Collaborative Leadership

Collaborative Leadership

Leadership can take many different forms, depending on the person and the situation in which it is needed. Collaborative leadership is a leadership style in which a leader brings together a large group of people, with a variety of backgrounds, to make a productive decision and act upon it. According to Chrislip and Larson (1994):

…they are the ones who have the credibility to get the right people together to create visions, solve problems, and reach agreements about implementable actions. They are not the leaders who tell us what to do. Instead, they are the ones who help us work together constructively. (p. xx)

This paper is intended to explain where collaborative leadership is used, what characteristics it possesses, and the benefits and disadvantages of using it. It will also summarize what types of people are collaborative leaders and the qualities they have that make them one.

Collaborative leadership shares commonalities with both servant and transformational leadership. It is similar to servant leadership in the sense that the leader is there to help and be on the same level as the group in which he or she is leading. It, too, encourages collaboration in its methods to achieve certain goals put out by the leader. The use of collaboration often boosts a sense of morale and trust within the group, which makes it similar to transformational leadership. This style of leadership can be used in most any setting such as businesses or learning environments, but it is seen with greater success in community groups and organizations.

Some of the characteristics seen in collaborative leadership are shared problem-solving and decision making. In order to come to a mutual decision between group members, the...

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... should be implemented at appropriate times and can be used as an alternative to other leadership methods. Leaders should be trustworthy, respectable, relatable, and tolerant. A good example of a collaborative leader would be Dwight D. Eisenhower because he had many of these qualities.

Works Cited

Chrislip, D. D., & Larson, C. E. (1994). Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference. San Francisco, California , USA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Retrieved December 2, 2013

Linden, R. M. (2006, November/December). Dwight Eisenhower: Portrait of a Collaborative Leader. Virginia Review, 6. Retrieved December 3, 2013

University of Kansas. (2013, March 12). Section 11. Collaborative Leadership. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/collaborative-leadership/main