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Weightmans turns the spotlight on leadership

Although it's not being widely used in sectors other than Education, distributed leadership is undoubtedly a style which resonates with the knowledge economy and the age of connectedness. And it's likely to become the dominant form of leadership as we move deeper into the knowledge age. We need to guard against thinking that 'delegating' management responsibilities is sharing leadership, and I'm sure Paddy Gaul would have progressed well beyond that notion. Rather than seeing leadership as an indivisible role that is to passed around like a parcel, we need to realise that it comprises a set of influenicng behaviours that truly can be exercised by a variety of people, some who may not see themselves as leaders initially. Often, leadership can be exercised by different people simultaneously. That concept in itself is so contrary to the usual hero-leader notion whcih suggests there can only be 'the leader'! More insights from my recently completed PhD on distributed leadership are available in the newsletter archive at www.ugmconsulting.com. My thesis answered the question, "How do followers exercise leadership?'. I describe eight influencing behaviours and, more important even, that leading and following was focused on making a valued contribution to feel and enhanced sense of belonging.

18-Oct-2010

11:40 pm