The article has clearly outlined the various aspects of collaborative leadership that has enabled top-performing CEOs and Managers to undertake successful projects and business plans.
From the article we realize that for one to be considered as a collaborative leader, they ought to exemplify strong managerial skills in four key areas which include; efficient connectors, ability to source for diverse talents and skills, enhance collaboration among top leadership and lastly being in charge or in control of the whole team.
Leaders having all the above mentioned skills are bound to succeed in their managerial work and get good results. For those who lack some or all the above mentioned skills, all hope is not lost as recent research has shown that they can be acquired through a series of learning.
First, a collaborative leader should be an efficient global connector with the ability to link together individuals from different social backgrounds and motivate them to work cohesively. Such a leader ought to be social and outgoing in character to be able to freely mingle with the outside world and in the process get new insights, ideas and even external partnerships and collaboration with related firms and institutions.
The second skill was on sourcing for diversity in talents, skills and social backgrounds. Research has shown that diversity fosters innovation and creativity since people with different experiences tend to think and act differently hence chances of new ideas creeping in are very high as opposed to a homogenous team; coming from a similar background.
Thirdly, collaborating at the top; it entails being in control of the organization and ensuring sovereignty and harmony among the top managers. It is very critical to address issues concerning the top management as power wrangles, differences in opinions or unconstructive competitions.
Such disagreements with the top leadership automatically cascades down to the rest of the company’s employees and may lead to drastic repercussions and vice versa. The last concept is attributed to effective co-ordination and decision making. A collaborative leader has the potential to successfully co-ordinate meetings and debates and coming up with amicable solutions.
Some of the lessons learnt from this article include: the role of managers and CEOs in promoting diversity. Managers have a big role to play in fostering for diversity in ideas, technology and in the labor force. We get to realize that it is through diversity that a company is able to come up with unique products and services that will enable them stand out in the market.
Diversity among workers is also critical because their different social backgrounds makes them reason out differently hence the basis of creativity and innovation. There is also a great need to involve young employees from the generation Y, so that the firm may harness youthful ideas and technologies which enliven collaboration.
We also get to learn the importance of technology and how it can be effectively used to promote communication within and outside the firm. For instance, when the company wants to hold a conference meeting, they can make use of advanced telecommunication gadgets and video conferencing gadgets to involve all the managers and employees in debates and other company’s forums from the comfort of their offices.
Collaborative managers also make use of social sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to network and promote their products and services; they also use such sites to get opinions from their clients on their products.
Another lesson obtained from the article is that, it is healthy and good for the employees to engage in a series of debates and confrontations so long as they are constructive. Employees are encouraged to propose ideas and challenge one another and at the end of it the best idea carries the day.
This encourages employees to be more proactive and feel involved in the company’s affairs. We also get to know the importance of having harmony, cohesiveness and understanding among top managers of the company as this automatically trickles down to the rest of the company and determine its ultimate success.
In my opinion, the concept of diversity among employees may not have a significant impact on the company’s productivity due to the many social, cultural and traditional differences that they may bear hence curtailing cohesiveness , co-operation and free flow of communication amongst them.
These may hinder productivity and the workers may find it hard to unleash their full potential because of the inefficacious working environment hence I consider a homogenous team to be more effective. I also think top-leaders and managers should be keen on supervising and delegating duties and not get involved so such in a particular sector of the organization until they forget their overall work of supervising other tasks and projects.
In conclusion, any company wishing to excel in their activities and get the intended results should look out for collaborative leaders and managers having all the four essential leadership qualities to foster innovation and productivity that will enable the firm be productive and standout in the business market.