Four Hats of Shared Leadership
In an adaptive organization, leadership is shared; all the players wear all the hats. All participants have the knowledge and skills to manage themselves and manage and lead others. Leadership is distributed in meetings, in examining student work, in staff development activities, in action research and in projects. Recognizing the hats and knowing when and how to change them is shared knowledge within the organization, because when values, roles and work relationships are clear, decisions about appropriate behavior are easy.
In an adaptive organization, leadership is shared; all the players wear all the hats. All participants have the knowledge and skills to manage themselves and manage and lead others. Leadership is distributed in meetings, in examining student work, in staff development activities, in action research and in projects. Recognizing the hats and knowing when and how to change them is shared knowledge within the organization, because when values, roles and work relationships are clear, decisions about appropriate behavior are easy.
1. Facilitating
Facilitate means “make easier.” A facilitator is one who conducts a meeting in which the purpose may be dialogue, shared decision making, planning or problem solving. The facilitator directs meeting processes, choreographs the energy within the group, and maintains a focus on one content and one process at a time. The facilitator should rarely be the person in the group with the greatest role or knowledge authority.
2. Presenting
Presenting is teaching. A presenter’s goals are to extend and enrich knowledge, skills or attitudes and to have these applied in people’s work. A presenter may adopt many stances—expert, colleague, novice or friend—and use many strategies of presentation/lecture, cooperative learning, study groups and many more. Premier presenters are guided by clarity of instructional outcomes and continuous assessment of goal achievement.
3. Coaching
Coaching helps another person take action toward his or her goals while simultaneously helping him/her develop expertise in planning, reflecting, problem solving and decision making. The coach takes a nonjudgmental stance and uses tools of open-ended questions, pausing, paraphrasing and probing for specificity. The skillful coach focuses on the perceptions, thinking, and decision-making process of the other person to encourage and enhance self-directed learning.
4. Consulting
Consultants can be information specialists or advocates for content or process. As an information specialist, the consultant delivers technical knowledge to another person or group. As a content advocate, the consultant encourages the other party to use a certain strategy, adopt a particular program or purchase a specific brand of equipment or materials. As a process advocate, the consultant attempts to influence the client’s methodology (for example, recommending an open meeting rather than a closed one in order to increase trust in the system).
Facilitate means “make easier.” A facilitator is one who conducts a meeting in which the purpose may be dialogue, shared decision making, planning or problem solving. The facilitator directs meeting processes, choreographs the energy within the group, and maintains a focus on one content and one process at a time. The facilitator should rarely be the person in the group with the greatest role or knowledge authority.
2. Presenting
Presenting is teaching. A presenter’s goals are to extend and enrich knowledge, skills or attitudes and to have these applied in people’s work. A presenter may adopt many stances—expert, colleague, novice or friend—and use many strategies of presentation/lecture, cooperative learning, study groups and many more. Premier presenters are guided by clarity of instructional outcomes and continuous assessment of goal achievement.
3. Coaching
Coaching helps another person take action toward his or her goals while simultaneously helping him/her develop expertise in planning, reflecting, problem solving and decision making. The coach takes a nonjudgmental stance and uses tools of open-ended questions, pausing, paraphrasing and probing for specificity. The skillful coach focuses on the perceptions, thinking, and decision-making process of the other person to encourage and enhance self-directed learning.
4. Consulting
Consultants can be information specialists or advocates for content or process. As an information specialist, the consultant delivers technical knowledge to another person or group. As a content advocate, the consultant encourages the other party to use a certain strategy, adopt a particular program or purchase a specific brand of equipment or materials. As a process advocate, the consultant attempts to influence the client’s methodology (for example, recommending an open meeting rather than a closed one in order to increase trust in the system).