One + September 2010 - (Page 16)

U B THE Orchestra, which has often been incorrectly identified as leaderless. The musicians— not a conductor—collectively interpret scores, and all members have the opportunity to lead. “The most important conditions for effective shared team leadership include a team that is a mature and reasonably bounded group [like that of the orchestra],” Hackman says. “They must know each other’s strengths and weaknesses in order to identify whom to go to for specific tasks.” Effective shared leadership teams must also understand their roles and responsibilities, management consultant Peter M. Smith says. Not only are team members responsible for their own work, they must also be collectively responsible for their entire organizations or companies. The teams must also identify and clarify which decisions are individual and which are collective. The collective decisions then require any number of skills, from dialoguing and listening to negotiating and engaging effectively through differences in perspective and experience. “For many people the notion of having to learn and apply these skills is too much work, takes too long and is not something they are often familiar with,” Smith says. “Collective group making skills are not often rewarded in the workplace and may have a stigma of being too slow or make someone appear to be not ‘tough.’” Then too, it can be difficult to convince executives (and their boards) that shared leadership is viable due to the challenges of giving up and sharing power, influence and accountability. People want to hold someone responsible, Smith says (emphasis on the word “one”), but in reality, individual accountability is rarely the cause of success or failure—no matter what type of organization is involved The concept is more relevant within creative organizations (as opposed to assembly-line type shops), says James P. Spillane, an expert on “distributed leadership” at Northwestern University. Meeting professionals, for example, face daily uncertainties due to unpredictable interactions, which lead to the need for latitude on the ground floor. Spillane says companies must identify and balance strategic and logistic decisionmaking to identify where leadership, in fact, lies. Agenda 1. West Coast Green Sept. 30-Oct. 2 San Francisco Focus on the intersection of the built environment (read: human-made surroundings) and technology—including emerging products within the Cleantech sector (such as solar, wind and waste reduction) that can reduce global climate change. West Coast Green presents more than 300 exhibitors and 100 experts, who share their latest developments, insights and inspirations. 2. Mondomusica Oct. 1-3 Cremona, Italy Without music life would be a mistake, quoth German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who most certainly would have appreciated Mondomusica, the worldwide marketplace for violin and plucked instrument manufacturers. While instrument production remains at the core of the show, this year’s edition will attract an audience of professionals, musicians and students, thanks to new exhibition areas dedicated to jazz, publishing and piano manufacturing. 3. Saudi Power and Water Forum Oct. 2-6 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Saudi and international Upcoming Events That Matter 1 2 3 4 Jessie States is an award-winning writer and editor of One+. stakeholders unite to discuss the policies and strategies that will determine the future of power and water in the Kingdom. High-proﬁle government representatives, major state companies, developers, 16 one+ 09.10

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + September 2010

One + September 2010
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Share Your Mind
Agenda
Thoughts + Leaders
Five Years Later
Focus
Overheard
What You Missed
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
TMI at Your Peril
Men Behaving Badly
You Can Go Your Own Way
Falling for Food
Breaking Bread
Community Service
Controlled Chaos
The Quick Guide to Keeping Your Top Talent
Generation Why
What’s the Right Risk?
Let’s Talk
Get an (Economic) World View
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + September 2010