Collaborative Leadership Paper

If you’ve collaborated with others on a project, plan, or shared strategy, you may have noticed that there is a specific skill set required to facilitate or participate in collaborative processes. The more that people have developed those skills, the more likely the collaboration is to be successful. Without those skills, collaboration often proves challenging and frustrating. Several years ago, a group of us got together to explore, clarify, and organize those skills and abilities that we saw as most critical for a collaborative effort’s success.   To support sharing our thoughts in an organized way, we established a collaborative leadership development initiative called Collaborating Well.

We are pleased to share the following white paper that describes the results of our collective investigation. The paper is centered around a framework for understanding the full spectrum of skills and capacities required to effectively participate in collaborative processes – the four dimensions of collaborative leadership. They are: (1) developing an interconnected worldview, (2) enhancing interpersonal skills and capacities, (3) creating a sense of belonging, and (4) managing the collaborative process.

 The white paper describes the four dimensions, illustrates how they might be understood in the context of a collaborative effort, and makes the case for incorporating them into professional development opportunities to improve the ability of individuals participating in collaborative projects and thereby the broader success and impact of the collaborative effort. 

We hope that you will find this paper valuable and that it serves as a resource for everyone who wants to improve their collaborative skills and abilities.