Sharing Leadership: Better Together

Whether you’re an executive, manager, or department head, sharing leadership
cultivates creativity, diversity of thought, and shared responsibility-be it in strategy,
problem solving and/or decision making (or all three). While leadership is traditionally
thought of as one individual, often executives, teams, or departments “co lead” and
positions are shared- which means responsibility, accountability, and decision making is
shared too. There are different findings of the impact of co-leadership, however,
according to HBR, public companies led by multiple leaders outperformed single
leadership. Here are some strategies for successfully navigating sharing leadership
positions:

1- Develop a shared ambition. Discuss your visions for your org, or the
goals for the team and how you will make this happen (short and long term goals,
etc.)
2- Share something about yourself and ask for advice from others.
Sharing honestly and openly builds trust and rapport, and helps create a
collaborative, cooperative relationship.
3- Explore unclear areas of responsibility. Working as a team requires a
discussion of who is responsible for tasks, and building on the shared vision
you’ve created. For example, who chairs which meetings? Which decisions are
joint and which are individual? Who is charge of which department? You get the
point…..
4- Seek counsel from trusted advisors. It is always helpful to get an
objective, outside opinion. Seek guidance for conflict resolution or decision
making differences with an outside trusted source because they can provide you
feedback both individually, and collectively. For example, Do you think I am
staying true to my mission if I do X? Is this the right strategy for us given Y? What
should my co leader and I be doing differently or better?
5- Proactively support your co-leader. When your co-leader makes an
important decision or point, be sure to step up and reinforce it for everyone. This
makes your co-leader feel supported, and sets an example that you are a team
working collaboratively.

Combining complementary and unique skills, viewpoints, and practices can certainly
improve performance, operations, and goal achievement, especially during difficult
times. Personally, it can help prevent burnout and increase personal growth and
resilience.
Until next time,
Amy
“All real, all the time.”
*adopted from “How Co-Leaders Succeed” HBR, 2/22/2024 by David Lancefield.