“The age of the heroic CEO is gone.”

This is the claim of esteemed professor, executive coach, and author Peter Hawkins, and the claim is born out of the fact that the complexity of the current world combined with its rapid speed of change goes far beyond the capability of “solo leadership.”

In other words, today’s leaders cannot accomplish their goals by themselves.

The challenges and opportunities of our current world can only be overcome or seized through “collective leadership.”

As Hawkins writes, “Leadership is becoming less about being the smartest person in the room and much more about how we collaborate, work with diverse stakeholders, inspire and bring the best out of others – being more inclusive and collaborative. It’s about developing our ability to be curious; our ability to explore new approaches, new perspectives, engage different stakeholders and viewpoints, and empathize with diverse perspectives.”

The type of leadership Hawkins describes requires the ability to connect with others in ways that build the kind of relationships that bring about genuine collaboration, thus creating collective leadership. This is built around the following six attributes:

1. A “collective leadership” mindset – Shifting one’s mindset from “me” to “we,” and truly believing that “two are better than one” and that the team is more capable of solving problems, coming up with new ideas, and forging a path forward than the “solo leader.”
2. Engagement – Involving others in joint exploration and active participation.
3. Dialogue – Facilitating generative dialogue that co-creates fresh thinking.
4. Trust – Creating trust by following through on commitments, doing what is promised, treating others with respect, and helping others feel confident to speak up without fear of being humiliated or criticized.
5. Inclusiveness – Treating others equally, whatever their age, gender, race, ability, or other differences.
6. Partnership – Working as equals, looking at what the partnership can achieve together that neither partner can achieve by themselves.

Prioritizing these six attributes will create a culture of collective leadership that will amplify your leadership influence and position your team and/or organization to thrive in a complex world.