Distributed Leadership Matters by Harris Alma;

Author:Harris, Alma;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1994827
Publisher: Corwin Press
Published: 2007-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

The prime reason for raising this issue of negative or bad leadership is to reflect upon what happens when distributed leadership is used or abused. What happens when a leader is trying to control rather than empower? Conversely, what happens to the formal leaders when those who are authentically and genuinely invited to take more power and authority subsequently abuse it?

This chapter looks at the dark side of distributed leadership. It looks at what happens when distributed leadership is used as a subtle form of manipulation and control. As noted in the preface, some writers have called into question the motivation of those espousing distributed leadership, particularly in a normative way. In their view, distributed leadership is little more than a palatable way of encouraging teachers to do more work, a way of reinforcing standardization practices in a contemporary guise. Instead of being a more democratic form of leadership, Hargreaves and Fink (2009) warn that distributed leadership could simply be another, more attractive, mechanism for delivering top-down policies. In addition, other critics point to the ways in which distributed leadership could be willfully misunderstood or misrepresented (Bolden, Petrov, & Gosling, 2009).

The way people understand the term distributed leadership and relay the concept to others is important. Discussions about distributed leadership will inevitably end prematurely if it is perceived by those within the organization to simply be the allocation of more work. If distributed leadership is viewed as adding to the daily workload, then resistance is to be anticipated. Whatever the words used by school leaders or superintendents to explain, describe, or promote distributed leadership, those on the receiving end may have a completely different conception and interpretation of what is being asked of them. Thus, it is important to be clear about intentions and expectations as, when not adequately explained, distributed leadership can be easily misconstrued as delegation or even subtle coercion (Hatcher, 2005).

Any misunderstanding of the term distributed leadership will result in unintended outcomes. So, for example, if a principal or superintendent talks the language of empowerment or collective engagement but in reality allocates unwanted tasks to others, then his or her version of distributed leadership will soon be viewed as inauthentic and disingenuous. If there is a mismatch between the sound track (i.e., what is spoken) and the action (i.e., what happens in practice)—any initial buy-in will soon be lost (Hatcher, 2005). Formal leaders are the gatekeepers of change, and they can be a help or a hindrance in securing new ways of working.

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