Exploring Distributed Leadership and Bottom-Up Strategizing: Lessons from Research, Lectures, and Personal Experience

The evolving landscape of leadership and strategy within organizations has been the focus of extensive research. Two seminal papersChoi and Schnurr's (2014) study on distributed leadership and Van der Steen's (2017) exploration of bottom-up strategizingoffer deep insights into how leadership and strategic thinking can emerge in non-traditional forms. These studies align closely with the concepts discussed in our class lectures, adding a layer of practical understanding to theoretical frameworks. Furthermore, my personal experience at Perfect Pays serves as a microcosm to illustrate these ideas in action.

Core Messages of Choi and Schnurr (2014) and Van der Steen (2017)

Choi and Schnurr (2014) delve into the concept of distributed leadership in teams that formally lack designated leaders. Published in Discourse Studies, their research examines how such teams handle disagreements and reach consensus during decision-making processes. The key takeaway is that leadership is fluid and shared, dynamically emerging based on the situation and interactions among team members. The authors use discourse analysis to highlight that leadership is exercised through linguistic cues and conversational strategies, which help navigate conflicts and build agreement. This distributed approach leads to more democratic team processes, enhancing collaborative outcomes by allowing team members to contribute leadership irrespective of formal hierarchies.

In contrast, Van der Steen (2017), in his article in Long Range Planning, explores bottom-up strategizing within a Dutch bank. The focus here is on how ordinary employees contribute to strategic planning, traditionally a top-down process. The core message emphasizes the significance of collective sensemaking in strategic issues, where employees at various levels engage in interpreting and navigating complex challenges. Van der Steen outlines the mechanisms through which bottom-up strategizing occurs and the conditions that facilitate or hinder such processes. The study underscores the importance of management in creating an environment that encourages and values employee contributions to strategy, illustrating that empowered employees can offer valuable insights and innovations.

Connecting Research to Class Concepts

Both papers resonate with the themes explored in our class lectures on leadership and planned change. The discussion on distributed leadership aligns closely with the idea that leadership plays a crucial role in implementing planned change. As highlighted in class, leadership is connected to sensemaking, creating meaning and direction within an organization, and providing vision to drive change. Choi and Schnurr's findings that leadership can emerge from any team member and is exercised through communication underscore the importance of inclusive leadership in fostering a sense of ownership and proactive behavior among employees.

Similarly, Van der Steen's exploration of bottom-up strategizing connects with the concept of plural leadership discussed in lectures. Plural leadership, which includes shared, pooled, and distributed leadership, facilitates participation and representation, creating buy-in and sensemaking (Denis, Langley, & Sergi, 2012). This approach moves past the 'heroic individual' and generates 'power-with' rather than 'power-over' dynamics, fostering a sense of collective activity (Raelin, 2016). Van der Steen's findings that bottom-up strategizing can enrich an organization's strategic direction by incorporating diverse perspectives align with the idea that plural leadership broadens the range of solutions and fosters a resilient community within the firm (Faulkner, Brown, & Quinn, 2018).

Personal Experience at Perfect Pays

Reflecting on my personal experience at Perfect Pays, I can relate deeply to the concepts of distributed leadership and bottom-up strategizing. When I joined the company as Head of Sales, there was no established sales department, and the team was demoralized due to a lack of results. My approach was to rebuild from the basics, starting with the sales pitch. I involved the entire team in brainstorming and experimenting with different call pitches. This collaborative effort led to the successful development of a call pitch that instilled confidence across the company.

This experience mirrors the principles of distributed leadership, where leadership emerged from the collective efforts of the team rather than being dictated from a formal position of authority. By valuing each team member's input and fostering open communication, we navigated conflicts and built consensus, much like the teams studied by Choi and Schnurr (2014).

Expanding the team globally and building a remote team of eight people was another strategic move that aligned with the principles of bottom-up strategizing. The remote team brought diverse perspectives and insights, enriching our strategic approach. This decision was facilitated by creating an environment that valued and encouraged contributions from all team members, similar to the conditions outlined by Van der Steen (2017). The success of this strategy underscored the importance of collective sensemaking and the valuable innovations that can emerge from empowering employees at all levels.

Conclusion

The studies by Choi and Schnurr (2014) and Van der Steen (2017) provide compelling evidence that leadership and strategic thinking are not confined to formal hierarchies but can emerge dynamically from within teams and across organizational levels. These insights are crucial for fostering a culture of engagement and innovation in today's dynamic business landscape. By comparing the mechanisms of distributed leadership and bottom-up strategizing, it becomes evident that both processes thrive in environments that value democratic participation and open communication. My experience at Perfect Pays further reinforces these findings, illustrating that inclusive leadership and strategic planning can lead to more effective and adaptive organizational practices.

References

Choi, S., & Schnurr, S. (2014). Exploring Distributed Leadership: Solving Disagreements and Negotiating Consensus in a 'Leaderless' Team. Discourse Studies, 16(1), 3-24.

Van der Steen, M. (2017). Managing Bottom-up Strategizing: Collective Sensemaking of Strategic Issues in a Dutch Bank. Long Range Planning, 50(6), 766-781.

Denis, J. L., Langley, A., & Sergi, V. (2012). Leadership in the Plural. The Academy of Management Annals, 6(1), 211-283.

Raelin, J. A. (2016). Imagine there are no leaders: Reframing leadership as a collaborative agency. Leadership, 12(2), 131-158.

Faulkner, J., Brown, K., & Quinn, L. (2018). Building resilient communities: The role of local leadership in building resilience in a crisis-prone world. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 27, 1-8.

Could you improve answer's formatting? Please provide this in six hundred words as I wanted to post this as a blog. Write in story format covering all three points, DO NOT WRITE IN BULLET POINTS 1. What are the core messages ofthe papers, as I wanted to convey the message together from both?

2. How do these connect to the content from theory(attached) on this topic?

3. Can you relate to this paper and video through experience? Cover this in story format