DEOSTARA Leading Collaborating in Change, Renewal & Growth
Exploring Shared Leadership and the Reality of Deep Participation in Organisational Life...In Conversation with John Higgins
I have had the wonderful opportunity to explore my findings from my doctoral thesis with john Higgins, a research fellow with Gameshift, a leading consultancy supporting participative ways of working and organising within workplaces.
Click on the link below which provides an overview of the discussion and a link to the recorded video.
in conversation. with....
The Participation Myth
What leadership means when no-one person has all the answers
Successful Completion of my PhD Studies
The focus of my research has been in the arena of shared leadership, in order to better understand how “followers” working in a social sector organisation (a Housing Association) have actually experienced leadership, through intensive collaboration with their senior leaders and their board, as they co-created long-term organisational strategy.
This action research study resulted in a Learning History; a “jointly told tale with multiple narratives” and perspectives, where key experiences and approaches are shared in a creative, multi-media and inclusive way to promote organisational learning (Adapted from Guba, 1999).
This undertaking was really compelling and at times hugely overwhelming for me as a researcher. Nevertheless, the topic remains compelling and informs my work moving forward namely;
how we can share leadership responsibility and consider its impact, not just for the organisation but for our personal growth and flourishing, as well as in our working relationships, with peers, and with those who are more powerfully positioned in our organisations.
The impact of such sharing also affects ‘those in charge’, in senior positions and requires ceding power and control to others, to achieve authentic collaboration, and a meaningful ‘voice’ for staff.
As such, I have observed it requires the development of those capacities that lead to greater trust, relationship, and connection. These include vulnerability, mutuality, and co-responsibility, alongside the ability to skilfully challenge, in order to create even better ideas and informed decisions.
This matters now more than ever in these challenging and complex times, where no-one person has all the answers, and where increasingly the wisdom and insight of the collective is needed, to solve seemingly intractable problems.
Thank you to all those who have been on this journey with me. I will never forget your support.
Dr Sybille Schiffmann
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Click here for links to the web site that supports this research and to the Learning History. https://nshglh.simplesite.com/learning-history-artefact
