Collaborative Leadership in action

Good leadership is always accompanied by example shown to the team.

It is not enough to lecture about without it being evident in what you do as a leader.

How are you viewed as a leader by your team members? Do they see the evidence of collaborative leadership in you?

This article will explore the steps a collaborative leader takes to demonstrate collaborative leadership.

λ  The need to set goals

According to the Harvard Business Review, “Teams cannot be inspired if they don’t know what they are working toward and don’t have explicit goals”.

Employees feel misinformed about company goals if they are not communicated properly.

A collaborative leader is very particular about setting clear and actionable goals, and ultimately communicating them to the team.

It does not matter where or what level the employees work in, they need to understand how their contribution impacts and contributes to the overall business strategy.

λ   Information Accessibility

It is important to avail guidelines and roadmaps which the leader has put in place, and these should be always readily available to all.

Policies and guidelines are the guiding map for employees and should be shared with all to appreciate the direction the organisation is going.

Access to information provides the basis for inclusion which give employees a sense of belonging resulting in enhanced employee engagement.

λ Active listening

Employees deserve to be listened to, in whatever setting, whether in a meeting or individually.

A leader shows concern and attentiveness by avoiding picking up calls or checking emails during meetings and conversations with employees.

This applies to virtual meetings, as well.

If your subordinates observe that you’re not fully present, they might not be comfortable expressing unique or controversial views which views might exactly be what you need to hear and what will make the task at hand move forward.

λ Encourage team members to speak

Meetings are often dominated by some outspoken individuals. As a leader convening a meeting demonstrate collaboration by making sure everyone gets their turn to speak.

Encourage quieter voice to contribute, promote healthy debate, if need be, let there be a collaboration idea to ensure a win-win situation for all team members.

Allowing team members to speak will also bring to light hidden talents that may be useful in the execution of business goals.

λ Avoid silos

As organisations grow, so do departments.

This usually places employees in silos determined by where they work.

They usually are concerned with what takes place in their area of operation and consider it to be central to the achievement of success.

Get employees to work together as much as possible and make them aware of what others are up to.

Encourage job rotation within the department to ensure that all team members can execute duties when other team members are engaged elsewhere.

This way, perspectives on different aspects of the business will course through the organisation, and employees will feel better informed.

λ   Turn failures into lessons learnt

If something doesn’t work, don’t waste time allocating blame or letting your employee’s scapegoat.

Instead, try to create an open dialogue about what happened and why it happened ensuring that each employee is aware of the consequences and the impact it has on business goals.

Collaborative leadership emphasizes responsibility across the business, so it’s everyone’s job to learn from failure and build on it. “Each failure is an opportunity” may sound like a cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Practicing collaborative leadership is not easy and requires leaders to be open minded and flexible.

The emphasis is on building a diverse team, empowering subordinates to speak up, strengthen cooperation between both individuals and groups, and learn from failure in a forward-thinking way.

Chiedza Kadare is an OD Practitioner. You can get in touch with her on WhatsApp/call +263 77 283 0986 or Email chiedza.kadare@gmail.com

Paul Nyausaru is an OD Practitioner and leadership coach. For all your OD interventions and leadership development training you can get in touch with him on WhatsApp/call +263774062756 or Email pnyausaru@gmail.com