Trends in leadership have changed dramatically over time. While previous generations of leaders often used a top-down, hierarchical approach to leadership, many of today’s business owners see downsides to this. Collaborative leadership is a leadership style that many are exploring because it features a number of distinct advantages. What is collaborative leadership, and how does it promote growth and success?
Out with the Old: the Silo Mentality
In the past leaders often worked in silos. If you picture the type of hermetically sealed building that is used to store grain or missiles, that will give you a good idea of how much communication and collaboration this style of leadership allowed or encouraged. Leaders with a silo mentality work only on the tasks assigned to them, ones that fall directly under their purview.
It’s much more difficult to innovate or create new solutions to existing problems when people do not talk to each other or share their ideas. Silos are built for hoarding. Unfortunately, when anything – including information or ideas – is hoarded, it tends to go to waste.
Because of this, siloing is much more likely to cause productivity and cooperation problems and to increase tension between management or departments. It’s also hugely inefficient and expensive to push management to “invent the wheel” continually when someone in another department invented it years ago. The end result is a company that accomplishes a fraction of what it could.
What is Collaborative Leadership?
Collaborative leadership is when management works together across departments or sectors of the organization to make decisions and solve problems. The goal of this management style is to utilize the company leadership’s abilities and skills to inspire, influence, and guide the company’s staff to greater success. It has a number of benefits:
Team Building – Encouraging management to work together over time results in greater company unity. If departments have shared goals, this cuts down on backstabbing or secret keeping. Every leader in the company is an asset, and not just to the company as a whole. The knowledge and skills they have can be accessed by other team members or used to mentor leadership in training. A successful team is stronger than its individual members and can accomplish more.
Creating Transparency – Silos are where things are hidden away. Bad things happen in the dark. Collaboration creates an environment of sharing and openness. This is good for idea sharing, and it also creates accountability. With greater transparency and accountability, problems like bad accounting or employee abuse are less likely to occur. At the very least, if these things do occur, staff can bypass a controlling manager and talk to someone else in company leadership to address them. With top-down management and closed departments, problems are much more likely to fester over time.
Trust Building – Collaboration and accountability lead, in time, to greater trust. When people trust each other, they share ideas, they delegate responsibilities, and they participate in company culture more. This allows the company to take advantage of the skills and abilities that might be hidden in a more closed environment.
Productivity Building – Happier employees are often more productive. They stay longer at their jobs, and they work harder to help promote and achieve the company’s goals. Many workers feel more comfortable being part of a team where they can contribute their ideas to a receptive manager and look at their teammates as co-creators or partners rather than someone they have to beat or outperform. Successes can be shared and celebrated by the group instead of the spotlight being on just one or two people.
Setting a Good Example – Collaborative leadership in action demonstrates to all members of the organization what cooperation looks like and the good that it produces. The rest of the company, top to bottom, can then pattern that example.
If your company’s departments and leadership are siloed, there are ways to break down barriers and encourage collaboration. This will involve changing the way the company sets goals and incentivizes and rewards its employees, but it can be done and is done all of the time.
Change is hard for companies and individuals, but if your company is struggling with productivity, communication, or cooperation, call us at Prometis Partners. We can help you evaluate your company’s strengths and weaknesses and come up with strategies to address any problems you are experiencing. Collaboration is an essential part of survival in today’s business environment. Schedule a meeting with Vincent Mastrovito today to put your company on track for greater success in 2023.
