Part I (of VII)

Many principals realize that the requirements of the job are too big for one person.  The management responsibilities alone can overwhelm even the most veteran leader.  Finding the time to focus on instructional leadership requires strong organizational and planning skills.  If principals are to meet the increasing expectations placed upon them by local, state, and national initiatives, they will have to consider utilizing the strengths and skills of the teachers in their buildings.

Reforming and revitalizing schools requires creative school leaders who recognize the wealth of talent and expertise within their own schoolhouse walls.  Shared leadership practices offer the modern principal the tools needed to drive effective instructional change.  Shared leadership is the most effective tool for sustaining the principalship and the success of schools.  Used pragmatically, shared leadership builds a culture that relies on everyone rather than a single heroic figure.

What Is Shared Leadership?

While the definition of shared leadership seems apparent, it has been refined by scholars over the past twenty years.  Shared leadership refers to, “a team property whereby leadership is distributed among team members rather than focused on a single designated leader”(Carson, Tesluk, & Marrone, 2007, p. 1217).  It is defined broadly to denote the influence of teachers through their participation in school-wide decisions with principals (Seashore Louis et al., 2010).

The terms shared leadership, distributed leadership, collaborative leadership, collective leadership, democratic leadership, and leaderful practice are used interchangeably to describe the practice of decentralizing leadership.   A common distinction between shared leadership and traditional forms of leadership is that the process of shared leadership includes peer or lateral influence (Bligh, Pierce, & Kohles, 2006).  A distributed model of leadership centers on the interactions of individuals, rather than the actions of those in formal and informal leadership positions (Harris & Spillane, 2008).