Shared Leadership: An investigation of Conditions and Performance

In an article published in 2007, Carson, Tesluk and Marrone examined the necessary conditions for shared leadership and its impact on performance.

Firstly, the authors describe shared leadership as a team property, where leadership is distributed amongst team members instead of held by a single individual. In a shared-leadership, the team’s responsibilities as organization of the group, influences and culture would be assigned to individuals conforming the team.

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Why does shared leadership emerge?

As for the reasons why shared leadership emerges and is needed, the authors point out different trends in modern team design:

• First, the complexity and ambiguity of teams, that can hinder having a single external leader.
• Secondly, the more and more common knowledge-based work, as employees have a high level of expertise and require more autonomy to apply their knowledge and skills.
• Thirdly, the presence of flatter structures and self-managing teams, a growing trend in certain countries.

In order to investigate the antecedent conditions and the performance of shared leading teams, the authors tested their hypothesis using a sample of 59 teams formed by MBA students. In terms of antecedents, the results found show the following:

a) Team’s internal environment is an important precursor for shared leadership. Team members need to be willing to offer leadership, influence the direction, motivation and support the group.

b) External team coaching plays also an important role for shared leadership. The figure of an external coach that helps develop the teams’ motivation and capabilities to lead themselves.

c) The role of the external coach is of greater importance when the team’s internal environment is not supportive.

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 Regarding performance?

The results are in line with previous research on the subject, showing greater team performance in teams that have high levels of shared-leadership.

These findings not only suggest that distributing leadership amongst team members can have positive outcomes for the organization (increasing performance). It also brings light to the importance of analyzing the team environment before implementing such changes, as the support of an external coach could be beneficial.

Reference: Carson, J., Tesluk, P., & Marrone, J. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: An investigation of antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217–1234.

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