8a87ebb3e6/downloads/Principles%20coleadership.pdf?ver=1705072246473

A common goal new co-leaders often bring to coaching is to support them to design their roles and I’ve developed a framework to guide this process. I’ve also gathered examples of job descriptions and working agreements between co-leaders which clients have kindly given me permission to share with other co-leaders.

The other common themes that recur in co-leadership include finding ways of working (decision-making, communication etc) than fit co-leadership, understanding and playing to one another’s strengths and working with others (direct report, Chair/Board, stakeholders). These link closely to the areas my research highlighted as success factors for co-leadership and so I’ve used jigsaw model (at the head of this article) as the basic template for my coaching work.

?

2.???? Introducing a co-leadership model usually involves change

Co-leadership is often a new model for the organisation. Therefore it is not unusual for co-leaders to experience stakeholder concern or resistance about the model. Also, on a practical level, organisational systems and structures have usually been set up assuming there is one leader and new ways of making decisions, sharing information, reporting etc need to be developed when there are now two or three people sharing this role.

I have found sharing psychological models for understanding reaction to change helpful in enabling co-leaders navigate reactions and communicate effectively with stakeholders. Sharing examples of practical solutions around decisions-making and communication that work for co-leaders, has also been helpful – and again I’m grateful to clients who’ve allowed me to share their examples with other coachees. You can also read about some practical aspects of co-leadership in the Taylors & Bettys case study on Coleadership Library. [https://coleadership.info/f/bettys-taylors-a-collaborative-ceo-as-fierce-peers]

?

3.???? Co-leadership pairs or trios are mini leadership teams

When I’m not working with individual leaders, I coach teams. And over the course of this year whilst coaching co-leaders I’ve realised many of the tools we use in developing teams also apply to co-leadership: in fact we could argue co-leadership is a mini leadership team!

For example, Tuckman’s stages of team development (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning) can be usefully applied to development of co-leadership arrangements as can Belbin’s Team Role theory.

I have been using Belbin assessment with co-leadership coaching clients to help them understand their own styles and those of their partners. Any leadership profiling tool can be useful for understanding self and other, but this simple and accessible model with its emphasis on valuing difference in teams and playing to strengths seems particularly appropriate for co-leadership.

?

4.???? Co-leadership highlights issues of power inequalities in the workplace

Co-leaders often have different lived experience – that’s a key part of what’s great about the model. But we also know these same differences can disrupt the equality that is needed for collaboration. For example, case study interviewees told me they had noticed how others treated their co-leader differently at times due to gender, ethnicity or class.

Linked to these issues of power, I’ve noticed additional complexity arises around:

• when co-leaderships involved part-time working.
• when there are power imbalances in the configuration caused by seniority, status, demographic factors, capacity (which can included one role being heavier than the other or fewer working hours).
• legacies of ‘organic’ or less than ideal recruitment processes.

Left unchecked these factors can lead to problems down the line, so it is important to address them pro-actively in how roles and ways of working designed. Keeping equality on the table during coaching conversations and when co-leadership arrangements are reviewed is important too, and this might have implications for who is best-placed to facilitate these conversations.

?

5.???? Co-leadership is not always the right choice

As part of the original research I looked at 4 case studies where co-leadership had ended badly, as well as drawing on Wendy Reid’s research which is particularly insightful on this topic. Research suggest the following factors would be counter-indications for co-leadership:

• Lack of self-awareness/ emotional intelligence in potential candidates.
• Use of co-leadership to ‘fix’ a deficit (eg lack of experience in a candidate) rather than as a positive choice.
• Difference in shared values or vision between co-leaders.
• Insufficient capacity or expertise at Board level, especially in the Chair or Co-Chairs, to support co-leaders effectively.

Drawing on these findings can help Boards, and potential co-leaders, make informed decisions as to whether a specific pairing (or trio) is likely to work. It can also help pin-point problems when issues do arise, and clarify the potential solutions.

?

6.???? Co-leadership can be a powerful form of peer-learning

Leaders need to constantly develop, and most leadership programmes find leaders learn best through the forms of reflective practice and peer-learning. Co-leadership means you have a potential peer-mentor and critical friend ‘on tap’ and therefore can be a valuable learning opportunity – if space can be made for reflection.

Given how busy leaders are, any learning needs to be ‘on the job’ as far as possible and efficient. There are a couple of options here:

• Some co-leaders build-in regular reflection for themselves, my favourite example of this being Cosmic https://coleadership.info/f/case-study-cosmic---moving-to-co-leadership-from-solo-leadership whose joint CEOs have a biannual spa day together!
• Others use time within their joint meetings with their line-manager (usually the Chair) to reflect, or schedule time with their coach.
• Conscious co-leaders could learn much from other co-leaders in different organisations I’ve also created a Peer Circle for Co-Leaders starting from Sep 2024 – contact me for further info if you’d like to join this group.?

It’s been a joy and a privilege to work with Boards, recruiters and co-leaders on the past 12 months and to share the findings of research, but also add to the case studies and learning on this topic.

?

How I could help you

If you’re looking for a coach to help prepare for a co-leadership application or to help establish or review a co-leadership arrangement please get in touch.?

As a consultant, I also help Boards decide if co-leadership is an option for your organisation and support recruitment and on-boarding.

There are also a few spaces in the Peer Circle for Co-leaders – again contact me for me information.

And finally, if you’re at the start of the co-leadership process join me on 15 May for a free lunchtime webinar about ‘applying for a co-leadership role’ or take a look at the case studies and articles and resources in the Coleadership Library www.coleadership.info (including two podcasts and a couple of videos of live discussions for those who prefer video or audio).

In Part 1 of this article I shared observations about how the context for co-leadership has changed since I published my research in March 2023, - you can read that article here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7190965690533642240/