How To Get Your Collaborative Swag On

Imagine you and I are flies on the wall in one of your team meetings.

If we didn't know anyone in the room, how long would it take for us to work out you are the boss?

Where are you sitting? At the head of the table?

Who is talking most often? Who is talking first?

Is it easy for us to tell you are the manager? Or, would it take a while for us to work out who has the hierarchical power in the room?

How often is the agreed strategy a version of your idea? Often? Most of the time?

Do you feel pressure to be right? To be clever? To have all of the answers, all of the time?

Do you feel overwhelmed? Overworked? Over everything?

We need to change the emphasis.

We need to change the emphasis from leaders to leader-ship.

Ditch "I decide” and get a bit of "we decide” in your style. Or even, “you decide."

Don't be a control freak. You're allowed to surrender the reins to others sometimes.

Give yourself a break. Give your team a break. Share the load. Share the decision-making.

Get your collaborative swag on.

Collaborative leadership is not the best way forward in a world that is globally interconnected, rapidly changing and infinitely diverse.

It’s the only way.