Strategy & Leadership

Purpose – As businesses confront a world of increasing complexity, some global organizations have responded by placing co-CEO's at their helm, judging that the demands of the job merit the commitment of two executives. This response has yielded mixed results and continues to generate controversy and generate questions about how to maximize success and avoid pitfalls. This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – To address the dynamics and efficacy of shared leadership, the authors interviewed 19 co-heads, the majority of whom have shared the role more than once.

Findings – The study finds that, in best practice organizations, the shared leadership structure is an accepted leadership strategy used sometimes at the top, and more often at the business unit level with the added benefit of grooming business leaders and providing a testing ground for the top spot.

Practical implications – The initial challenge of successful shared leadership is to craft a set of roles, rules, and responsibilities that leverage the talents and interests of each leader and avoids replicating the silos of function-based power often entrenched in the organization.

Originality/value – The authors found that adopting co-head roles is best thought of as an interim strategy that requires careful consideration of corporate context and competitive environment and the risk factors involving the personal dynamics of shared leadership.