When do team members share the lead? A social network analysis

Published in: Frontiers in Psychology – April 2022

Written by 

Sebastian Tillmann, Hendrik Huettermann, Jennifer L. Sparr and Sabine Boerner

Summary 

What we found: Team members high in political skill, that is the ability to understand and influence others, are both more likely to be relied on by other team members for leadership, as well as relying on leadership from other team members themselves. These relationships are particularly strong when the formal team leader adopts an empowering leadership style, thus supporting shared leadership in the team.

Why it matters: Teams, in particularly expert teams, are dependent on the input and leadership of all team members. Our work suggests two levers for facilitating shared leadership in teams: team members’ political skill and the formal leader’s empowering leadership style.

What next: Team members should be hired for and/or trained in political skill and formal team leaders should be hired for and/or trained in adopting an empowering leadership style.