Dual Leadership Ditties

Some of you may not know that a few months ago we welcomed Joel Toner as NPQ’s new publisher and co-“president.” We (gasp) share leadership.

Of course, shared leadership is a relatively common set-up for publishing, and it sometimes occurs in the arts, but it seems to alarm some people. The way I figure it, I was already sharing leadership with the board, the staff, and all of you, so no big deal—although of course I did have some worries: Would we get along? Would I annoy him? Would I get graspy and try to set up a stronghold in the board that would back me in my epic struggle against this interloper? Anyway, as it turns out, mostly I am just enormously grateful that he is here and is, apparently, wildly competent. What a relief! Because as a solitary business head, I did not exactly cover myself in glory. (Before you say anything about honeymoon periods and short tenure, I would say that this is not the first trip into the cabbage patch of shared leadership responsibility for either one of us.)

I would love to start a conversation about people’s experiences with dual/multi-pronged leadership structures—good or bad. What makes them work and what dooms them? If you are interested in contributing your own observations to the conversation, please comment below.

Meanwhile, here are a few articles on related topics that may interest you.