Success Factors for New Leadership

29 April 2022

Many organizations today rely on shared forms of leadership: Instead of bundling leadership responsibility exclusively with a single person, leadership alternates between the team members depending on the task and area of competence. But how can organizations create optimal conditions to enable and promote shared leadership in teams?

A current study by Prof. Hüttermann with colleagues from Germany and Switzerland investigates this question. On the one hand, they analyzed team member characteristics required for both taking on leadership responsibility and accepting leadership from their teammates. On the other hand, they investigated how formal team leaders can promote shared leadership development.

The results of a social network analysis of employees in research and development show that particularly those team members who have strong political skills take on leadership responsibility themselves, and accept the leadership of their colleagues. An empowering leadership style of the formal leader further strengthens team members’ use of their political skills.

The article is available in full text here.