Creating the Conditions for Shared Leadership

Core Challenge: How do we create the conditions so everyone on our team can actively lead change?

Leading systems change is different from leading traditional change efforts. In standard approaches, top leaders generally create a plan and direct staff members in executing it. In systems change, leaders play an enabling rather than a supervising role. They create the conditions for others—especially those on the frontlines of a problem situation—to collectively learn how to make progress on it.

Even though many organizations today are flatter and less hierarchical than in the past, they often fall short of supporting people from all roles to assume shared responsibility for leading change. But without the full engagement and contribution of all stakeholders, systems change initiatives are bound to fail. They won’t draw on the full range of knowledge from throughout the system, and they won’t have the necessary buy-in from those embroiled in the situation to gain traction on it.

To enable true shared leadership, two main cultural shifts must happen:

• Positional leaders must be willing to step back and support others in assuming more prominent roles and in working collaboratively.
• People must feel valued and safe in taking risks.

Once team members begin to see themselves as leaders, a shared sense of purpose, vision, and mission can quickly bring the team together around an inspiring challenge. In his article, “A Shared Purpose Drives Collaboration,” Vineet Nayar, business author and former CEO of a technology company, explains a leader’s role in this process:

What is the longing—the deeply felt longing—that will drive this team even if it does not already have all the tools to achieve it? What will wake up the members of the team every day and make them want to go where they are dreaming of going? When you, as a leader, can articulate that longing and inculcate purpose, you will be well on your way to fostering collaboration among the people in your organization.

When you support your team in establishing a clear sense of direction and understanding how their collaborative efforts can benefit something larger than any one individual, you help them tap into that longing in pursuit of important shared goals.

Engine of Success

Shared leadership relies heavily on high-quality relationships among team members. At the core of these relationships is open and honest communication. When people can authentically and respectfully express their views—and in turn be truly heard by their colleagues—mutual trust grows, along with the possibility for more effective action.

Daniel H. Kim, consultant and founding publisher of The Systems Thinker newsletter, describes this dynamic as “The Reinforcing Engine of Success.” According to Kim, “As the quality of relationships rises, the quality of thinking improves, leading to an increase in the quality of actions and results. Achieving high-quality results has a positive effect on the quality of relationships, creating a reinforcing engine of success.”

But unless you invest time and effort in nurturing these kinds of high-quality relationships, the virtuous cycle can easily become a vicious one. Poor-quality relationships lead to more limited thinking, less thoughtful actions, and disappointing results. In response to poor results, relationships among team members deteriorate even further.

Most of us have witnessed or been part of this negative dynamic at one time or another. Fortunately, by creating the conditions for shared leadership to thrive, you position your team to benefit from the upside of the Engine of Success.

Three sets of capabilities

In this module, explore how to lead yourself and others to:

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