Document View

Increasingly in situations when the scope of problems is beyond the capacity of one person, organization, or even the cooperation of two or three groups interested in change, collaboration is needed. Collaboration is difficult and in fact it has its dark side. For collaboration to succeed, a new kind of leadership is essential. Collaborative leaders must be able to do the following: 1. Expand the focus. 2. Spread authority. 3. Be flexible. 4. Take a risk. 5. Draw on people's strengths. 6. Create new leaders. 7. Focus on group success. There is an abundance of collaborative leadership hidden within the organization and community. Recruit people interested in helping individuals and groups reach their full potential. Draw these people into collaboration, and encourage them to practice their special skills. It is the best way to let leaders work their magic.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

What do you do when the scope of problems is beyond the capacity of one person, organization, or even the cooperation of two or three groups interested in change? Increasingly in these situations, the answer is: You collaborate.1

As has been reported in the pages of this journal, collaboration is difficult and in fact has its "dark side."2 As a participant in several collaborations, however, my colleagues and I have found that collaboration can succeed, generating solutions to complex problems of many kinds.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

In our case, the problem was that nonprofits in the St. Louis area weren't getting the management training they needed. While our region was blessed with several colleges, universities, training organizations, and consultants providing education for nonprofits, there was too much duplication, too many gaps in needed services, and fragmented and often ineffective delivery of what did exist.

The key to fixing this situation was the creation of the Nonprofit Services Consortium, a collaboration of four universities, the regional community foundation, three organizations providing technical assistance to arts' nonprofits, the area's grantmakers' organization, the regional United Way's management assistance program, and the region's NSFRE chapter. Creating this group of very different organizations was not easy, took time, and hinged on the leaders behind the effort.

For collaboration to succeed, a new kind of leadership is essential. Collaborative leaders must be able to do the following:

1. Expand the Focus. Collaborative leadership requires a different focus. That focus is more global and oriented toward better community as its primary goal. It's not about any one individual or organization or their successes.

2. Spread Authority. Collaborative leaders avoid hierarchies and relationships based on narrowly defined or poorly shared authority.

3. Be Flexible. Given the complexity of the environment, collaborative leaders prefer a flexible approach to solving problems.

4. Take a Risk. Collaborative leaders are by nature risk-takers. They are social and organizational entrepreneurs who gravitate toward untested but promising new forms of organization and problem solving.

5. Draw on People's Strengths. Leaders in successful collaborations practice leadership that's at once individual and collective. They pool strengths and leadership styles, using each member fully and effectively and as the changing environment or situation requires.

6. Create New Leaders. Members of a collaboration are willing to function with multiple leaders. Some of these leaders focus on the relational aspects of the collaboration. Some attend to the instrumental needs and interactions within the group. Others focus on direct tasks and the need for performance. All are equally important.3

7. Focus on Group Success. Collaborative leaders worry more about collective success than individual longevity in leadership positions. They encourage and permit the shifting of the guard, recognizing this as healthy rather than threatening.

There is an abundance of collaborative leadership hidden within your organization and community. When setting out on the collaboration journey, find people with the above characteristics and the possibilities that go with them. Recruit people interested in helping individuals and groups reach their full potential.4 Draw these people into the collaboration, and encourage them to practice their special skills. It's the best way to let leaders work their magic.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%