In this short video David Trafford and Peter Boggis discuss the importance of collective leadership when developing and executing strategy. They believe that without collective leadership there will be no collective strategy, and without a collective strategy an organisation has very little chance of successfully changing its trajectory.
Collective leadership is when an organisation’s leaders have collective ownership of, and shared accountability for, their organisation’s strategy. It’s where multiple individuals exercise their leadership roles within a group – and then the entire group provides leadership to the wider organisation. What’s more, it’s a fluid and flexible approach to leadership, where roles and resultant accountabilities, evolve in response to changing circumstances. As a result, the power of collective leadership is greater than the sum of the powers of the individual leaders. Collective leadership is where the given roles and functions are, intentionally, broadly defined and the contribution that individual leaders make evolves over time in pursuit of a common purpose.
In the majority of organisations today, strong individual – not collective – leadership is the default model. And in the majority of cases it is actively encouraged and the resulting behaviours rewarded. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with individual leadership if applied in the right context. An example would be where the organisation is trying to maximise its current performance rather than change its trajectory.
Leadership style – whether individual or collective – can be a powerful navigating force that can anchor an organisation to its current trajectory. Equally, it can be a powerful force that pulls an organisation onto its target trajectory, thereby realising its strategic intent. Organisations that exercise collective leadership are more likely to be aligned on their strategic intent.
Watch David and Peter’s video.
For further information see:
The Case for Greater Collective Leadership
Watch the next video in the series, where David and Peter discuss how Default Future thinking is not restricted to organisations.