Team Leadership

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Grow team leadership competencies

By the very nature of adopting a model of shared leadership on interprofessional teams,

“leadership” should be treated and thought of more as a competency, than as an assigned role.
Each team member should be able to provide leadership during situations where their skills sets
and knowledge are most valuable.

What is Team Leadership?

Zaccaro, Rittman, and Marks (2002) had this to say about team leadership:

“Team leadership represents a…characteristic of effective team performance. Most teams

contain certain individuals who are primarily responsible for defining team goals and for
developing and structuring the team to accomplish these missions. These roles exist even in
self-managing teams, although the conduct of leadership roles in such teams varies considerably
from similar roles in more traditional teams.”

What is Shared Leadership? Why is it Important on an Interprofessional Team?

Tesluk and Marrone (2007) define Shared Leadership the following way: “An emergent team
property that results from the distribution of leadership influence across multiple team
members. It represents a condition of mutual influence embedded in the interaction among
team members that can significantly improve team and organizational performance.”

The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative identified this as a key competency domain
for effective interprofessional collaboration: “Learners and practitioners work together with all
participants, including patients/clients/families, to formulate, implement and evaluate care/
services to enhance health outcomes” (CIHC, n.d.)

“Shared leadership is a people- and relationship-focused approach to team leadership that is

based on the premise that answers can be found among the collective knowledge of the team.
It reflects shared accountability that addresses power and hierarchy, and utilizes structures
and processes to advance exemplary care” (RNAO, 2013). According to the Registered Nurses’
Association of Ontario’s 2013 report, Developing and Sustaining Interprofessional Health Care,
this model is based on six principles:

• Promote a shared leadership process that is based on the belief that at different times and
depending on the need, situation and requirements, different people assume the leadership
role and there are times when the nominal leader might not even be visible

• Structure a learning environment that supports continuous self-development and reflection.

The team members are encouraged to learn together and from each other, and to cultivate
practices of open-mindedness, mutual trust, seeking constructive feedback, and viewing
conflict as an opportunity for growth

• Supporting relationships and interconnectedness that value honesty, mutual respect,

expecting the best from others, and the ability to exercise personal choice. Shared leadership
focuses on facilitating the ability of the team to live those values towards a shared vision
that allows people to set common goals and direction.

• Fostering shared power that implies a shared responsibility and accountability for decision

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 making and for learning. Power is found at the center of the team rather than at the top of the
hierarchy.

• Practicing stewardship and service focuses on ensuring that the interests and needs of others are
being served rather than focusing on personal power and control.

• Valuing diversity and inclusiveness implies respect for individual differences which will result in
freedom to learn together and for the exercise of collective ownership.

What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Team Leader?

It is the responsibility of each team member to support interprofessional collaborative practice by

exhibiting the following leadership characteristics (CIHC, n.d.):

• Work with others to enable effective patient/client outcomes

• Advance interdependent working relationships among all participants

• Facilitate effective team processes

• Facilitate effective decision-making

• Establish a climate for collaborative practice among all participants

• Co-create a climate for shared leadership and collaborative practice

• Apply collaborative decision-making principles

• Integrate the principles of continuous quality improvement to work processes and outcomes

Keep the Following in Mind

• It is critical for whomever serves as team facilitator at any time to lead in ways that promote
cohesion

• Exhibit value and respect for each team member, and their roles and contributions to the team

• Frame decisions by describing the benefits and drawbacks of the team’s options

• Address social and emotional aspects of teamwork—remember, each team member comes from a
different personal and professional background

• Adopt the role of a coach—leaders foster the ability in others to perform to their highest potential

• Consider the effects of the organization and team culture

High-functioning teams composed teams make better decisions than a single expert—a diverse set of
viewpoints, and multiple participants, are more likely to make a more informed decision.

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Axelsson, S.B. & Axelsson, R. (2009). From territoriality to altruism in interprofessional collaboration
and leadership. Journal of interprofessional Care, 23(4), 230-330. Retrieved from http://content2.
learntoday.info/shu/NU520_Spring_11/Media/Week05/from%20territoriality%20to%20altruism%20
ininterprofessional%20collaboration%20and%20leadership.pdf

Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative. (2010). A National Interprofessional Competency

Framework. Retrieved from http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/careers/docs/WhereDoYouFit/wduf-
stu-sp-interprofessional-competencies.pdf

Carson, J.B., Tesluk, P.E., & Marrone, J.A. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: an investigation of
antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217-1234.
Retrieved from http://www.ilo.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/download/unterlagen-ws12_13/leadership_and_
learning/literature_hoegl1/carson_et_al_2007.pdf

Harris, S. (2013). Leadership in academic medicine: interprofessional care teams require complex
leadership approaches. Association of American Medical Colleges. Retrieved from https://www.aamc.
org/newsroom/reporter/november2013/362062/leadership.html

International Affairs & Best Practice Guidelines. (2013). Developing and Sustaining Interprofessional
Health Care: Optimizing Patient, Organizational, and Systems Outcomes. Retrieved from http://
umanitoba.ca/programs/interprofessional/media/IPC_Summary.pdf

International Affairs & Best Practice Guidelines. (n.d.). Conceptual model for developing and sustaining
interprofessional care. Nursing Best Practice Guidelines. Retrieved from http://pda.rnao.ca/content/
conceptual-model-developing-and-sustaining-interprofessional-care

Lamb, B. & Clutton, N. (2011). Leadership development for interprofessional teams using crew resource
management for improvement & patient safety. CAIPE. Retrieved from http://caipe.org.uk/silo/files/
bryony-lamb-and-nick-clutton-presentation-nov-2011.pdf

Lingard, L., Vanstone, M., Durrant, M., Fleming-Carroll, B., Lowe, M., Rashotte, J., Sinclair, L., & Tallett,
S. (2012). Conflicting messages: examining the dynamics of leadership on interprofessional teams.
Academic Medicine, 87(12), 1762-1767. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318271fc82. Retrieved from http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23095927

Reeves, S., Macmillan, K., & van Soeren, M. (2010). Leadership of interprofessional health and
social care teams: a socio-historical analysis. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(3), 258-264. doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01077.x. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20546465

West, M.A., Borrill, C.S., Dawson, J.F., Brodbeck, F., Shapiro, D.A., & Haward, B. (2003). Leadership
clarity and team innovation in health care. The Leadership Quarterly, 14, 393-410. Retrieved from
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Zaccaro, S.J., Rittman, A.L., & Marks, M.A. (2001). Team leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 12, 451-
483. Retrieved from http://www.qub.ac.uk/elearning/media/Media,264498,en.pdf

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