Leaders as lead learners - A case example of facilitating collaborative leadership learning for school leaders

Distributed leadership is increasingly desired in traditionally top-down organizations. This article bridges a gap between theory about distributed leadership, which addresses not only how leadership is exercised through collaborative practices, but also where and by whom it is undertaken. The idea of distributed leadership highlights the need for new and congruent development methodologies, without which calls for distributed leadership will flounder. Distributed leadership involves systemic change and cannot be achieved through individualized leadership development alone; people throughout the organization need to revise ideas about leadership, including top leaders. Top leaders need a safe learning environment that mirrors this new mode of working, offering opportunities for re-examining leadership and learning. Through an exploration of the psychological challenges of distributed leadership, a learning design that supports learning for distributing leadership is proposed. This incorporates attention to system dynamics and a collaborative learning methodology. It is illustrated by an example from school leadership.