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A thousand heads are better than one.
This is effectively the central theme of distributed leadership models...that organisations and groups can be much more flexible, responsive, creative and productive if everyone in the organisation is involved in leadership and not just the people at the top of the pyramid. And when you think about it, it is kind of logical. Why wouldn't we be better off if we could tap the knowledge and creativity of everyone rather than simply assuming that our 'leaders' have all the answers. Sorry to burst the little bubble of comfort we have all been living in but our leaders are just people, like you and me. If the Global Financial Crisis has taught us anything it is that these people are as fallible as the rest of us.
While there are times when it is very much their fault, there are others time when it is our fault, for placing unreal expectations on the shoulders of such a small group of people. Our world is now so big, so complex and changing so quickly that it is impossible for our leaders to have a complete understanding of what is going on...and yet we blindly place our trust and faith in them having exactly that. This is where DLM's come in.
DLM's involve the undertaking of leadership at various levels within the organisation by people with and without formal authority. The basic idea is that when we have some special skill to offer or some important piece of information to provide then we step up to the plate and assume a leadership role...we don't just sit back and assume someone else will do it. As I said in a previous article, DLM's suggest that everyone has a contribution to make to leadership, regardless of their role within the organisation, group or indeed society in general. The contributions will be different but they are all valuable in helping the to truly understand the environment we find ourselves in and what might work in addressing the challenges that we face.
Now I'm not for a second suggesting that it is as easy as just speaking up when your opinion might be valuable and the world will be saved.:-) There are generally a couple of things that need to be in place. Firstly formal leaders need to shift from primarily being the big decision makers to being the guardians / champions of the organisation's vision, developers of leadership capacity within the organisation and coordinators of organisational activity. Chris Argyris identifies this as the shift from a Model 1 organisation (command and control) to a Model 2 organisation (cultivate and coordinate). Those not in formal leadership positions then need to take up the challenge and demonstrate leadership when they can. In effect the formal leader is producing an environment in which leadership at all levels is authorised and encouraged.
But what happens when your are stuck in a Model 1 organisation. Well you can still show leadership but now you are doing it without authority...a much more dangerous activity but every bit as important. The key here is that you need to be careful and develop an authority base (it might be expert power for instance) and then lead from within this. As I said, this is much more dangerous and requires much more courage but consider what Sevier said about followers...Followers and leaders both orbit around the organization's purpose; followers do not orbit around the leader....part of being a good follower is stepping up as a leader when your organisation needs it. I am yet to be convinced that there weren't people within Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Northern Rock or Merrill Lynch et al who could have saved their companies had they remembered this and had the courage to lead when it was needed.
Next time I want to have a look at a specific model, the Sloan Distributed Leadership Model, but enough for now me thinks!