
A team of horses harnessed to pull a coach. Teams of horses of four or more must resolve many of the issues a joint leadership team must resolve. They do so under the guidance of the team's human driver. This configuration has much in common with a captive joint leadership team.
A variety of conditions lead some organizations to delegate jointly to more than one person primary responsibility for a business unit, task force, or project. The idea that more than one person can have "primary" responsibility for something is a bit of a puzzle, but nevertheless, it's a common situation. It can work well. And it can also develop into a potful of trouble. If you find yourself inclined to establish one of these configurations, or you're a co-leader yourself, or you work in or with a unit that has joint leadership, it's advantageous to know the risks. Knowing what kinds of problems can develop, and knowing what limitations these structures have, can be helpful. This post is a high-level view of the kinds of factors that can affect the performance of joint leadership teams (JLTs). I'll be exploring JLTs in more detail in coming posts.
Attributes of joint leadership teams
One way of categorizing JLTs is according to the size of the leadership group. Dyads, triads, tetrads, … all are possible. Probably the most common form of JLT is the pair, in which just two people are designated as having primary responsibility for the effort. Often, the number of co-leaders is determined by political considerations, especially when the group is supposed to "represent" the interests of a set of teams or business units. See "The Politics of Forming Joint Leadership Teams," Point Lookout for January 4, 2023, for more.
Other factors that affect the risk profile facing the leadership group include, as examples, the factors below.
- Group longevity
- The group Probably the most common form of joint
leadership team is the pair, in which just
two people are designated as having
primary responsibility for a group effortcan be a short-term task force, a project, a long-lived business unit, an entire enterprise, or something else. Groups with longer lifetimes face greater external risks, as the rest of the enterprise has more time to mobilize its political capabilities. - Breadth of knowledge required
- The group might be trying to achieve something that requires a broad base of knowledge, best provided by a group of leaders. Settings in which success depends on divergent practices, assumptions, values, beliefs, or rules are likely to find JLTs appealing. [Gibeau 2016] Although a JLT might be appealing at first, it's important to weigh carefully the advantages and disadvantages of the JLT approach.
- Sources of funding
- In some cases, the organizations that provide funding for the group require specific persons to have leadership positions. This is one way funders can manage risks related to lack of knowledge about some of the leadership candidates. Unfortunately, although the JLT configuration might offer some comfort in that respect, it brings along risks of its own.
- Captivity
- A captive JLT is one that's embedded in an organization. Examples include the leadership teams of projects, task forces, task teams, or business units. These are likely the most common forms of JLTs. Members of a captive JLT are subject to the performance standards of the host organization, and (usually) supervision by a responsible superior. These mechanisms provide some mitigation of the risk of toxic conflict within the JLT.
Last words
In next week's post, I explore the properties of JLTs that affect their agility. In two weeks, I examine the organizational politics of forming JLTs. And in three weeks, I examine some risks that are specific to JLTs. Next issue in this series
Top
Next Issue
Occasionally we have the experience of belonging to a great team. Thrilling as it is, the experience is rare. In part, it's rare because we usually strive only for adequacy, not for greatness. We do this because we don't fully appreciate the returns on greatness. Not only does it feel good to be part of great team — it pays off. Check out my Great Teams Workshop to lead your team onto the path toward greatness. More info
Footnotes
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and
found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Virtual and Global Teams:
Virtual Teams Need Generous Travel Budgets
- Although virtual team members who happen to be co-located do meet from time to time, meetings of people
who reside at different sites are often severely restricted by tight or nonexistent travel budgets.
Such restrictions, intended to save money, can contribute to expensive delays and errors.
Polychronic Meetings
- In very dynamic contexts, with multiple issues to address, we probably cannot rely on the usual format
of single-threaded meeting with a list of agenda items to be addressed each in their turn. A more flexible,
issue-driven format might work better.
Disjoint Awareness
- In collaborations, awareness of how our own work might interfere with the work of others is essential.
Unless our awareness of others' work — and their awareness of ours — matches reality, the
collaboration's objective is at risk.
Disjoint Awareness: Assessment
- When collaborators misunderstand each other's work and intentions, they're at risk of inadvertently
interfering with each other. Three causes of misunderstandings are complexity, specialization, and rapid
change.
Disjoint Awareness: Bias
- Some cognitive biases can cause people in collaborations to have inaccurate understandings of what each
other is doing. Confirmation bias and self-serving bias are two examples of cognitive biases that can
contribute to disjoint awareness in some situations.
See also Virtual and Global Teams for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming August 13: Leaving High-Touch Jobs: How
- High-touch jobs require that we work closely with colleagues, teammates, clients, or suppliers. Because choosing to leave such a job affects all these people, and the person departing, we would do well find a path that respects all involved. Here are some suggestions. Available here and by RSS on August 13.
And on August 20: Earned Value and Goodhart's Law
- Earned Value Management, widely used approach to project management, is most useful in contexts in which estimators are familiar with the Tasks, the Technologies, and the Teams. But even then, it is vulnerable to the tactics of those who game the metrics. Available here and by RSS on August 20.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed
