Shared Leadership ( participative) versus directive leadership. 

In my experience one expectation of supervisors at work is they are expected to be the shell answer man. They are assumed to have all the answers to all of the problems. Supervisors are the guardians of the profit & loss statement, teachers, coach , conflict managers, problem solvers, doing more with less, resilience, innovative, motivators, in a VUCA( Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous )  work environment. Yikes! Do we really believe that all of that rest with one person? Is one person the sole arbitrator of all decisions? The short answer is often companies do expect the leaders of the company to be the shell answer men. Is there a better way?   Given this expectation it is easy to see directive leadership employed versus shared leadership developed. Directive leadership implies the leader plays the active role in problem solving and decision making and expects followers to be guided by their decisions. Directed leaders do not ask their followers to get involved in making decisions. Employees do not grow or develop. 

Shared leadership( participative) leadership aims to involve followers in the decision process. Consensus is sought. Buy in is a residual of participation. Shared leadership invites input, assist others versus competing with others, and provides opportunities to learn to others. Participative leadership influences  measures of follower job satisfaction, motivation of followers, commitment, intention to quit, role ambiguity, employee performance, turnover, role conflicts, and decreasing workers resistance to change. ( Spector Meta Analyst (1986).   

So what are the Key competencies used to coach another from directive to participative.  In recent research done using the Leadership Effectiveness Assessment 5 blocking behaviors have been identified when either over emphasized or under empathized by the leaders. Over empathized independence, competition and under emphasized delegation, cooperation, and consensual leadership behaviors. The LEA is a multi-rater assessment which observes 22 leadership behaviors, and 31 leadership competencies. The survey included 8,568 participants, 30 industries, 40 countries, with 73% department manager or higher. The gender mix was 61% males and 39% females. When you had 3 of the 5 behaviors followers reported less effective leadership in 11 areas. 4 out of 5 blocking behaviors lead to followers reporting 14 reduced  areas of effectiveness. Finally,  if you have 5 barriers out of 5 barriers effectiveness resulted in 17 leas effective areas of leadership. They were rated less effective on listening, straight forward and open communication, ability to work with diverse people, inclusion, insight into people, conflict resolution, promoting employee engagement, credibility with peers; direct reports, self-awareness, team playing, and demonstration of ethical leadership. 

The most common ineffective directed leadership style: it’s all about me and what I want, or I am the lone operator leader who makes all the decisions and I do all of the work. These two ineffective leadership styles lead to less effective leadership. 

In coaching consider starting with a 360-degree assessment. The multi-rater assessment like the LEA will give the follower’s  take on the blocking behaviors that lead to less effective shared  leadership behaviors. . Effectiveness of shared leadership will go up if you focus on coaching around these five blocking behaviors. ….. Awareness is the first step to begin the journey of changing leadership effectiveness.