Organizational Psychology Review, Ahead of Print.
Shared leadership, team members collectively leading the team, has developed from a new perspective on team leadership to an established area of research. As the evidence of the effectiveness of shared leadership accumulates, it comes increasingly into focus that we lack theory about the dynamic interplay of shared leadership and vertical leadership – the leadership by the individual formally assigned to lead the team. The absence of such theory is problematic because vertical leadership is a continuing presence in the shared leadership process and, to be effective, vertical leadership should arguably both influence and be influenced by shared leadership. Linear models in which vertical leadership is treated as a predictor of shared leadership without taking this dynamic into account fall short of capturing how vertical and shared leadership work in conjunction. We propose theory to address this, outlining how vertical leadership can develop, maintain, and complement shared leadership in a process in which shared and vertical leadership coevolve as they influence each other. We identify an internal role for vertical leadership in stimulating the development and maintenance of team cognition for shared leadership, guiding the team in shared leadership, and engendering team reflexivity to learn from the experience with shared leadership, and an external role in complementing shared leadership through boundary spanning to connect the team to its external environment. As shared leadership develops over time, it influences these vertical leadership behaviors, such that vertical leadership evolves as shared leadership evolves.Plain Language Summary TitleShared leadership in teams: the role of the formal team leader.Plain language summaryAs evidence of the effectiveness of shared leadership, team members collectively leading the team, accumulates, it comes into focus that we lack theory about the dynamic interplay of shared leadership and vertical leadership – leadership by individuals formally assigned to lead the team. Absence of such theory is problematic because vertical leadership is a continuing presence in the shared leadership process and to be effective needs to change its expression as shared leadership develops. Models treating vertical leadership as a predictor of shared leadership without taking this dynamic into account fall short of capturing how vertical and shared leadership work in conjunction. We propose theory to address this, outlining how vertical leadership can develop, sustain, and complement shared leadership in a process in which shared and vertical leadership coevolve. We identify a role for vertical leadership in stimulating development of team cognition for shared leadership, guiding the team in the shared leadership process, and engendering team reflexivity to learn from experience with shared leadership. We also identify a role for vertical leadership in complementing shared leadership through boundary spanning to connect the team to its external environment. The theory suggests a unique research agenda to contribute to shared leadership research.