Collaborative Leadership
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“The highest good is like water
which benefits all things
and contends with none.
It flows in low places that others distain
and thus is close to the Tao.
In living, choose your ground well.
In thought, stay deep in the heart.
In relationship be generous.
In speaking, hold to truth
In leadership, be organized
In work, do your best
In action, be timely.
If you compete with no one,
no one can compete with you.”
I've learned a lot about leadership from terrific mentors, years of trial and error (sigh), and a number of interesting books and articles (Google has 800,000,000 entries on the subject for heaven's sake). The advice I most want to pass along is Lao Tzu's:
In leadership be organized.
I've come to believe that Being Organized is perhaps the most vastly underrated and poorly understood leadership skill of all.
When taken seriously, this overarching strategic ability can turn a struggling organization into a resilient, enjoyable, change-making adventure for everyone involved. When it's missing, its absence is felt throughout the whole organization in wasted time, resources, and energy.
Think about your organization. From your perspective as CEO, board member, entrepreneur, or as one of many colleagues, consider how addressing the following three design elements could help your team establish and grow a culture of creative, collaborative leaders working throughout your social-profit:
1. Shared Strategic Vision (SSV)
Your one-page SSV will ensure everyone working along side you enjoys a shared understanding of the fundamentals of your core business, strategies, and practices. This allows everyone, regardless of their specific role and responsibilities, to become a Collaborative Leader -- someone who effectively changes the course of action for the better, and helps others do the same -- from whatever position they hold in your organization. (Often the most innovative ideas come from the least expected places!)
2. Well Designed & Aligned Operations
The moment you walk through the front door of a well designed organization or attend a couple of its meetings, you quickly notice that people seem to be engaged, respectful, and enthusiastic. Dig a little deeper and you will discover their positive energy is due to the thoughtful and transparent organization of their operations:
- Responsible governance & leadership practices
- Strategically designed structure & responsibilities
- Effective programs, services, & systems
- Accountable financial practices
- Strategic fund development
3. Integrative Strategic Planning
Taking the time to ensure everyone understands how to think through and strategically plan and evaluate their own responsibilities in conjunction with everyone else's is the third organizing element needed to ensure your social-profit will remain flexible as well as strategic, collaborative, and accountable.
The world has become far too complex and unreliable for us to count on a handful of leaders at the top of an organization chart, or even, as Art Kleiner pointed out in Who Really Matters: The Core Group Theory of Power, Privilege, and Success, an elite "core group" of people who assume and wield power far beyond what's healthy for their organization.
Collaborative Leadership, when taken seriously, asks everyone involved to take personal responsibility for your organization's Shared Strategic Vision, its Integrative Strategic Planning, and its Collaborative Culture. It asks and depends on everyone proactively thinking about how to effectively lead their part of the effort -- while helping everyone else do the same.
And finally, as outlined in Daniel Pink's DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Collaborative Leadership provides everyone with the personal opportunity to fully explore the joy that comes with a livelihood brimming with Purpose, Autonomy, and the daily growth of Mastery.