Co-Leadership and the End of the Hero Leader
There are times as leaders even those of us committed to collaboration, where we still find ourselves lonely, overwhelmed, isolated. Wondering how we even got here. These moments are an invitation to recenter our commitment to collaboration and to explore what we can do to get back to the practices and structures of co-leadership.
It makes sense that in times of pressure and / or uncertainty we can react by moving into solo action.Solo hero sagas are embedded in many aspects of dominant culture - even in our mission-driven organizations working to make the world better. The archetypes of the “visionary founder”, “brilliant strategist”, or “charismatic organizer,” are plentiful in a Western culture that has spent centuries reinforcing this narrative of individualism. We know these stories well and for many of us, it is how we “succeeded” in our early careers. It also contributes to our burnout cycles and loneliness in the role.
Co-leadership asks us to move from individual achievement toward shared stewardship. Making the consistent decision to collaborate rather than isolate is part of the antidote to the pressures (and problems) of solo hero leadership. It takes time, persistence, and honesty, but also systems and structures. Even when we deeply desire to practice co-leadership, it can be easy to fall into the traps of hero leadership. Even collaborative relationships are not enough, we also need practices and structures we can return to and depend on.
When we as leaders realize that our role is about fostering consistently caring relationships, our own perspective shifts dramatically. As we increase our relational awareness, we become more attentive to how our decisions affect others, opening the door for accountability when our actions cause (unexpected) hurt or harm. Our listening becomes more careful and more attuned. In turn, we become more adaptable because our understanding is continually informed by perspectives beyond our own. In a dominant culture that often rewards performative “certainty”, speed, and individual accomplishment; co-leadership offers another path: one rooted in shared learning, collective intelligence, and mutual responsibility.
Co-leadership practices elicit collective brilliance.
In this space, the work can also shift dramatically. Suddenly, the possibility of combining multiple sets of skills, perspectives, and abilities opens up. This subtle shift makes space for people to bring different experiences, strengths, and ways of seeing into shared practice. We are not alone in the work, but able to invite others to take lead and do it differently than we would. This way of operating requires dialogue, disagreement, reflection, and trust. Facilitation helps when it gets challenging😜. Rather than concentrating power, perspective, and decision-making in a single individual or role, co-leadership distributes responsibility across relationships and organizational layers.
For example, collectivist org Pangea was partly inspired by Buurtzorg’s small team structure, which exists to “make it easier to build trust, collaborate deeply, and create a sense of belonging”. Co-founder of Pangea, Niloufar Khonsari, says it plainly, "This is our generation's work: to create organizations that are efficient and serve an immediate need while also being holistic and human-centered–organizations where every person feels empowered and accountable." Co-leadership provides a pathway to developing this concurrent efficiency and humanism. These organizations show us that to be effective, co-leadership requires practice (doing the same thing again and again) and structure (systems and approaches that help us do it well and consistently).
Here are some practices and structures you can implement in walking the talk of co-leadership →
At In The Works, this knowing sits at the heart of our work through Co-LED Camp this August 2026 and Belonging-Based Facilitation™. Leadership is not something that belongs to a select few extraordinary individuals. Leadership is a practice of relationship that we all can cultivate.