September 1996 No. 1Shared Leadershipby Harriett Moyer*
Growth management, W-2, watersheds, pollution prevention - - all are issues being worked on by Extension agents. But what do they have in common? All involve public decision-making, community leadership, and a multitude of stakeholders and organizations. What model(s) of leadership would appear to be viable in relation to the complex issues in which Extension is involved today? Shared leadership is one. It represents the idea of multiple organizations working together to exercise leadership conjointly. Such an approach assumes that decisions made about complex issues will be improved if problems and possible solutions are offered by a wide set of stakeholders and/or organizations. Guidelines need to be set up and certain conditions need to be met for effective shared leadership. Each of the organizations' stakeholders groups needs to make some preliminary decisions. These involve the following: (1) A definition of the problem--the problem must be thought to be within the realm of the organization and "solvable." The problem must be within the norms of the organization's work; it need not be sharply defined in detail at this point. (2) Agreement on the location of the problem - - the problem needs to be defined in terms of where the coordinated effort will take place. That could be a city, a county, or even a multi-county region. (3) Identification of the key organizations and stakeholders - - organizations are "key" if they have needed expertise, resources, and/or related programs and interests. Before attempting shared leadership, key organizations need to make several decisions. These include: (1) problem commitment - - the problem must be high enough on each group's priority lists to warrant using resources on a possible solution. (2) coordination commitment - - the organizations must be committed to working with each other despite disagreements. (3) Reciprocity between organizations - - there needs to be understanding that each organization will grant a mutual exchange of privileges and that all will honor each others' integrity and contributions to the problem's solution. (4) Trust and system openness among the organizations - - each organization must be willing to share information and resources pertinent to the solution. Major pluses and minuses are associated with shared leadership. Pluses - - At least four major pluses are associated with shared leadership. First, the leaders will have more flexibility in terms of their time. Each will not have to oversee all details as the might when working alone. Second, shared leadership helps avoid overlap in the work of the various organizations. It provides an avenue for delegating sub-sets of work on the problem. Third, a broader knowledge and skill base is available for work on the problem. Fourth, such an arrangement builds shared ownership and therefore tends to lead to a response that is more acceptable to more people. Minuses - - Significant minuses also must be considered. First, it can take a very long time to develop the needed trust. Not all problems can wait that long. Second, an important action may be lost because one of the organizations involved doesn't follow through before a given opportunity is lost. Third, it may be impossible to involve some key people in dealing with the issue or problem. They simply may not be convinced of the importance of the problem or may not wish to lend their name to the efforts. Fourth, one or more of the key organizations may no wish to work with the others. It may be possible to explore the specific reason or reach agreements on the length of a coordinated effort. These pluses and minuses must be given careful consideration before embarking on an attempt of shared leadership. For more on shared leadership see: "Partnerships: Shared Leadership Among Stakeholders", Lorna Clancy Miller, et.al., The University of Wisconsin-Madison, May, 1990. *Harriett Moyer is an Extension Sociologist and professor in the Center for Community Economic Development, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Madison, Wisconsin. |
