Power of Shared Leadership during Covid 19

Authentic leadership’s key purpose is to develop a sense of belonging, shared values and success with a high level of self-awareness. Authenticity creates enthusiasm and eliminates uncertainty. Thinking ahead, making
courageous decisions and, more importantly, implementing them creates a framework in which the team can take on greater responsibility. The challenges are being true to yourself (present and future); maintaining strict
coherence between what you say / do and making values based choices.

Shared leadership has a positive influence on the way an enterprise operates. … “The best examples of shared
leadership are when decision making gets spread across multiple individuals.” — Greg A. Adams

Share a virtual morning coffee, use a mood barometer to check how people are feeling or organize a joint meditation session — anything that fosters a sense of unity and togetherness — because physical distancing does not have to mean social distancing.

There are three basic principles in creating a Shared Leadership (overtones of authenticity):

1. Encouraging transparency — key to trust and satisfaction it allows everyone involved on the same
page
2. Providing a safe environment — people feeling comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas
3. Supporting autonomy — allowing people the freedom to make some decisions regarding their work

The COVID-19 pandemic forces us to make changes we thought were impossible. Leaders need to significantly speed up their response to disruptions. In response to the crisis, many of us have also begun working together in new ways, unlocking a new capacity for collaboration and innovation that we did not know we had. The questions in front of us for the new abnormal are:

a. What can we learn from our experience?
b. How can we infuse shared governance with a new sense of shared purpose?
c. How can we maintain this new spirit of collaboration?
d. What will it mean to be a leader in this changed world?
e. How will leading, following, and collaborating be different?

While we don’t have answers to these questions yet, we do know that our experiences can shape new future possibilities when we pay enough attention. New forms of institutional and cross-sector leadership will be
needed as we work with our communities. Shared leadership is one such way of working. At its core, shared leadership is based on the knowledge and experience of many rather than authority of a few. The role of the
leader can change based on the question or problem to be addressed while individuals can be leaders in some situations and followers in others.

Shared leadership also recognizes the importance of leaders in positions of authority but focuses on how those in positions of power can delegate authority, capitalize on expertise within the organization, and create
infrastructure so that organizations can capitalize on the leadership of multiple people in an authentic manner. Leadership is a process supported by professional development, access to information, team-based work, and
rewards. By no means does this make the life of a CEO easier but it does make it very different.

We have an opportunity to seize the moment we are in. A new approach will further allow us to avoid relaxing back into our old ways as our situation evolves:

Being a model: Model shared leadership including the capacity to be honest about what you know, don’t know, and need to know. Be transparent with processes and decisions; and be truly open to engaging others.

Work together: Demonstrate that working together matters and is connected to solving problems in meaningful ways. This involves setting the tone, establishing the change, and then listening and acting upon
what teams recommend.

Cross functional teams: Support cross functional collaboration and draw people together who would not normally sit at the same table to work on a mutually important problem. Constantly ask, “Who else needs to
be at the table to help us solve this problem?” Then invite them, listen to them, and empower them to be part of the solution.

Be perseverant: Understand that this approach takes time but make a commitment to the long haul by building the relationships that form the fabric of this approach. This means breaking down silos, sometimes
having difficult conversations about what is and isn’t working, and acknowledging who is benefiting and who is not.

Acknowledge accomplishments: Celebrate shared accomplishments — doing so is especially important in times of crisis. Recognize the contributions of teams and individuals.

Be open to experimentation: Allow team members to experiment with different ways of working through a shared leadership approach. Whether the approach succeeds or not, use it as an opportunity to learn and
make improvements to the process and outcomes.

Overcoming instincts and moving on to Leadership actions during crisis times:

Instincts during Uncertainty:
Waiting for more information and data
Holding back unpleasant and bad news
Explaining your actions more clearly
Staying the course

Actions during crisis:
Acting with urgency
Transparent and clear communication
Taking ownership for solving the problems
Engage the stakeholders through constant updating

1. Act with urgency — During pandemic times wasting vital time for action with the faint hope that better clarity will emerge is disastrous
2. Transparent communication — A test for authenticity, i.e. communicating unpleasant and bad news
3. Taking ownership — Acknowledgement of missteps, their impact and the learnings with uncompromising
   focus on goal
4. Engage in constant updating — Leaders must be steady and unrelenting in staying the course. They must constantly update their understanding of situation , seek more information and learn rapidly new skills.

Shared leadership also requires the following transitions from a formal structure, based on research conducted in the following three relationship domains:

1. Relationship between team members: The relationship between team members changes once the decision making process changes. They may welcome the authority given to get the complete business perspective but feel uncomfortable to oversee each other and may be reluctant to make
each other accountable for business results. They may wait for the CEO to step in to demand the results. The CEO must make it clear that they must support each other and also challenge the status quo to look for any tendency to scapegoat any individual or sub team for under performance

2. Relationship with CEO: Moving to a shared leadership will change CEO’s relationship with the team. CEO’s absence will be missed on a few occasions in a subtle manner or expressed openly . Reassuring the team that the CEO is not abdicating the responsibility is critical for success. Often the recognition of individuals at the work place for good performance may be compromised unless the CEO liberally showers accolades for those deserving deserving as happens in a joint family

3. Relationship with the levels below: The shared leadership team begins relating differently with teams one and two levels below. Certain difficult conversations that the leadership team is grappling with may get acted at lower levels. This may encourage acrimonious relationships among the team
members. The CEO has to ensure that good feelings in the leadership team do not come at the cost of confusion and frustration at lower levels. A higher level of directness, resilience and responsibility are needed across all levels of the organisation.

Our future is a shared one, so let’s take a shared leadership approach to get there. After all, we are in this together. “The courage of leadership is giving others the chance to succeed even though you bear the
responsibility for getting things done“ — Simon Sinek

A passing thought — Is the pandemic reshaping the notions of female leadership?

a. Countries with women in leadership (For example, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Finland, New Zealand and
Taiwan) have suffered six times fewer confirmed deaths compared to other countries led by men
b. The media is agog with stories of pragmatism, prowess, humanity and empathy with women leaders
c. Is this an opportunity to influence our thoughts for inducting more women into power?
d. Studies show women are more amenable to shared leadership than men

“In future there will no female leaders. There will just be leaders” — Sheryl Sandberg

- S. Krishna Kumar (KK)

References / Acknowledgements
1. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/135-shared-leadership-social-media-fuel-business-growth.html
2. https://www.capgemini.com/2020/05/covid-19-demands-a-new-era-of-authentic-leadership/
3. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2020/06/05/shared-leadership-strategy-leading-time-crisis-beyond
4. How shared leadership changes our relationships at work — HBR May , 2016
5. What good leadership looks like during this pandemic — HBR Apr , 2020
6. Emotional Intelligence — Authentic Leadership — HBSP , 2018