Collaborative Leadership
Collaborative leadership is all about collaborative problem-solving and decision-making or can also be defined as the leadership of a collaborative effort. . The term started to appear in the mid-1990s in response to the formation of long term public-private partnerships to rebuild public infrastructure. Learn how you can use principles of collaborative leadership to enhance your leadership skills for being an effective leader.
What is Collaborative Leadership?
There could be two ways to define collaborative leadership, first, it could be the leadership of a collaborative effort and second, it could be leadership as a collaborative effort. The term Collaborative Leadership describes an emerging body of theory and management practice which is focused on the leadership skills and attributes needed to deliver results across organizational boundaries. Collaboration is a purposeful relationship in which all parties strategically choose to cooperate in order to accomplish a shared outcome. A collaborative leader is the one who has the ability to take responsibility for a heterogeneous team to accomplish a shared need/purpose. Collaboration requires managers to achieve success through people and resources outside their control.
Some common themes that appear from these definitions are listed below:
1. There exists a common purpose or shared need
2. Successful outcome of the shared need depends on contributions from the heterogeneous team, more or less in the nature of voluntary contributions
3. Everyone is on an equal footing and enjoys the same rights and responsibilities
4. All need to work together to solve a problem, create something new, or run an organization or initiative; different talents or abilities are called for success
5. The leader is not the formal leader, does not have absolute control of the group, but has assumed the responsibility for guiding and coordinating the process by which the group decides upon and carries out actions to accomplish its goals
6. Leadership is permanently shared by all or several, members of the group. Group guides itself
Characteristics of Collaborative Leaders:
1. Willingness to take risks, finds the personal motive for collaborating
2. Eager listeners and likes building relationships
3. Passion for the cause; have long term vision
4. Optimistic about the future
5. Able to share knowledge, power, and credit
6. Effective Communicators; ability to simplify complex situations for the group
7. Ability to handle group conflict
8. Ability to motivate, inject energy, passion, and drive into the team
Situations where Effective:
1. Public-Private Partnerships
2. Global Supply Chains
3. Civic collaboration to solve complex community problems
4. On-line collaboration – Linux, Wikipedia, etc.
5. Political collaboration to tackle global issues such as the credit crunch, climate change, and terrorism
6. Situations where problems are serious and complex
7. Situations when there are a number of diverse stakeholders
8. Situations when stakeholders have varied interests
9. Situations when an issue affects a whole organization or a whole community
Leadership Tasks for Collaborative Leader:
1. Inspiring commitment and action
2. Proving guidance and helps people develop the vision and passion
3. Facilitator and a great problem solver
4. Inclusiveness/building broad-based involvement
5. Motivation and participation
6. Fostering close relationships among staff members
7. Restating arguments, ideas, or issues so that everyone's clear on them
8. Ensuring all voices are heard
9. Keeping the focus on what's best for the group
10. Helping the group to identify and obtain the necessary resources to do the work
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
This style is characterized by leaders making decisions for others and expecting followers to follow instructions. The directive leader is adept at giving instructions, setting expectations, and establishing timelines and performance standards. However, it is possible for the same leaders to display both directive and supportive behavior as per the demands of the situation.
-
Authoritarian Leadership Style
Although generally considered as a traditional, outdated, and non-preferred style of leadership, the autocratic style still can be used effectively in certain situations. It is a leadership style characterized by individual absolute control over a group. If you work for an autocratic leader, your job is usually to do what you're told. Learn more about this style and situations where this could be an effective style to use and when to avoid this type of approach. Analyze the characteristics of this style to evaluate if your followers consider you an authoritarian leader!
-
Emergent leadership occurs when a group member is not appointed or elected as leader, but rather that person steps up as the leader over time within-group interactions. Have you ever faced challenges in getting accepted into your new role of position as a leader? Groups don't automatically accept a new "boss" as a leader. Emergent leadership is what you must do when taking over a new group. Learn more about emergent leadership.
-
There are four major factors in leadership called Leader, Follower, Communication, and Situation. The success of the leader is dependent on how the leader is effectively able to communicate and motivate followers to perform desired tasks using the appropriate leadership style best suited for the given situation. Interdependencies and dynamics of these four factors of leadership must be considered by a leader to be effective.
-
Leadership has been defined in different ways by different sets of scholars. In very simple terms leadership can be defined as the skill of a person to influence an individual or a group for achievement of a goal in a given situation. One can use different dimensions and perspectives to define leadership. Through the evolution of leadership thought, leadership has been defined in various ways discussed here.
-
Appreciative leaders encourage contributions from those around them and facilitate the discussion to mutually solve problems. Understand the concept of Appreciative Leadership and learn about tools to create and ask powerful questions - that lead to new discoveries and possibilities. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong in the workplace, learn about, and build upon what works. Learn in this article the art to apply appreciative inquiry to specific situations and challenges at your workplace.
-
Have you ever resonated that there seem to be as many different ways to lead people as there have been great leaders? When we recall the success of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte to Steve Jobs and Jack Welch, we also notice that they all used different approaches that were suitable to their specific situations and circumstances. Over the last century, researchers and psychologists have developed simple ways to describe the “Styles of leadership” and in this section, we will explore these commonly known leadership styles.
-
Crisis leadership is a very important part of leading in today's world. The skills a leader needs in order to guide people during a crisis are different from the skills needed to help a group grow. Are you a good crisis leader? What is your leadership style in case of a business crisis situation? A business crisis can test the strongest of leaders, read this article to explore how to ensure you’re ready to take action and weather the storm when one strikes you.
-
Laissez-faire is a style of leadership that affords the group members a great deal of independence. Tasks are delegated to the group members and they are responsible to see the project through to fruition. Research has shown that this style of leadership leads to the lowest levels of productivity. This article explains this style and covers the implications of having a hands-off approach and the situations where this style could be effective.
-
Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men. Charismatic Leader gathers followers, through dint of personality and charm. Understand the meaning and concept of Charismatic Leadership and the qualities of a charismatic leader. Gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using charismatic leadership. Finally, explore the difference between charismatic and transformational leadership.
