http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article3325875.ece
Published on April 18, 2012
Traditional bureaucratic structures have clearly given way to new, flatter forms in hierarchies, team-based structures and permeable boundaries in today's organisations. There is no longer a ‘great man at the top' as such.
Yet, most work teams are still frozen in the traditional authoritative leadership model with the team leader at the top of the hierarchical pyramid. The top-down format makes team leadership an extremely tough task today, given the rapidly changing financial, social, political, technological and environmental forces at play. Things are moving just too quickly and complex challenges cropping up everywhere, to rely on the efficacy of one sole team leader!
Given this situation, the next frontier for leadership is to spread it across multiple team members. And this paradigm shift is what distributed leadership is all about. This democratic format neutralises rank to an extent and calls on the collective efficacy of the entire team. With the liberating spread of influence and authority, unexpected people are bound to spring up and take charge of complex situations in the most unexpected of ways and thus successfully handle the complexities of today's business environments. They no longer need a formal leadership role but simply leap up and assume responsibility depending on the need, opportunity, expertise and personal desire to lead.
Collaborative or shared leadership signifies the end of team hierarchy and heralds the days of networks – both formal and informal. Even the team leader's responsibilities shift radically from the command and control approach to a more subtle cultivating and coordinating of the team members. And that spells true empowerment for the team. As top management expert, Ken Blanchard pronounces, “None of us is as smart as all of us!”
The consequences: Not only does distributed leadership mitigate risks and improve performance, it also enables the team to innovate and respond successfully to new opportunities. It proves especially valuable for virtual, globally-dispersed teams.
Instituting distributed leadership
Its true that we all need to lead and any team member who feels they can make a contribution should be able to do so by donning a leadership role. But actually instituting such distributed leadership is not as easy as it sounds. Powering teams is often done in a very non-effective way leading to further chaos, not to mention gross misuse of power.
Distributing leadership is a complicated process and requires organisations to craft a corresponding culture that truly shares real and effective leadership across the team. Effectiveness depends on the quality of people. As the head of the organisation, begin with fostering leadership ability at every level through adequate training and coaching to deal with the conflicts, dilemmas and challenges on one's own. Encourage them to look within for leadership rather than outside and willingly rise to take initiative whenever possible. Factor in sufficient ownership and accountability as well.
Shared values, responsibility, purpose and priorities are critical for success. Provide team members with access to necessary information to be able to act effectively and even take decisions on their own. Enable them to the extent that they can even redesign their jobs, yet keep them aligned to the objectives of the team and organisation.
The team as a whole has to take steps to protect the distributed culture with guiding principles and right mindset. Possessing an ‘I can' attitude goes without saying. Team leaders on their part have to be willing to let go a bit, boost innovation and accept ideas/initiative of others.
Yet, for all the collaborative leadership, there is still a need for maintaining a sense of centralised leadership when it comes to making key decisions and accountability. This has to be a strong visionary who serves as a clear and decisive authority in keeping the team aligned with the big picture.
To sum up, leadership exists throughout teams and organisations. Team leaders just have to recognise and accept the fact to be able to tap into the overflowing intellectual, interpersonal, rational, intuitive, conceptual and creative capacities of their team members. People are hungry for leadership and desperate for opportunities to shine. So, why not power them to play such key roles!
Payal Chanania
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