What’s the next wave of leadership? This artwork by Hokusai, created in Japan nearly 200 years ago, depicts people rowing through stormy seas. In the foreground, turbulence dominates, yet on the horizon, a snow-capped mountain symbolises a vision of a calmer, more peaceful world. We believe that shared leadership – plus other forms of collaborative leadership – should be the next big wave to break across the shores of organisations and communities worldwide. This approach promises to bring significant societal and environmental benefits, while fostering inspired and resilient change makers for the future.
What is shared leadership and why does it matter? Like leadership, ‘shared leadership’ means different things to different people, however it is ultimately about sharing responsibility, decision making, power and influence. In our newly updated ripple paper here, you can read about the case for it in our troubled world, including how it can help accelerate opportunities for positive transformation.
Guiding principles? We have recently reviewed our experience, as four people that share leadership together, and considered how this is part of a wider ecosystem. Using our story as a case study, you can read the lessons we have learnt. This includes the identification of strengths, challenges and principles (plus conditions for success and much else besides).
What else is included? We are also pleased to share other case studies, including extended ones of Ella’s and Water For People. The people involved are pictured below – Minke and Emily (Ella’s) are on the left, Mark and Samson (Water For People) are on the right. We also have insights about other organisations, plus learning from relevant research and articles.
Thank you! We are particularly thankful to Shivani Singhal, Professor Sharon Turnbull and Dr Lynne Sedgmore for their key roles in our review process, plus all of our board members.
Change makers of the month
To find out more, read a recent article here.
Ryunosuke Satoro quote: ‘Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean.’
Best wishes
Rosie, Lorna, Kemal and Ian