What Is the Co-Leadership Model?
Operating a small business by the co-leadership model gives the business the distinct advantage of having two competent people at the helm who, ideally, possess complementary strengths and weaknesses. Each co-leader takes a split-task approach to the leadership responsibilities of the organization. Spreading the responsibility offers support to co-leaders. A new businessman with an engineering background may benefit from having a co-leader with a strong business background, for instance.
A Stress-buster
The business world often puts together creative types with business experts. Helen De Michiel, who formerly directed the National Alliance for Media Art and Culture single-handedly, now shares the directorship with co-director Jack Walsh. De Michiel describes Walsh as analytically creative and describes herself as intuitively creative. Overall, their collaboration appears solid and successful. Of particular note, she finds the directorship less stressful for her after sharing responsibilities. In this case, the board pays for two part-time directors. But some boards in other businesses have two full-time co-leaders.
A Collaborative Effort
The Journal of Mental Health Nursing reports that researchers in Germany found advantages when using a nurse-physician co-leadership model in managing three psychiatric hospitals. In Veterans Administration (VA) cardiac medical offices, where a nurse-physician co-leadership model was utilized, the nurse-physician co-leaders each have areas of expertise where they can function independently and also collaborate interdependently. When the nurse-physician team works together in a collaborative way, research shows that the cardiac patient's care improved. The same positive result might be expected in other small businesses using collaboration via the co-leadership model -- not just in medical businesses.
A Balm for Transitions
The co-leadership model, a strategic business move, helps in planning a spin-off of one arm of the business into its own entity or when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) plans to retire, calling for a smooth transition. Using the co-leadership model, the future CEO of the spin-off business becomes co-CEO. Eventually, the new co-leader moves on as the CEO of the spin-off business and the original CEO remains with the parent company. For a CEO retirement, co-leadership allows the incoming and outgoing CEOs a period of collaboration, fostering a smooth transition.
A Source of Job Satisfaction
Respondents of a Marquette University research study on co-principals shows that principals reported high levels of job satisfaction using the co-leadership model in public and private school settings. Co-leaders mentioned having greater satisfaction while sharing leadership with an equally qualified colleague who shares their passion and energy for a common philosophy. Helen De Michiel, co-director of the National Alliance for Media Art and Culture, described her part in the directorship as "endlessly fascinating" and more fun for her once she began collaborating with co-director Jack Welsh.