Foundation of Shared Leadership: Examining Climate and Team Role Diversity

This article examines organizational climate (i.e., teaming environment), team climate (i.e., team psychological safety) and team compilational (i.e., member role difference) factors that promote shared leadership in teams. Drawing upon theory and research on shared leadership, multi-level theory and role diversity, we hypothesized that members’ diversity of team roles and team psychological safety will positively impact shared leadership. We further hypothesized that shared leadership will have positive downstream implications for team performance and an individual’s commitment to the team. Our model also examines a multi-level, quasi-experimental field investigation on 1154 individuals embedded in 86 teams within a Fortune 500 manufacturing firm undergoing a teaming transition. We tested the extent to which the plants that had transitioned to a ‘teaming’ culture increases shared leadership. Results suggest that shared leadership increases under conditions of high psychological safety, diversity of team roles, and an organizational climate that promotes a teaming environment. Shared leadership, in turn, has a positive impact on team performance. However, it did not drive member’s commitment to the team. Implications are discussed in terms of both research and practice.