In May last year, our colleague Thomas Wilhelm went to Vietnam to talk about Shared Leadership as an alternative leading model. The following text is a shortened part of his handout, the full version can be downloaded below.
At the beginning of this year, we conducted a survey among 1,000 managers and team leaders, asking them: How exhausted have you felt in the last few months? The answer was devastating: 61% of the participants had felt exhausted. This is an alarmingly high number.
One reason for this surprising level of exhaustion is that leadership is still perceived as the solitary task of one individual, most often the official team leader or manager. For many leaders, this feels like a real burden.
We have a flawed image of leadership, as pointed out by Alexander Haslam et al. in their insightful paper „Zombie Leadership,“ published in 2023 in the Leadership Quarterly. They convincingly show that many myths underlie our concept of leadership. Here are some of these myths:
• Leadership is all about leaders.
• There are specific qualities that all great leaders „have.“
• There are specific things that all great leaders do.
• All leadership is the same.
• Leadership is a special skill limited to special people.
What is Shared Leadership?
Leadership is essentially a relationship between leaders and followers, with a certain goal or task to accomplish. Leadership occurs in a triangular relationship involving goals, followers, and leaders. Thus, leadership is more of a process where some lead and others decide whether they are ready to follow.
If we view leadership like this, we are not forced to associate leadership only with one formal role, such as the official team leader or manager. On the contrary, leadership can fluctuate within a team.
This brings me to my definition of Shared Leadership. I understand Shared Leadership to mean the following: Shared Leadership is a dynamic, interactive process of mutual leading and following, distributing leadership tasks across multiple individuals. I see Shared Leadership a bit like a jazz band.
In a jazz band, leadership is fluid and often changes hands throughout a performance. Different musicians take turns leading the group, such as when a saxophonist steps forward for a solo while the rest of the band supports them. This mirrors the shared leadership model, where leadership roles are not fixed but rotate based on the situation, expertise, or specific task at hand. Each member’s contribution is essential to the overall sound. Similarly, shared leadership relies on strong collaboration where every team member’s input is valued.
There are different versions of Shared Leadership:
• Top Sharing or Co-leadership Models: Two people share an official formal leadership position.
• Collective Leadership: Leadership tasks and roles are distributed among team members.
The full text can be downloaded here. It includes more and further information as well as examples.
