The Shared Leadership Framework: It Starts with the Right Attitude

The Shared Leadership Framework:
It Starts with the Right Attitude

by The GRTL Team

We’re reorienting from top-down hierarchical leadership in the workplace to a more collaborative framework, where our equality and relationships matter first and foremost. But in order to change the way we work (and build healthy teams and vibrant workplaces), we have to change the way we lead. That means learning to lead first as humans—valuing relationships before positions—and that’s why Global Round Table Leadership exists. 

We know that each of us is equally responsible for our collective experience. When one of us is unhappy, stressed, or checked out, all of us are influenced by it. You know the feeling; we’ve all been there. If a colleague is distracted in a boardroom or Zoom meeting, we notice it. We notice when folks don’t say hello, and just jump right into business. We can tell when the boss is upset; a boss’s stress can easily make their employees anxious. Our team experiences every emotion we bring to the table. Why? Because each of us contributes to our shared human experience.

That’s why at Global Round Table Leadership, we are committed to working as “ensembles,” teams on their journey to leading together, relating first as humans, with every role, voice, and contribution equally important. When we practice working together as an ensemble, it helps break us out of the power-over and power-under mold, and instead move towards sharing leadership and power with each other. For more than 20 years, we’ve guided executives and facilitated company transformations as they discover how to share leadership and power.

What is the Shared Leadership Framework™️?

Designed to cultivate healthier relationships, the Shared Leadership Framework™ is comprised of a set of premises, pillars, and principles that influence behaviors, actions, operations, policies, and systems. They can be practiced alone or together, at work and at home, across all sectors. Anywhere a team functions, the Shared Leadership Framework™ can be practiced. 

It all starts by caring to have the right attitude. The four guiding attitudes of the Shared Leadership Framework™️ are:

• Openness – We’re open with ourselves and each other in order to learn together, cultivating compassion, kindness, and curiosity.

• Authenticity – We’re authentic and honest in what we say and do, cultivating humility and self-reflection.

• Vulnerability – We’re willing to be uncomfortable with the tension or conflict that leads to breakthrough, transformation, and wisdom, cultivating courage, strength, softness, and patience.

• Commitment – We practice wholehearted intentions by caring to show up and “walking our talk,” cultivating love, trust, and presence.

These attitudes are the basis for co-creating a vibrant workplace environment, where personal development is directly linked with both leadership and collective development. By shifting from leading as experts (i.e. silos) to leading as continuous learners (i.e. unified ensembles), each of us learns to lead with our strengths, allowing every individual to shine.

Chris Masiello, President and CEO of The Masiello Group, said yes to the Shared Leadership Journey for his 900+ real estate professionals team in 2019. He realized that, “The COVID-19 crisis taught us that shared leadership creates better outcomes than traditional, linear leadership.”

Are you ready to build a vibrant organization? Whether you’re just starting to develop your team, or hope to revive innovation and employee engagement, our Shared Leadership Framework™️ can take you there. Get in touch—we’re excited to hear from you!

Reflections on Becoming an Antiracist Organization

Mongolia, America and Me

by Travis Hellstrom

I have really appreciated the opportunity to read How to Be Antiracist along with my colleagues at GRTL. This feels like a monumental time in our country and our world to wrestle with the concepts that Ibram X. Kendi shares in his book.

One of the book's central messages is that the opposite of "racist" isn't "not racist." The true opposite of racist is antiracist. "The good news," Kendi writes, "is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be racist one minute and an antiracist the next." 

One of the things I've been sitting with as I read the book is the idea of racism & antiracism at a global level. I think it's essential for us to talk about how things are here in America and not forget about the rest of the world. For instance, when we think about a concept like income inequality, it can be helpful for us to know that more than half of the people on earth (4 billion people) make less than $8 a day.

Kendi says, "Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produce and normalizes racial inequities... Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing... A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups... By policy, I mean written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people."

I saw many of these policies firsthand when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia from 2008 to 2012, and in the years since then, I continue to stay close with my wife Tunga's family in Mongolia.

It feels important for me personally that we Americans grapple with and possibly dismantle some of the systems we are creating and maintaining globally to stay at the top in terms of wealth and power. Instead of feeding the endless pursuit of more (more products, more television, more purchases), we can use our time, money, and attention to help those around the world who don't have as much and could use our support.

In my case, that means thinking daily about our family and friends in Mongolia and what opportunities we can create to support our community there. Some of our projects have included building a children's park, a community store, a local bakery, a carpentry business, homes for those in need, and a foundation to support women in our community. We can do that with a small percentage of our income here since the average Mongolian family makes around $200/month. 

It's a bit overwhelming at first to think about how much we can do and how much we should do, but I think it's essential to take one step at a time. We practice step by step, and it gets easier over time.

One of Mahatma Gandhi's last notes, one I think of often and will leave you with here, is this:

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest person whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to them. Will they gain anything by it? Will it restore them to have control over their own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [independence] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away."