Lateral Leadership

What can combat the Quiet Quitting that is happening in the workplace?

Lateral leadership is a step in the right direction.

Bob Prentiss & Paul Crosby from uncommonleauge.com say, “job titles do not correlate to leadership.”

“You don’t have to have seniority, a fancy job title, or permission from the C-suite to be an effective leader.” and “As such, people who are viewed as leaders might not be the employees working in the corner office or managing the largest staff, but rather those who get projects done and can make things happen.”

As you think of your dream culture, does it include a leadership hierarchy, or is it more organic?

Humansmatter.org says this is the new kind of leadership for these times. “Lateral leadership means leadership without disciplinary leadership, without authority. The guide direction is not limited from top to bottom. Lateral or peer leadership has a direct effect on the horizontal level. Everyone has leadership responsibilities towards their colleagues. It does not matter where they are located in the artificial hierarchy. This explicitly includes the direction of the employee to the boss. The great challenge for employees is to recognize the importance of their own leadership, take responsibility for it, and find ways to do it.”

So why does lateral leadership work so well? Imagine a team that all works well together. They are in sync with each other, and they all help each other be their best.

Robin Camarote, a writer for Inc. magazine, says, “Building lateral leadership skills is a high-impact, high-potential change you can make to your mindset. Lateral leadership not only can improve your business, but it can also improve your workday.

It's about crafting a vision, understanding the drivers and motivations of your peers, strengthening relationships, and building coalitions. It's about knowing the best next step for the organization and assembling the team to get there -- all without line authority or mandates.”

This concept of lateral leadership is also referred to as co-elevation. This is a new concept to many of us, but we all want each other to win. When a company does this, all the players win. Read more about co-elevation here.

Stratengy is here to help you navigate being a great leader in today’s world. Stratengy runs six-month programs on how to transform your team. We help you improve collaboration with your team. We incorporate the Disc Assessment and the Five Behaviors Assessment. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help you and your team be more engaged and productive.