What is Distributed Leadership and Why Does It Matter?
Distributed leadership mirrors many of the values we hold dear in the nonprofit and social enterprise sectors, yet it is a model that often feels foreign to many of us in practice. It aligns with the values of many organizations because it empowers employees across the organization, much like our missions aim to empower those we serve or promote equity on specific issues within our communities.
This model decentralizes authority by encouraging shared decision-making and collaboration across the organization, regardless of a person’s official role or title. Unlike traditional hierarchical leadership structures, where decisions are typically made at the top, distributed leadership fosters a sense of collective responsibility across all levels of an organization. This shift allows for more diverse perspectives, encourages innovation, and enhances problem-solving capabilities.
The importance of distributed leadership is highlighted by Sloan Management Review, which argues that this model is critical for managing the complexities of modern organizations. In their article, “Why Distributed Leadership is the Future of Management” they explain that in environments of rapid change and uncertainty, traditional top-down leadership simply isn’t agile enough. Distributed leadership, on the other hand, enables organizations to be more adaptive and responsive by distributing decision-making throughout the organization. Leadership can emerge from any member of the team, depending on their expertise or the context of the situation.
Research shows that when leadership is distributed, employees experience greater engagement and a stronger sense of ownership over their work. This, in turn, can lead to improved morale, increased innovation, and even enhanced financial performance.
Why Distributed Leadership is Different from What We Typically Do in the Sector
For many organizations in our sector, leadership remains largely centralized. Decisions are often made by a select group of senior leaders or executives, leaving little room for frontline employees and support staff to offer input—despite being the ones responsible for implementing these decisions. This hierarchical structure has its roots in industrial-era management practices, which prioritized control, efficiency, and top-down directives. However, this approach fails to incorporate critical perspectives and makes it significantly harder to adapt in a sector that is constantly evolving.
The social and nonprofit sector continues to consist of many small, grassroots organizations. While some of these organizations naturally adopt distributed leadership, it is fascinating to observe how, even in smaller organizations, decision-making and planning often remain needlessly concentrated in the hands of one or two individuals. Consider organizations that are still run by their founders, for example. It is common for such organizations to experience substantial information and staff competency gaps as they grow or when the founder departs because leadership was not distributed.
In their article, “Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power and Decision-Making,” part of the Generations Series, the authors emphasize that leadership need not be confined to those with the highest titles. Instead, they advocate for more fluid leadership structures, where individuals at different levels share responsibility for decision-making, often based on their specific expertise or skills. This approach not only democratizes decision-making but also fosters a culture of trust and accountability.
In practice, distributed leadership enables a more collaborative approach to planning and day-to-day decision-making. Employees feel more invested in outcomes and more connected to the organization’s mission, resulting in greater engagement and effectiveness.
How Do You Use Distributed Leadership to Build Ownership and Engagement?
Implementing distributed leadership in your organization requires a strategic shift in both mindset and structure. According to Nonprofit Quarterly, the key to fostering ownership and engagement through distributed leadership lies in creating an environment where employees feel they have a meaningful stake in the organization’s direction and decision-making. The article, “How Can We Make Employee Ownership the Norm Rather Than the Exception?” outlines several key steps for integrating ownership into the workplace. One such strategy involves encouraging employees to take on leadership roles within projects or initiatives, empowering them to contribute to key decisions that shape the organization’s future.
By granting employees more autonomy in how they approach their work, organizations can cultivate a sense of ownership that extends beyond mere job satisfaction. When employees are entrusted with leadership responsibilities, they are more likely to take pride in their contributions, resulting in higher levels of motivation, commitment, and overall engagement.
In many ways, our sector already embraces aspects of these principles through volunteer committees. However, even in these settings, decision-making often feels concentrated in the hands of the chair or a few dominant voices. Building a structure that distributes leadership responsibilities across teams, committees, and other groups—with clear expectations for each role—is essential to fully realizing the benefits of distributed leadership.
Decision Tree: a tool to individualize and grow decision-making authority by each employee
When developing leaders, managers often grapple with how much decision-making authority to grant a team member. Often, confusion arises between supervisors and supervisees about when to make a decision independently and when to seek approval. Supervisors may find themselves frustrated by needing to approve minor details while being left out of discussions on more critical issues.
This step-by-step tool is designed to help you evaluate the decision-making areas for each role you supervise. It encourages collaboration with your team member to clearly define their authority and identify opportunities to delegate more decisions and responsibilities to them over time. By doing so, you can intentionally grow their capacity, distribute leadership more effectively, and expand decision-making authority throughout the organization.
Stay tuned this month, as Heightened Development will share an additional tool that is another great step to engage staff in shared decision-making.
