The Darkside of Leadership – Part 5
Leading with Collective Responsibility: A Path to Success
I recently departed from a short term contract with an organisation who spoke so much about ‘Collective Impact,’ however, there was a step missing, that I found was strange as leadership growth and development individuals I couldn’t understand why it was missing or simply misplaced. That crucial step is ‘Collective Responsibility.’ In order for impact to be realised everyone has to be responsible for firstly, each other and to ensure you have the relevant support required to be on top of your game and secondly, to ensure that what you are teaching you are embodying to a level that can be felt before impact can even occur.
When you are working within an organisation and their focus is growth, leaders it is your responsibility that everyone in your organisation understands the journey and truly feels a part of that journey and by doing so create an environment of collective responsibility. There is power in being responsible for your part of the pie that creates the whole and how that impacts the way forward is absolutely important and significant to the creation of impact.
Often leadership teams are working to put things in place and are effective in their area but the struggle within the wider business suffers and therefore breakdowns occur instead of breakthroughs. The importance setting a vision and inspiring others is the cornerstone of how to successfully support your leadership team to think organically and to bring new dynamics and dimensions to a project or the actual business when collective responsibility is at the pinnacle of their thinking.
Collective responsibility is the idea that all members of a team share in the successes and failures of the group. Collective responsibility can introduce an array of advantages that will support cross departmental functions such as;
Upskilling business units to have optimal performance by identifying gaps
Intervene in groupthink behaviours and promote independent thought leadership
Improve communication skills
Radical listen becomes an embedded component to ensure that everyone is heard for the greater growth of the organisation
Clearly articulate department goals that support organisational objectives
Recognise and consider feedback, which leads to the epitome of professional growth, taking into consideration the impact of decisions and to create and hold space for re-evaluation
Stakeholders create a culture of shared ownership and accountability
Challenges are faced together, leading to stronger bonds and increased resilience.
In conclusion, effective leadership and collective responsibility go hand in hand in achieving success. Strong leadership qualities combined with a culture of shared accountability can lead to high-performing teams and sustainable results.
