Advanced Dynamics

Participative Leadership

To function well, a leadership team must, on the one hand, be able to make use of the knowledge, perspectives and expertise of its members and, on the other, give its leader full authority and accountability to make the decisions which form the leaders work of role.

The Participative Leadership framework used by Advanced Dynamics is a simple way of assisting teams to deliberately maintain patterns that allow for clear decision-making, but full participation.

Team members add value to the work of the team by sharing information about the emerging context of the organisation; contributing to discussions on the purposes the team is fulfilling in that context; bring different perspectives, knowledge and expertise to defining critical issues that either enable or block the achievement of that purpose; and developing options for action to achieve their purpose by managing the critical issues. Without participation, the ultimate quality of the decision risks being dramatically poorer.

The leader of the team has the authority and accountability to decide which action plan the organisation will follow.

The members of the team then agree with the leader to accept the assignment of tasks that will enact the decision, and become accountable for those tasks.

The team then continuously reviews the progress of the plan, adjusting it where necessary, iteratively following the same process.

The process is not dogmatic; it is merely a set of guiding concepts that nevertheless helps teams negotiate complex discussions and issues while remaining clear about what they are attempting to achieve, how it relates to the purpose of the organisation, and who is accountable for action.