Sharing leadership by making it more common
Chapter 5 is about sharing – making uncommon leadership more common, both within your organization and beyond.
We start this chapter with a story about a strange decision. Why did a U.S. basketball team ignore conventional player statistics and buy what appeared to be an “average” player, in an attempt to improve their results?
The answer to this question sparks an interesting debate which challenges some well-established assumptions about leadership. Assumptions challenged by organizations such as W.L. Gore which succeed by making shared leadership fundamental to the way they work.
We look at four specific ways in which leaders can build a shared approach to leadership, by: sharing vision; sharing enthusiasm; sharing strengths and sharing influence. And we consider the importance of collaborative leadership – sharing good practice and increasingly constrained resources between organizations.
Chapter 5 contents
- The case for shared Leadership
- When the ordinary becomes extraordinary
- When shared leadership makes sense
- Teams of leaders
- A single, heroic leader or a team of rivals?
- Adapting or embedding?
- Natural leaders or appointed leaders?
- Building shared leadership
- Sharing vision
- “I am helping Sir Christopher Wren…”
- Compelling pictures
- Shared empowerment
- Lazy leadership
- Sharing enthusiasm
- Infectious or infected leadership?
- From bad apples to slackers, downers and jerks
- Bad apples and marital bliss
- When negative can be positive
- Sharing strengths – incompetence, mediocrity and excellence
What are strengths?- Team strengths
- Sharing through collaboration – leading with other organizations
- Sharing knowledge with a “T” break
- Compelling insights – think about it!
- Significant conversations – talk about it!
- Putting learning to work – try it!
- Building sustainable practice – tell others about it!
- Sharing influence
- Nudge leadership
- Influence by what you say or by what you do?
- A bad influence or unrecognized heroes?
- Building human towers – a motto for shared leadership: Strength; Balance; Courage; Common sense
But it’s not enough to just think differently, gaining competitive advantage means taking action. How can each of these uncommon themes point to an advantage to be gained from thinking differently? The answer is in the conclusion.