The Concept of Collaboration in the Leadership Process
The chapter has explored the concept of Collaboration in the leadership process. Leadership is the ability to influence others towards accomplishing specific objectives within a certain period. The conception of collaboration is explored in detail starting from the definition. Besides, it has emphasized the importance of collaboration and how it can be effectively implemented to give a positive impact on leadership. Considerably, it has also included matters of trust, team building, unity and developing clear goals by paying attention to critical issues. The involvement of all members of the group and the relationship between collaboration and other Cs in SCM has been explained in the chapter as well (Komives and Wagner 109).
The Process of Collaboration
Exploration of collaboration is explained in the chapter. It is a process where two or a group of people work together to complete specific tasks and achieve the intended goals. The process of collaboration is quite similar to a corporation and leads to the achievement of shared objectives (Komives and Wagner 110). The leadership approach views collaboration as more than coming together as a team and developing a pre-determined vision but based the concept on how people value and relate to others despite having multiple differences including race, gender, ideas, values, affiliations and other identities like sexual orientation, class, culture, and age. According to Komives and Wagner 109, collaboration is more than teamwork and involves three main factors namely:
1. Human relationship and how individuals relate to each other
Ø Human relationship and how individuals relate to each other
2. Common visions, goals, and purpose
Ø It is a process where team members develop common visions, goals, and purpose.
3. Synergy through capitalization of multiple perspectives and group talents
Ø It is also a process creating a synergy through capitalization of multiple perspectives and group talents.
Collaboration in the Social Change Model
Collaboration is very critical in the social change model in leadership development. Leadership should be grounded in relationship building to help people develop the ability to work together as a team. Besides, the definition has incorporated the importance of relationship building, sharing responsibility, authority, and accountability as well as recognizing an individual's talent and ability. According to Komives and Wagner 109, instead of members in an organization looking upon the leader to provide answers to critical questions, collaboration enables them to develop a relational leadership process where individuals learn from each other by developing visions of change and work towards achieving them. The ensemble definition has also stated that corporation enhances group effectiveness by capitalizing multiple talents, perspectives and embraces diversity to generate creative problem solving-solutions (Komives and Wagner 111).
The Impact of Collaboration: The Black Lives Matter Movement
For instance, the black lives matter movement which began with a simple Facebook message had a significant impact on black Americans after the death of a 17-year-old Trayvon Martin (Komives and Wagner 111). The movement has become a national organization movement for social change. The social movement has significantly improved the livelihood of blacks by embracing the diversity and increasing their identity.
The Importance of Effective Collaboration
However, some scholars disagree with the concept of collaboration by stating that is overly sentimental. Effective collaboration is critical in today's workforce. It mobilizes and synergizes the individual's efforts to accomplish the objectives of the organizations (Komives and Wagner 115). People with diverse experience, talents, knowledge, and competencies work in solidarity. The innovativeness helps to solve difficult problems facing organizations. Working as a team with people who share the same values, beliefs and goals is important and energizes members of the team to work together with a passion (Komives and Wagner 127).
Collaboration and its Relation to Competition, Cooperation, and Compromise
To fully understand collaboration, it is vital to explore other constructs such as competition, cooperation, and compromise. Competition has been embedded in many U.S structures (Komives and Wagner 116). The legal system, including competitive free work economy, illustrates how competition has affected our livelihoods. Some scholars agree with the notion that competition is the most effective means of working towards achieving goals by motivating individuals to accomplish their greatest potentials (Komives and Wagner 117). Contrary, many studies have refuted the idea that competition is more effective than a corporation. A classical data analysis conducted showed that collaboration typically yields more achievement and performance compared to the competition. Similarly, in relation to the classroom context, competition leads to winning rather than learning (Komives and Wagner 120). Cooperative learning was found to enhance and promote higher academic achievement, improve social skills, and strengthen social self-esteem. Competition generally does not motivate individuals to best beyond their ability but better than others instead of focusing on doing well.
Three Approaches to Collaboration: Domination, Compromise, and Integration
Similarly, Mary Parker identified three main approaches to collaboration during the decision-making process in organizational communication. She stated that working together starts from domination where the majority have the say and wills at the expense of other team members or minority (Komives and Wagner 120). The other approach is compromised and happens when both sides give up on their personal interest to work on a common objective by coming into an agreement. The integration approach is based on the concept that a common goal is reached and people come together to work towards achieving the goal (Komives and Wagner 119). In this case, there is no winner or loser, and people are committed to achieving the objective. The integrative approach builds synergy and commitment. The concept that teamwork is greater than an individual is created through unified efforts. Trust is very important and enables people to work together and is one of the essential ingredients in teamwork (Komives and Wagner 122). During the decision-making process, members will not feel humiliated when their ideas are rejected but feel good because it was taken into consideration.
Cooperation versus Collaboration
Cooperation is quite different from collaboration which helps members to achieve common goals. The cooperative relationship helps individuals to work together by helping each other to achieve the goals (Wagner 21). The main purpose of collaboration is the creation of a shared vision while cooperation aims at how the visions can be achieved. Considering the integrative approach, individuals believe that teamwork requires some levels of compromise from each member (Wagner 29). Group work requires each person to compromise the little they have rather can focusing on a win-win solution.
Techniques for Successful Collaboration
Making collaboration work is crucial and requires specific techniques such as building trust and commitment. The chapter has outlined concepts for successful collaboration namely: building trust, broad-based involvement, diversity, purpose, and goals (Komives and Wagner 115). The importance of teamwork has to be elaborated. Other components relevant to collaboration include effective communication, group process facilitation, and civility controversy (Komives and Wagner 116).
In Conclusion
In conclusion, the chapter has explored the concept of collaboration in depth by giving the definition and importance of teamwork. People work collaboratively when there is a common vision, SMART objectives, and commitments. It is imperative for the team to embrace trust and honesty. To cultivate the level of synergy and creativity towards achieving the goals, each member must feel safe when contributing their ideas, listening to others, and offering thoughtful feedbacks. Trust is built and cannot come automatically. Members of the team have to spend time together to cultivate trust by sharing ideas, agendas, values, and perception. Building trust is a process and enhances collaboration. There must be shared visions, objectives, and duration to complete the outlined goals. It is also crucial to have effective communication among the team members. Diversity should be embraced, and there must be a purpose of establishing the team.
Work Cited
Komives, and Wendy Wagner. "Leadership for a better world." San Francisco: Jossey (2009).
Wagner, W. E. (2016). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership development. John Wiley " Sons.
