Could you be a leader and not collaborative?
If you are not “telling” people things—what to think, what to do, or giving orders, or delegating—are you leading or bossing? If you are leading, you are leading what? Certainly not the mind because you are imposing rather than questioning or facilitating. Certainly not the heart, because it seems more about getting things done rather than taking care of the people you are leading.
What is a Leader?
What is a leader? Is he or she not someone who wins the minds and hearts of people? He wins their thinking and caring to the vision of what can be done together. She wins their inner spirit so that they are ready to put their heart and soul into something.
A person who talks in monologues, who lectures, who tells, who orders, who operates by “command and control” is actually not leading anyone anywhere.
What is Collaborative Leadership?
So, what does it mean to lead in a collaborative way? It’s a way of managing that gets rid of the hierarchical organization model and tries to get executives, managers, and workers to work together to reach the same goals.
In other words, collaborative leadership is only possible when everyone works together across organizational lines and shares control and responsibility, rather than just those at the top.
This kind of leadership is based on the idea that we’re smarter when we work together. It uses the talent of a company as a whole to solve hard problems and drive innovation. Collaborative leaders try to make a good environment for their teams so that people feel safe enough to share their ideas and take part in making decisions. Transparency is important, and no one group is in charge of how information flows.
Now in terms of “collaborative leadership,” we have two references.
#1. Leading People to Collaborate
Leading people to collaborate is enabling and empowering the collaborative processes for those who follow.
The first meaning of collaborative leadership is the easiest of the two even though it is not easy at all. It seems especially not easy when you have followers who are independent souls who have their own minds and who are active players focused on getting things done. Leading them is like “herding cats.” Paradoxically, we want independent thinkers and people with an entrepreneurial spirit, do we not? After all, they are self-motivated, can work independently, and take responsibility. They are unlike passive followers who wait to be told what to do and who skillfully avoid responsibility.
What’s challenging is getting such people to not merely cooperate with each other, but to collaborate in thinking, learning, and deciding. That means getting them to think together, learn together, and decide together. What’s so challenging about that? It takes time. It takes patience. It takes personal development. You can’t command these. You have to show the way; you have to be collaborative yourself.
#2. Co-leading with Other Leaders
Co-leading is collaborating with people in leading and in the leadership processes.
Most difficult is collaborative leadership when it involves co-leading with other leaders. The reason is pretty obvious—ego. Here the leader’s ego gets in the way because now the leadership is not about the leader at all, it is through the leader. Now it is about the success of everyone and of the team.
Co-leadership means that there will be times when the other co-leaders outvote you. Nothing will challenge your motives and ego-strength as this. Will you go along with the others and support the decision? This will challenge whether you are in it for the glory, the self-promotion, or for the vision.
What are the Features of Collaborative Leadership?
Different organizations use collaborative leadership in different ways, but there are some things that all organizations that use this style have in common:
- Free flow of information at all levels of the organization: Unlike traditional leadership, where senior management controls information and only shares it when they think it’s necessary, here, everyone has access to it.
- Collaborative decision-making and problem-solving: The leader doesn’t make decisions and come up with solutions all by himself or herself. Instead, they give the team the power to work on them as a group.
- Mutual support and empowerment: Collaborative leadership is based on trust, respect, and support between employees and managers, rather than each person acting in their own best interest.
- Co-responsibility and mutual accountability: Collaborative leaders encourage everyone to contribute, recognize everyone’s contributions, and don’t “play the blame game.” Instead, they encourage everyone to take responsibility for their own actions.
- “We” mentality over “me” mentality: This kind of leader gives everyone a clear shared goal to work toward instead of letting everyone focus on their own goals.
- Leadership of the process, not the people: A collaborative leader puts their ego aside and doesn’t tell everyone what to do. Instead, they just help the process go smoothly and move it in the right direction.
Why Collaborative Leadership Matters?
Why is any of this important? Because today, as never before, companies do not need a single, independent leader; they need a robust leadership team. This style of leadership is important if you want to get the most out of your team and get the best results. Collaboration leadership breaks down the traditional barriers between different levels of an organization and makes the best use of everyone’s skills and abilities. And the trend that feeds this is growing stronger every month, thereby making collaborative leadership the way of the future.
Curated by Danielle Tan.
Reference:
- [Neurons] 2022 Neurons #24 Collaborative Leadership- Wave of the Future by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.
- https://pumble.com/blog/collaborative-leadership/
