Alex Cameron

Tough times call for collaborative leaders

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the development of collaborative leadership skills to address an identified gap in senior management capability.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on research carried out by IPSOS Mori consisting of interviews with 100 directors across the public and private sector.Findings – The research found that 64 per cent of those questioned identified a gap in collaborative leadership skills and senior levels and this rose to 73 per cent of those who worked for companies with more than 5,000 employees. The paper highlights a key capability for a collaborative leader – the ability to handle conflict in a productive manner.Practical implications – The paper analyses five areas of development for a collaborative leader with regard to conflict: understanding your own relationship to conflict; understanding the needs of groups; holding difficult conversations; finding the greater good; and mediating in other peoples conflict. In each case it proposes practical steps t...