Shared Leadership Theory

Contemporary Leadership

Shared Leadership

Definition: Team leadership by more than only the appointed leader

• Sharing power and influence among a set of individuals • Upward or downward hierarchical influence• Decentralized management• Objective is to lead one another to the achievement of

group’s goals

Requirements of Shared Leadership

1. Team members must be willing to provide feedback to the team in a way that influences and motivates the direction of the group.

2. The team must overall be willing to accept and trust in the feedback provided by other team members.

Measuring Shared Leadership

Ratings of the Team's Collective Leadership Behavior

• Leader behavior questionnaires

• Members complete these for the leader and for all other team members

• Assesses existence and frequency of different leadership behaviors

Social network analysis

(SNA)

• Assess the patterns of connections and relationships that emerge in a team

• Tie: relationship that occurs when one team member perceives another as having leadership influence on the team

• Network Density: proportion of actual ties to all potential ties

• Centralization Analysis: assess the distribution and quantity of leadership

+/- of Shared Leadership

Advantages• United responsibility

• Employee involvement with decision making process

• Facilitates: • Staff input• Creativity • Sense of worth• High self-esteem • Job satisfaction• Employee empowerment

Disadvantages

• Hard to execute

• Changes organization’s structure, relationships and decisions on every level

• Requires massive dedication and cautious preparation

• Mixed results of this leadership style’s efficiency