Not a Solo Act: The Power of Shared Leadership in Academic Teams
When we think of leadership, we often picture one figure: the coach on the sidelines or the professor at the front of the room. But does that one person really need to carry it all? In sports – and equally in academia – the answer is no.
Leadership doesn’t have to rest on a single pair of shoulders. Within teams, different people can step up in different ways: as a task leader who provides direction, a motivational leader who energizes others, or a social leader who ensures cohesion and trust. Together, they drive success.
This is what we call shared leadership: spreading responsibility and tapping into diverse talents to boost both performance and well-being. Inspiring as it may sound, turning it into practice is not always straightforward. Drawing on research from our Leading Insights centre (www.leadinginsights.be), Prof. Katrien Fransen will highlight in the video below which leadership roles matter most in academic research teams, board teams, and administrative or technical staff teams. She will outline how these roles can be recognized, supported, and implemented to build effective structures of shared leadership.
Because leadership isn’t a solo act: it’s a team sport.