5 quick tips to becoming a collaborative leader

Being a leader is difficult. Some of us are more cut out for it than others. But no matter who you are, there are a few key concepts that can help a company stay aligned and focused with their mission. Collaboration is a broad and daunting task, yet, it can save leaders, as well as the organization time, money and other resources. Learning how to talk to each other effectively in the workplace is one of the foundations of being a part of a successful, winning, company.

The article, “Are you a Collaborative Leader?” by Herminia Ibarra and Morten T. Hansen, discusses how CEOs have created ways to keep the company in question connected to itself. Through anecdotal stories and shared experiences, 5 key concepts are drawn up in terms of keeping a company communicating and communal without letting it sink into the slippery slope of “Overdoing it.”

Play Global Connector: Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point, uses the expression “Connector” when discussing how critical it is for a leader to be a great source for connectivity within a company, as well as outside of the company. With more connections comes more opportunities.

Engage Talent at the Periphery: A good leader has a fine tuned ability to bring people together from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and generations while leveraging all they have to offer. Connect the outside to the inside. Caution: spending excessive amounts of time, money, and energy to attract talented employees only to subject them to homogenizing processes that kill creativity.

Collaborate at the Top First: Leaders ensure that they themselves are collaborative. Many times, “efforts to collaborate in the middle are damaged by political games and turf battles higher up in the organization.”

“If leaders are to encourage more innovation through partnerships across sectors and with suppliers, customers, and consumers, they need to stop relying heavily on short-term performance indicators.”

Often leaders isolate themselves within their company, or branch, avoiding “responsibility – or incentive- for aligning the organization’s various projects and operations into a coherent whole.”

Show a Strong Hand:  Leaders have to balance underdoing it and overdoing it. Being unable to foster a balanced environment may lead to indecisiveness and failure to execute agendas in a timely manner, creating a negative relationship between employees, creating a schism in the workplace.

To achieve this balance, one must assume a robust, team-oriented ordinance. Some tips:

• “Maintain agility by forming and disbanding them as opportunities come and go.”
• “Assign clear decision rights and responsibilities. Allowing for constructive confrontation and disagreements, while avoiding all out battles in the workplace.”

Loosening Control without Losing Control:  Leaders utilize and create connections and relationships internally and externally of the company with a guiding hand. This makes it easier to recognize and execute the cessation of unproductive discussion, arguments and filibusters (or making “the final call” on all fronts).

“Differences in convictions, cultural values, and operating norms inevitably add complexity to collaborative efforts. But they also make them richer, more innovative, and more valuable. Getting that value is the heart of collaborative leadership.”

CMA takes the invitation to find the right people for the right job seriously. We believe that creating a work environment suitable to win and succeed starts with the people. CMA offers a spectrum of assessments that often times help pinpoint the big “Whos,” “Whats,” and “Wheres” when companies reach out to us by giving ample insight of the individual and what makes them tick. Through our comprehensive examinations and analysis, we guide you to achieving a harmonious, aligned, collaborative company, one step at a time.

By: Maria Colarelli