An excerpt I wrote for the upcoming GOOD GOVERNANCE GUIDE by LEISHA LARIVIERE
As a thought experiment, think back to your first job. Did you have one direct manager to report to? Did they have a boss? How many layers of management were there before you reached the top tier of the company? Likely, your answer is “a lot.” Traditional models of management are based on hierarchical structures, where there are ascending ranks of managers relaying information down from a singular executive leader. Lateral leadership, on the other hand, is based on lateral thinking, which suggests that contributions from employees at any systemic level can increase organizational success. Several “recent studies have indicated that lateral leadership, which substitutes a subordinating approach with insight, collaboration, coordination, and creativity with all stakeholders and especially with employees, can also achieve organizational goals” (Koçak, 2019). While there are a variety of ways that a nonprofit can be structured in terms of management, lateralizing executive leadership is a technique that nonprofit organizations can use for more inclusive governance. Lateralization can create more equitable decision-making practices, help develop new policy procedures, and increase organizational commitment from constituents.
Creating Equitable Decision-Making Practices
A recent trend occurring in theatrical nonprofits rebukes the traditional, top-down modality of leadership in lieu of a more egalitarian approach; several major theatres have made the choice to add additional managerial voices to an executive co-management system, where a multiplicity of leaders make decisions as a unified cohort. In 2020, spurred by a move towards equity in theatrical management, the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA made this very move. The artistic director, Blanka Zizka, stepped down and invited three other directors to share the top position, each one serving as the lead artistic director over the course of the next three theatrical seasons. Leigh Goldenberg, the Wilma Theater’s managing director, serves as the fourth, equal voice in the cohort. Dr. James E. Austin and Dr. M. May Seitanidi, professors of collaborative techniques, theorize that “if [organizational leaders] are fusing their resources in order to create a new constellation of complementary resources, then even greater value creation potential arises” (Austin & Seitanidi, 2016). This boils down to the power and value of collaborative thinking during organization-wide decision-making periods and the lateral dissemination of that information. At the Wilma Theater, the co-management team fuses their resources, or collective knowledge, during the decision-making process while using a consensus model for collaboration. “Consensus isn’t unanimous in the sense that everybody loves it, but rather no one feels strongly enough against it. We have a lot of conversation and reflection thinking about [our] constituencies… I think about three main internal constituencies: staff, board, and the HotHouse resident acting company… When we’re making strategic decisions (season planning, strategic plan goals), we’re having conversations with each of those groups in different ways that respond to how they operate” (Goldenberg, personal communication, March 14, 2023). The information must then be equitably circulated after an executive decision is made. In hierarchical communication, informational exchanges can exist siloed rather than dispersed interdepartmentally; but, for the Wilma Theater, internal communication techniques have changed since lateralizing in order to improve the resource directionality of information sharing. “The main practice that I have learned is repetition. You’ve got to say it in a meeting, put it in an email, and say or send it again. It must exist in 2D so that you can send the link back to it. One tool for communication is not sufficient, especially in the hybrid environment and with so many changes” (Goldenberg, personal communication, March 14, 2023). In order for all constituencies to receive accurate information, the Wilma Theater has adopted sending a bi-weekly newsletter to the board of directors, implementing calendaring tools, and holding weekly meetings with department heads and subgroups. Goldenberg also “recognize[s] that different people receive information differently” (Goldenberg, personal communication, March 14, 2023), which is why she distributes information through both verbal and written communication modalities. Collaborative communication is one of the keys to success in lateral leadership.
Developing New Policy Procedures
The executive management team used the theatrical shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic as a time of policy updating. During the process, Goldenberg often referred to the bylaws as a starting point for task delineation, as the theatre did not have many standardized operational policies. First, the co-managers worked on clarifying the board’s role and extension of their reach in policy creation by asking questions, such as: “Is this something that goes to the board as an FYI? Is it feedback? Are they voting on it?” Next, they started soliciting feedback from subgroups within the Wilma Theater–what works for one segment of the nonprofit might not be appropriate for all. The “wise distribution of authority entails balancing the inherent tension between customization and standardization” (Sinsky et al, 2020). So, to combat the problem of hyper-customization or over-standardization during policy creation, Goldenberg explains that the co-management team chose to create a “meeting structure that incorporates the different subgroups that are touched by different projects and meetings with all the department heads” (Goldenberg, personal communication, March 14, 2023). This allowed for lateral thinking, as more employees were invited to develop policies and procedures that directly affected them and their departments. Lateralizing who creates policy may grant more equity to the dimensions of an organization’s structure by informalizing institutional power.
Increasing Organizational Commitment
When it comes to nonprofit success, your people are top priority! Building organizational commitment through lateralization techniques can show a constituency that their ideas, time, and presence are valuable. Effective leadership “searches for an important balance between the goals of the organization and the hopes and aspirations of its members by attending to individual hopes, feelings, and preferences, valuing relationships and feelings, and advocating effective delegation” (Herman, 2016). So, once pandemic gathering restrictions were lifted, the co-managers implemented person-first wellbeing initiatives. Adjustments included the creation of a new paid time off model, discontinuing meetings on Fridays, organization-wide office closures for rest, a hybrid-work mode, an employee assistance program, and even employee yoga classes on the stage! Goldenberg says that “we start our full staff meetings with the collective breath–that connects to how we work on stage. We’re thinking a lot about human-based ways to work.” A lateralized nonprofit can empower staff to request tools for a better work-life balance.
Lateral leadership can be formal, as shown with the Wilma Theater’s distributed leadership cohort, but can also exist informally. Some recommendations for informally infusing lateralization into your nonprofit include encouraging your constituents to collaborate interdepartmentally which can promote lateral thinking. Clarify leadership roles by using Exhibit A–a worksheet based on Dr. Shirley Davis’ inclusive leadership theories–which may assist your nonprofit in better understanding the current levels of executive lateralization and inclusivity. Consider where your organization is in its life cycle of growth and maturation and how you can infuse more distributed authority based on Sinsky et al.’s three phases: Developing (resources and programming dedicated to education and mentoring); Improving (meaningful steps taken at the systems level to advance solutions); and Sustaining (a culture of commitment with adequately resourced infrastructure). Ultimately, “adaptive leaders mobilize these strengths to transform processes and culture while embedding change capacity and resilience across the organization” (Sinsky et al, 2020). So, where are you in your journey towards equity?
References
Austin, J. E., Seitanidi, M. M. (2016). VALUE CREATION THROUGH COLLABORATION. The jossey-bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. 15, 427-443. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand.
Davis, S., (2021). Inclusive Leadership: A New Model for Workforce 2030. SDS Global Enterprises, Inc. https://drshirleydavis.com/wp-content/uploads/Inclusive-Leadership-A-New-Model-for-Workforce-2030-Article-SDS-Global.pdf
Herman, R. H. (2016). EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP. The jossey-bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. 6, 181. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand.
Koçak, R. D. (2019). LEADERSHIP WITHOUT HIERARCHY AND AUTHORITY: LATERAL LEADERSHIP. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 12(2), 657-680. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijsi/article/659023
Sinsky, C. A. et al. (2020). Organizational evidence-based and promising practices for improving clinician well-being. NAM Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.31478/202011a