Conversation 2: (Re)Defining Leadership
Welcome back to our series, 8 Conversations for Shared Leadership. In our first post, we discussed our origin stories and how we came to this work. Now, it’s time to examine how we define leadership.
When I was young, I thought “leadership” looked like people speaking from podiums, sitting at the head of a table, and getting a fancy title with an office. When I closed my eyes and imagined leadership, I never saw more than one person.
That vision seems so limited and somewhat dangerous to me now.
Once I became a leader in my own work, a mentor taught me that leadership is much more about listening than talking. I learned this in practice, too. As I've learned and taught people about the civil rights movement, I've discovered how Black people—my people—led campaigns for justice together. They were often crowded into rooms—not sitting around tables—and in groups of leaders. There wasn’t just a sole leader for the group!
Later, when I served twice as a co-director with long and confusing titles in teeny, messy office spaces, I learned how this expanded definition of leadership could yield some incredibly impactful decision-making, too.
Leadership can take many forms. Regardless of structure, a shared power context requires unpacking underlying assumptions, embodying humility, and becoming more adaptive.
Can you reflect on the leadership models you’ve seen? Can you point to successful leadership teams? When you close your eyes and think about a leader, what do you see?
It’s also important to consider when we’ve had poor experiences with leaders and the problems that caused them.
It’s possible (and beneficial) to be confident enough to name both our strengths and areas of growth. That’s how we can become leaders who serve with thoughtfulness and intention to share power with others effectively.
Prompts for Conversation #2
You can use these prompts to inspire and expand your conversations within your team environment:
When have I witnessed effective shared leadership? What made it effective?
When have I been frustrated with people in leadership roles? What did I learn from those experiences?
What kind of leader do I want to be now?
What are my strengths? In what areas do I need to grow?
I suggest we ask these questions first of ourselves and then share our responses with our co-leaders.
A recurring theme from my many conversations with other leaders about shared power is the need to build trust-based relationships. If you’re interested in learning more about how this applies to how we show up as leaders, I recommend this 4-minute video, Locating Yourself - A Key To Conscious Leadership, by Conscious Leadership Group. It’s a quick breakdown of how we can lead from trust (as opposed to leading from threat).
To dig deeper, you can watch "(Re)Defining Leadership,” my conversation on with Deborah Harrington, philanthropic trailblazer and CEO of The Harrington Group. Or you can listen to the episode here.
Up next is Conversation 3: Connecting Identity & Power.
You can download the infographic of the 8 essential conversations to share with co-leaders.
Be sure to listen to season one of our Shared Power Podcast to learn more about the conversations, why I believe they are key to advancing justice, and ways to apply them to our work and movements.
Learn more about Mia’s facilitation offerings based on the eight conversations.