Leadership and Power

While reading chapter 7 in Forces for Good, I couldn't help but relate this reading to the business my friend and I ran (we owned an all-star cheerleading team). In the planning stages we had to come to an understanding as to what role we would each play in running this team. A major issue that we had to agree on was who the "head coach" would be. It was clear that if this team was going to be successful one of us would have to be allowed to have the final say. Since I was really busy with other things, I decided it would be a good idea to give him this title. Because of our differences, we were able to work very well together. We were able to come up with solutions to issues we had to face with much more ease than if we were doing it on our own. Obviously, this is on a much smaller scale, but I think it relates very well to what this chapter discussed.

Being able to bounce ideas off of another person proves to be very beneficial in terms of effectiveness. It is stressed in this chapter that collaboration and shared leadership are major factors in running a successful nonprofit. Although it can sometimes slow the decision-making process down, I agree with the authors in thinking that sharing power will most certainly contribute to the success of an organization. Does anyone see a downside to sharing leadership? Is it possible for two people to be on the same level in terms of sharing power and authority?