The Collective Wisdom of Collaborative Leadership

“No man is an island.”– John Donne (1572–1631)

Have you seen the impact of a successful team? When everyone worked together like a well-oiled machine that just got each other, and in other words – got it right. The euphoria of tangible and qualitative success that meant everyone worked on a common resolve to achieve and get to the finish line, together.

No real mystery here, because the Collaborative Leader managed to gather and focus everyone to the resolve of getting it done just right, and of everyone collectively, achieving greatness along the way. So really, to get real work done, no man or woman can ever afford to be an island.

So, why then in this VUCA and new norm, state of mind is there a need, more than ever to collaborate?

Collaboration, as a given, is an important aspect of organizational life and is the key for enhanced performance, creativity and innovation. However, achieving a more collaborative organizational culture can often be challenging especially, if the prevailing culture is one with a individualistic or silo mentality.

 

From the outset, the most important principle of collaboration is that it can make the world a better place.

How can this be achieved? Well, You, the Collaborative Leader, must then seek to focus on the People.

To promote successful collaboration, the Leader should:

• Clearly define and agree the roles of the partnership
• Communicate openly within teams to share information
• Seek consensus on goals and methods for completing the task
• Recognize and respect the contribution of everyone
• Identify obstacles and address problems cooperatively as they occur
• Place group goals above personal ones or recognition
• Be prepared to apologize for any mistakes and forgive others for theirs

So, what gets in the way of good collaboration?

One of the main derailers of collaboration is defensiveness. Defensiveness is a perfectly natural human response. However, it is dysfunctional when it starts to impede performance and alter our perceptions to the extent that we are no longer in touch with reality. A key role of the Collaborative Leader is to begin to bring people together and help them to become aware of how their defensive behaviour gets in the way of being more collaborative.

Lencioni’s model, helps us to understand that effective teamwork – another word for good collaboration – starts with trust. “Build trust in teams” is the advice given by many experts; whilst this is good advice, it is easier to say than to achieve.

So, being a Collaborative Leader means flexing our behavior to suit the circumstances. Disciplined collaboration which consists of three steps:

1. Evaluate opportunities for collaboration
2. Spot barriers for collaboration
3. Tailor collaboration solutions

Hence, improving our quality of thinking pays big dividends that result in meaningful action.

At the heart of it, is to build stronger trust to build stronger collaborative teams

• Collaboration must be underpinned by trust. There is no simple or easy way to achieve trust except for the Collaborative Leader to be worthy of trust. The Collaborative Leader needs not only to drive and promote change by being the change but also to start to be more trusting of others. In short, enabling and empowering others. That trust will, in turn, be reciprocated.
• The process of becoming more trustful is a continuing one that is founded in the roots of a person’s psychology. Lack of trust results in dysfunctional relationships both in our working and private lives. This is why the Collaborative Leader has to attend to and resolve their own issues around trust in order to build more effective relationships. To this end, working with and using experienced coaches and even mentors, that operate from a relational perspective can pay dividends as these types of coaches emphasize the importance of relationships.

The trust that a Collaborative Leader creates is the “glue” of strong collaboration

The Ultimate Aim is to Collaborate for Success

Collaboration within and between teams, departments, organizations and industry sectors has been shown to drive success – and perhaps the most important collaboration is between an organization and its customers.

In summary, in a VUCA world, both profit and nonprofits providers that collaborate closely with their stakeholders will be much more successful than their competitors who do not.

You can register online right now or request a paper registration form by calling us at +971 4 427 5400.  For more information about “ Collaborative Leadership and Collective Wisdom” course click here. Bookings are essential as places are limited, and to reserve your place, contact [email protected] or call +971 50 195 5668. 

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