Distributed Leadership-Garnered Scholars Attention

Distributed Leadership-Garnered Scholars Attention

Just like the term suggests, distributed leadership refers to shared management. The concept of distributed leadership transfers the decision-making responsibility from a single individual to a group of people. The idea is popular with learning institutions and educational settings. For instance, in the education field, the roles of parents, teachers, students, the local community, and governors are emphasized (Bolden, 2011). The concept of distributed leadership has particularly attracted scholars because it impacts learning outcomes. It does not directly affect students’ learning outcomes, but it affects the learning environment in a way that eventually affects students’ learning outcomes.

Perceived organizational benefits have fueled the enhanced interest in distributed leadership. In particular, Harris (2019) avers that distributed leadership is an anchor for positive organizational change. With distributed leadership, all organization participants, including top-level managers, build personalized relationships that facilitate collaboration. Besides, the model enables an organization to build leaders across all organizational levels. The model is needed in school improvement programs because such programs require leadership at all levels.

One of the differences between distributed leadership and other leadership models is the leadership culture. In the shared leadership model, top leaders manage decisions from a central command center. However, distributed leadership is associated with shared values, cooperation, and cross-departmental communication. Also, distributed leadership covers an enhanced scope than traditional leadership models. When all organizational participants are called upon to lead, the organization benefits from pooled skills, knowledge, and organization-wide leadership (Harris, 2019). Eventually, the organization builds individual leaders. For instance, the distributed leadership model prepares a middle-level manager to try different leadership approaches. Instead of sitting around and waiting for the CEO’s instructions, such low-level leaders can make key decisions to support an organization’s success.

References

Bolden, R. (2011). Distributed Leadership in Organizations: A Review of Theory and Research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(3), 251–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x

Harris, A. (2019). Distributed Leadership: What We Know. Distributed Leadership, 7, 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9737-9_2

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Explain distributed leadership, including why it has garnered scholars’ attention.

Distributed Leadership-Garnered Scholars Attention

Does the theory merit the attention it has received? What value might it provide beyond what other leadership theories already provide?