Defining distributed leadership (initial thoughts)

Matthew Allen

For the purposes of this research, we are working to develop a clear understanding of distributed leadership as it might apply at complex organisations such as universities. One possible starting point is:

leadership of organisations is never enacted by a single leader but is distributed throughout an organisation to include:

  • subordinate or intermediate leaders who are formally recognised in a management hierarchy
  • informal leaders who occupy positions of influence that are not formally recognised by management structures, and
  • semi-formal leaders whose positions, while recognised structurally, are not accorded formal management status.

This insight can also be applied within an organisation, identifying the multiple sub-organisations which might have formal leaders, and then distributed leadership amongst them.

I would also note that universities are not unique, but are very unusual because they operate according to rules which reflect the combination of corporate and academic cultures and operating processes; the authority of staff, especially academics, is equally related to their scholarly  competence as to their positions in the structure.

In theory, distributed leadership implies that 'everyone' is a leader (eg that leadership can be evenly distributed throughout an organisation); however, there does appear to be a tension between the individuation that is implied by 'leader', and the notion of collective leadership. Thus we need to understand better what leadership consists in, how it is defined, so as to judge the possible 'limits' to distribution of leadership.