Leadership and Values in Language Education - Al Akhawayn ...

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110Proceedings of the 27 th MATE Annual ConferenceBy definition, within this perspective command and control are the essence ofmanagement and leadership in that organizations tend to be too structured, that is,all the power is given to the formally appointed leader, who tends to controlthings too much and whose rights as a legitimate leader have direct influence onhis subordinates, who are consequently subject to some strictly definedobligations. In other words, members of an organisation or group are eitherleaders, whose role is to “make strategic decisions effectively” (Northhouse,2001), or followers, who are broken away from the process of making decisionsand who must adjust to their behaviours and practice to strictly execute thedecisions and orders imparted from above by the formally appointed leader. Thisrelationship of followship is established and maintained through a rigidhierarchical and vertical distribution of power particularly its concentration in thehands of the legitimate leader, and through restricted one-way structure ofcommunication. This pattern of leadership has long been established and deeprootedin organizations and organizational and institutional practice. In thisrespect, Pearce and Conger (2003:2), for example, state that “historically,leadership has been conceived around a single individual – the leader – and therelationship of that to subordinates or followers. This relationship between theleader and the led has been a vertical one of top-down influence”.However, this approach to leadership has recently been questioned andchallenged for its neglect of different situational factors that may come into playto influence the effectiveness of work organisation and performance.Additionally, this focus on a single individual leader does not respond to thegrowing need for multi-functional and cross-cultural team-work and small-groupwork as an organizational unit of effective work organisation and performance.Therefore, a new form of leadership emerged reflecting the need for leadership tobe shared or distributed among members of organizations and small groups. Thisform of leadership is widely referred to as shared leadership, mutual leadership,or distributed leadership. Below, this model of leadership is generally defined andsome of its principles are presented and discussed.1. 2. Shared leadershipShared leadership is a recently emerging form of leadership that stands in sharpcontrast to the command-and-control style of leadership. It is generally defined asa recent conceptualization of leadership as “a dynamic interactive influenceprocess among individuals in groups for which the objective is to lead oneanother to the achievement of group or organizational goals or both” (Pearce andConger, 2003:2). This approach to leadership is based on the principles that
111Proceedings of the 27 th MATE Annual Conference1- leadership is an activity that can be shared and distributed among membersof a group or organisation,2- small-group work and team-work is the basic and most effective unit ofwork organisation and performance,3- diversity among individual members with respect to their socio-culturaland functional backgrounds is a resource to be used rather than a problem tobe overcome,4- coordinated actions and closer relationships among the group memberslead to effective performance.5- openness to change and openness of power, communication, and socialorganization and interaction patterns, whereby all members of a group ororganisation are engaged in making decisions, setting common goals andpriorities is likely to enhance successful and effective organization andperformance of team-work and group-work tasks.These are some of the major defining principles of shared leadership whichconstitute the elements most frequently referred to by advocates of this approachto leadership (e.g., Pearce and Conger, 2003; Pearce, Conger and Perry, 2003;Yukle, 1998; Fletcher and Kaufer, 2003; Owen, 1997, etc.). For example, Pearce,Conger and Perry (2003: 48) explain that “shared leadership is a differentperspective on leadership which relies on a dynamic exchange of lateral influenceamong peers rather than simply relying on vertical, downward influence by anappointed leader”. The elements of this definition point to the collaborativerelationship and two-way influence and communication between members of agroup who are considered as peers and partners including the formally appointedleader, whose role is to support other peers, facilitate communication betweenthem and coordinates their efforts. This interest in the group dynamics includingthe social context of interaction and the complex nature of communication andinfluence networks is also emphasized by Fletcher and Kaufer (2003:21) whopoint out that leadership within this perspective is conceived of as “a morerelational process, a shared or distributed phenomenon at different levels anddependent on social interaction and networks of influence”.Within the perspective of shared leadership, effective and successful practice ofshared leadership depends on the ability of the self-management and selforganisationof the group and the self-responsibility of the individual. Sharedleadership is then a search for ways to enhance the performance levels of thegroup and its members which depends on the type of formal leader and his styleof leadership. Shared leadership practice tends to promote the potential ofmembers’ performance and change in that it provides ample opportunities for
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