Shared Leadership in Teams: An Investigation of Antecedent Conditions and Performance

Shared leadership refers to a team property whereby leadership is distributed among team members rather than focused on a single designated leader. We examined antecedent conditions that lead to the development of shared leadership and the influence of shared leadership on team performance in a sample of 59 consulting teams. Both the internal team environment, consisting of shared purpose, social support, and voice, and external coaching were important predictors of shared leadership emergence. In turn, shared leadership was found to predict team performance as rated by clients. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for team leadership and effectiveness.