Collaboration - An Important Leadership Development Skill

Even with the best and most skilled managers,because they must be willing to let go of some
organizations must be able to tap into the variedcontrol. However, time demands and urgency can
skills and wider perspectives of other employees.be a major stumbling block in opening up
So it is essential that leaders know how tocollaborative channels. Andrew Carnegie said: "No
collaborate and develop effective partnershipsman will make a great leader who wants to do it
with others. It is one of the elements that makesall himself or get all the credit for doing it."
a manager a true leader. Collaboration is theOne of the most important things a leader needs
vehicle for sharing responsibility and combiningto be able to do to collaborate with his/her team
knowledge, creativity, and experience of others.members is create a culture where members
Through extensive research and observation,value and listen to alternative views and seek out
CMOE has found that the ability to collaborate iswin-win objectives. This can be accomplished by
essential in an organization's Leadershipclearly identifying common needs and objectives;
Development or Transitioning into Leadershipand certainly should occur on multiple occasions
training program.over time.
Establishing collaborative relationships is not alwaysA leader can also foster collaboration by
natural or easy, particularly because people haveencouraging active involvement and the free
different lifestyles, backgrounds, and experiences.exchange of information. The leader, also, must
Effective leaders know how to collaborate when itset the tone by keeping an open mind to
isn't easy. The benefits of doing so can bedifferent ideas. Furthermore, when the team
significant. Leaders who believe in the power ofmembers engage in collaborative activities, it is
collaboration can produce extraordinary results,essential for the leader to validate and reinforce
while maintaining a healthy team environment.the collaboration in order to sustain the behavior.
Fundamentally, collaboration starts with the leader