If two heads think better than one, imagine what can be achieved when 5, 10 or 20, join forces! What is collaborative leadership and why is it so popular among today's managers and leaders?
It is an alternative to the traditional hierarchy that proposes to add value to the business, promoting inclusion and commitment in the teams. It leverages the strengths of diverse actors, making them recognize themselves as an active part of the organization and generating a culture of constant collaboration.
The collaborative leader has certain specific characteristics:
1. Knows how to listen: the success of this model implies the ability to listen to the opinion of employees, to allow divergent opinions and to take them into account when defining solutions. Making employees become participants is key.
2. Accepts dissent and diversity: Contrary opinions enrich discussions and open the space to try out different ideas. This becomes productive when the leader is able to mediate these differences, make them work and turn them into something constructive.
In addition, they take advantage of the diversity of talents. The collaborative leader is able to identify human talent and make it work in specific contexts. This is how they can lead multicultural teams, with people from different professional areas working on the same project.
Generates empathy: emp athizes with his teammates; listens to them with an open mind and pays attention to their needs and ideas. Each member is a key part of the team's success by ensuring that they have the information, resources and motivation necessary to perform their assigned tasks.
4. Communicates well: clearly conveys the strategy and objectives in a way that everyone can identify with. Can moderate discussions when making decisions and brainstorming in an inclusive way.
The leader must transmit confidence in order for communication to be effective. To do so, he must not only use the right words, but also demonstrate with facts what he says.
5. Share a goal: defines a goal together, taking into account the experience of its team members when setting it. Setting a shared goal helps to consolidate the group and create an atmosphere of cohesion and motivation, where the participants feel that they are striving for a goal that responds to the interests of all and not just those of the company.
Collaborative leadership is a practice that has gained strength worldwide. One example was the negotiation of the Paris Agreement, led by Christiana Figueres. This Latin American persuaded the world to "save itself" and, through collaborative and, through collaborative participation, managed to get 200 countries to sign a global agreement committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This shows what can be achieved when working together.
In recent years, companies have discovered the importance of focusing on all team members. This has generated a migration from the traditional leadership style to a collaborative one, which empowers human resources and blurs the lines between what we used to know as "boss" and "worker".
If leaders opt for a more participative approach, they will be contributing to their team's professional development by offering them the opportunity to take initiative, develop their creativity and explore other areas within the company.
Making this transition is not easy, it takes time and an organized group; but it is clearly worth it. Not only will we have a more solid company and higher quality in the work produced, but also more motivated, satisfied and committed employees.
