Collaborative Leadership
Leadership is a complex form of human activity that can be nurtured through appropriate learning opportunities. We view collaborative leadership as the involvement of two or more people in a group working toward a common vision or goal in a manner that reflects shared ownership, authorship, use, or responsibility. A successful collaboration takes place when participants with diverse experiences and expertise work together to solve a common problem or produce a common product. Successful collaborations are non-jurisdictional, relationship driven and sensitive to issues of inclusion and exclusion. Such relationships require leaderful actions on the part of all participants including the following:
- advocating for people, ideas and organizations in ways that are inclusive rather than exclusive
- facilitating open group discussion, problem solving and decision-making
- exercising sound judgment and political skills while working with multiple constituencies
- promoting systemic and long term vs. symptomatic and short term change
- seeking creative global as well as local actions and solutions
- sustaining ideas, trust and collaborative focus while responding to changing circumstances
- accepting responsibility at professional and personal levels
- providing the means for partners to set incremental and obtainable goals and celebrations along the way
Collaborative leadership exists at varying levels and is exhibited in a variety of ways. Ultimately, though, collaborative leaders in education achieve some degree of expertise at all of the following levels:
- Self-directedness
- Classroom leadership
- Peer leadership
- School leadership
- Community leadership
- Global citizen leadership
