I am leading a group of small business owners through a leadership roundtable where we think into challenges they are facing. Recently I asked for feedback on ways to best serve them. One of the topics was how to co-lead effectively.
Maybe you are in this situation if you lead a small business or you and another individual are in charge of a team with equal authority. This can be both very effective and a little challenging. I’ve included a few ideas below and referenced a couple sources if you want to dive deeper into any of this.
Integrator or Visionary
Gino Wickman in his book Traction1 discusses the people part of a business and describes two roles of the top leadership regardless of the organizational size. He calls them integrator and visionary. I would parallel this with COO and CEO. On a team this could be defined as the idea person and the implementer. 
When co-leading one of you may naturally be better with ideas while the other is better with details. Take time to figure out not only this, but clearly define roles and responsibilities. The clearer you are on everyone’s responsibilities, the more effective and efficient you will function.
Communication Style
Four primary communication styles exist which has been shown throughout history by people like Jung, Hippocrates, Empedocles, and Marston. I won’t go into depth on this here because I provide workshops on the topic.2 What co-leaders need to know is they each have a different style of communication. As co-leaders you communicate often about very important decisions and misunderstanding can lead to inefficiency and even poor decisions.
Take time to understand each other’s communication style. How each other receives communication best and how not to communicate to one another. Creating clarity on this will help you connect and improve the quality of discussions and decisions.
Flexibility
While preparing for this, I came across an article in Harvard Business Review about co-leading. In the article Rebecca Newton suggests the importance of being open to renegotiating your role.3 I will define this as flexibility. Flexibility in thought and perspective is essential because change is part of the experience.
As leaders we can easily get attached to our ideas. We can think our way is the best way . . . but is it? Is the market shifting? Are we changing and learning as our workforce evolves with every generation? If one leader is flexible and the other is rigid, conflict and possibly unhealthy power plays may be inevitable. A key question to ponder that I have heard leadership expert John Maxwell mention: what is right for the organization versus me being right?
These are just a few ideas on how to co-lead more effectively. I would suggest the greatest resource we have to lead effectively is both individuals taking a posture of humility recognizing the goal is more important than individual egos. So how are you doing in these areas? Take time to clarify roles this week, examine how flexible you are, and if you want to understand your communication style better go here to invest in a Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator. Keep growing and lead well!
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- Wickman, Gino. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business. BenBella: TX.
- Want to invest in a Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator used in those workshops? Go here
- https://hbr.org/2015/07/how-to-co-lead-a-team retreived 8/13/22