[ELM#1019] Shared Leadership Builds Stronger Schools

Welcome to this episode of the Educational Leadership Moment podcast, where we delve into the transformative power of collaborative leadership. Join us as we explore how shifting from top-down to collaborative strategies fosters more resilient and effective educational environments.

In today's episode, you'll discover inspiring insights and practical steps to harness collective intelligence for solving complex school challenges. Tune in and learn how embracing a collaborative approach not only enhances school success but also cultivates leadership capacities across the board.

#EducationalLeader,

Kim

“When students are led well, they learn well.”

Website: http://kimdmoore.com
Book: http://leadershipchairbook.com
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kimdmoore
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@EducationalLeader

The views shared in the Educational Leadership Moment are solely mine and do not reflect the positions of my employer or any entity within the local, state, or federal government sectors.

Transcript

As a new Assistant Principal responsible for discipline, I used a more top-down leadership approach. It was a leadership style that served me well as a military officer. While the approach worked well with students, it didn’t achieve the desired outcomes with my colleagues.

After several frustrating team meetings, I decided to try a different approach. Instead of telling my colleagues how to increase our effectiveness, I asked more questions, focusing on understanding their perspectives. I would create the agenda to ensure the meetings stayed on track, and my boss empowered me to run the meetings. As a result, our discussions were more productive and consistent with our discipline policy.

The Strategic Imperative of Collaborative Leadership

There’s a dangerous misconception in educational leadership that collaborative leadership is simply a kinder, gentler approach to school management, a “nice” alternative to authoritarian styles. This fundamental misunderstanding diminishes what research consistently shows is actually a strategic advantage in today’s educational environment.

Collaborative leadership isn’t about being nice; it’s about being effective. The challenges facing today’s schools, from addressing pandemic learning loss to navigating cultural divisions, from implementing emerging technologies to addressing persistent equity gaps, are too complex for any single leader to solve alone. These challenges require collective intelligence, diverse perspectives, and distributed expertise, which only collaborative leadership can activate.

As Harris and Jones note in their comprehensive study of high-performing school systems, “The most significant predictor of sustained school improvement wasn’t the charisma or vision of individual principals, but rather their ability to cultivate leadership capacity throughout their organizations.” This finding fundamentally shifts our understanding of educational leadership from an individual capability to an organizational one.

Three Collaborative Leadership Practices That Build Individual and Collective Capacity

1. Strategic Decision-Rights Mapping

Strategic Decision-Rights Mapping explicitly identifies which decisions are made where, by whom, and through what process. Unlike traditional delegation (which often happens haphazardly), this practice clarifies decision-making authority across the organization. Research by Leithwood et al. demonstrates that when schools implement clear decision-rights frameworks, they experience 28% higher staff engagement and significantly faster implementation of improvement initiatives. 

Start by categorizing decisions into four types: those requiring broad input but central decision-making, those appropriate for delegation with parameters, those for completely distributed decision-making, and those requiring consensus. The most common barrier is leaders’ fear of relinquishing control; address this by starting with lower-stakes decisions and establishing clear feedback loops.

When implemented effectively, you’ll notice faster decision-making, reduced meeting fatigue, greater staff ownership of initiatives, and fewer decisions being unnecessarily elevated to senior leadership.

2. Networked Improvement Communities

Using structured improvement cycles, networked Improvement Communities bring together cross-functional teams focused on specific school challenges. Unlike traditional committees, these communities use disciplined inquiry processes to test changes, gather data, and scale effective practices. Research shows these structured collaborative approaches solve problems 3-4 times faster than traditional top-down initiatives.

Begin with a clearly defined problem of practice that matters to students and staff. Establish diverse teams with complementary expertise and provide them with protected time and simple improvement protocols. Common resistance comes from skepticism about “one more initiative”; counter this by connecting improvement work to existing priorities rather than adding new ones.

Effective implementation results in evidence-based solutions to persistent problems, staff who increasingly use data in decision-making and the emergence of teacher leaders who facilitate improvement work.

3. Transparent Resource Allocation Systems

Transparent Resource Allocation Systems involve stakeholders in understanding, prioritizing, and distributing limited resources (time, money, staffing) based on shared values and evidence. Unlike top-down budgeting, these systems build collective ownership of difficult tradeoff decisions. Harris and DeFlaminis found that schools using collaborative resource allocation increased resource alignment with strategic priorities by 32%.

Create simple visualization tools that make resource allocation visible and understandable. Establish clear criteria for prioritization based on student needs and strategic goals. The main barrier is typically discomfort with transparent discussion of resources; overcome this by focusing initially on new resources rather than reallocating existing ones.

Look for resource discussions that reference evidence and student needs rather than historical patterns, increase understanding of budgetary constraints across stakeholders, and more innovative approaches to resource challenges.

Building Leadership Resilience Through Collaboration

Collaborative leadership doesn’t just produce better decisions; it builds more resilient leaders and organizations. When leadership is distributed, the organization becomes less dependent on any single individual, creating natural succession pathways and sustainability during transitions.

For individual leaders, collaboration creates crucial “load-sharing” during crises. Research by Fullan found that principals practicing collaborative leadership reported 37% lower burnout rates and 42% higher job satisfaction than those operating from traditional management approaches. These leaders described having both practical support during challenges and emotional ballast during storms as significant factors in leadership retention.

The Evidence of Impact

The research connecting collaborative leadership to school outcomes is compelling. A five-year study of 134 schools by Sebastian et al. found that schools with strong collaborative leadership practices demonstrated:

• 24% higher teacher retention rates
• Significant improvements in school climate measures
• More successful implementation of improvement initiatives
• Higher student achievement growth, particularly for historically underserved students

These findings held true regardless of school size, demographic composition, or resource levels, suggesting that collaborative leadership provides universal advantages rather than context-dependent benefits.

The Collaborative Leadership Self-Assessment

Rate your current practice on each dimension from 1 (rarely) to 5 (consistently):

1. I have clear processes for determining which decisions should be made where

2. Staff at all levels can articulate how decisions are made in our school

3. We have structured approaches for solving problems collaboratively

4. Resource allocation reflects our strategic priorities rather than historical patterns

5. Multiple staff members lead significant aspects of our school improvement work

6. I intentionally develop leadership capacity in others

7. We celebrate collective achievements more prominently than individual ones

8. I regularly seek and act on feedback from diverse stakeholders

Scores of 30+ suggest strong collaborative leadership practices. Scores below 24 indicate significant opportunities to strengthen your collaborative approach.

Remember that shifting to collaborative leadership isn’t about abandoning your responsibility as a leader; it’s about multiplying your impact by activating the full capacity of your organization. 

Phil Jackson, former NBA coach who led teams to eleven NBA championships, said, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” 

What’s one collaborative practice you could strengthen this month?

#EducationalLeader,

Kim

References

Fullan, M. (2023). The principal: Three keys to maximizing impact (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Harris, A., & DeFlaminis, J. (2019). Distributed leadership in practice: Evidence, misconceptions, and possibilities. School Leadership & Management, 39(2), 141-158. 

Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2022). Leading in disruptive times: How complexity and scale are redefining educational leadership. Routledge.

Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5-22. 

Sebastian, J., Allensworth, E., & Huang, H. (2019). The role of teacher leadership in how principals influence classroom instruction and student learning. American Journal of Education, 126(1), 1-39.