Cristina Gibson Describes How Shared Leadership Creates Effective Teams in a Remote World
Senior leaders are embracing the productivity and performance gained from remote work,
says Dr. Cristina Gibson, the Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Management in the
Applied Behavioral Science group at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Global
companies including Amazon, SAP and (naturally) Zoom, are purposely recruiting for
work-from-home positions. Forward-looking leaders in the c-suite and in corporate
boardrooms are past deciding “if” remote work will work. They are examining “how.”
For global companies to enjoy success or accelerate benefits, writes Dr. Gibson in
Chief Executive, they should consider leadership approaches that conform to remote
work settings. In the journey ahead, “shared leadership” should be a key ingredient
in setting the course. New research, of which Dr. Gibson is an author, in the Journal of International Management shows when collaborators are separated by geography, typical approaches to leadership
are not as effective. Instead, “shared leadership,” which involves dividing up leader
responsibilities across multiple people, was more helpful the more teams work virtually
across locations. According to Dr. Gibson, leaders should “start low, go slow”, rotating
minor leadership tasks around the team until members are familiar with having different
leaders. They should also consider how cultural orientation toward traditionalism
could impact team effectiveness. Finally, they should also recognize successes under
linear leadership and validate these teams internally (within the team) and externally
(throughout the organization) to support new management approaches.
The full opinion is in Chief Executive.