Leaders Who Want To Become Collaborative

The six steps

The realities leaders face today demand a new approach to leadership. Covid-19, the economic collapse, and even climate change pose real and serious threats to the workforce and organizations. The old way of doing things, command-and-control, has failed to meet these threats. It’s time for the 4th Evolution of Leadership to emerge—Collaborative Leadership. But what is collaborative leadership, and who is likely to become one, even in these critical times? 

Collaborative Leadership is an ethical, principle-based philosophy of service that builds a leadership  culture of psychological safety, ownership, and trust that empowers  the  workforce to be their best selves so they can  do their  best work  and  produce  superior  results.

There are six types of leaders who do want to take this journey:
 
The Futurist: There are leaders who see the future and want to be sure they are prepared to lead in it. They find collaborative leadership as a natural and preferred way to work and go on their inside-out journey to fully develop their values, vision, mission, and behaviors.

The Legacy Leader: These leaders are close to retirement and want to leave a legacy of positive human relationships. They were raised in the “old school” of power-based leadership, and have made a few adjustments in their style over time. They are now at a point in their careers when they can influence significant change in how people work together. 

The Transformer: This type of leader has had what can be called a significant personal emotional  event like the loss of a loved one, a heart attack, or a bankruptcy, that causes  them to re-evaluate what is  important in  their life. These leaders consciously decide to make a significant change in how they lead going forward. 

The Pragmatist: The pragmatist has risen through the ranks of formal power, is very reluctant to give it up, but sees the handwriting on the wall. Pragmatists are frustrated with the slowness of hierarchy and decide to experiment with other approaches.  When none of these really work, they do their homework and discover that collaboration is the way they need to lead, decide to take the journey.

The Traditionalist:  This leader is the least willing to try leading collaboratively. They like things the way they are. They are conservers and rule-followers,  or they  simply  resist  what  they  consider  to  be  the  latest  “fad.” They find  themselves,  however,  in  a  rapidly  changing  work  environment  and  do  not know what to  do. They receive encouragement from others to take the journey. They resist.  And  then  something  big  happens  at  work—a  Millennial  is made their  supervisor,  or  they  are  merged  into  a  company  with  a  more  collaborative culture.  After months of consideration, they decide to try the process.  Their prospects for success are not very high, but it’s great they’re giving a shot.

Not everyone is cut out to be a collaborative leader. But if the leader chooses to take the journey, is the view worth the climb? The payoffs are immeasurable. The workplace culture shifts from power to trust as the driver for behavior. Workers feel psychologically safe, and are therefore more productive. Teams are trust-based, aligned, and make the right decisions quickly with consensus. Organizational changes are owned and have an 80% chance of success. Collaboration is the way people naturally want to work, and in the Digital Age, it is how we must work if we are to meet the many challenges we face.