Guide · Basics
Updated: 24 July 2026
Shared leadership means two people carry a leadership role together. How that works concretely in daily working life – handovers, decisions, legal aspects and the typical mistakes.
Contents
What is shared leadership?
DefinitionShared leadership is a model in which two or more people share a leadership role with its tasks, decisions and responsibility. They agree in advance who decides what alone, what is decided together and how they coordinate – so the role stays able to act, even though it rests on several shoulders.
Picture a Monday morning: one leadership role, two people, a decision that can’t wait – and only one of them is there. Whether that works is decided long before: on whether it’s clear who may act alone in such moments.
What shared leadership means day to day
Shared leadership is 80 percent organisation and 20 percent attitude. In daily life that means: clean handovers so no information is lost between the two. Clear availability so the team knows who to approach when. An agreement on who speaks externally – to clients, superiors, the team. And the discipline to note small things down instead of relying on memory. Unspectacular, but it’s the difference between a model that holds and one that tips after three months.
Forms in the DACH region
In German-speaking countries you’ll mainly encounter the dual leadership (two full roles at the top), the leadership tandem (two people in one shared role) and top-sharing (one leadership position shared part-time). Which form fits when is shown in the model comparison.
A day in the shared model
A short handover in the morning – five minutes in which one passes the open points to the other. During the day, each leads in her area, decisions within the agreed frame alone, anything fundamental together. A team conflict escalates: both know who takes it up first and when the other joins. In the evening, a line in the shared notes channel so the next day doesn’t start from zero. None of this is complicated – but every element is missing in the tandems that fail.
Legal & organisational
In the German-speaking context, the same questions come up repeatedly: how are the position shares reflected in the employment contracts? Who covers for whom during absence? How is signing authority arranged? How do co-determination and HR processes handle a shared position? These points can be solved cleanly, but should be clarified early – ideally in writing.
This is not legal advice. Employment-law details depend on the individual case and should be checked with professionals.
Five typical mistakes
- „We do everything together.“ Sounds good, but means no one decides alone.
- No clarified final decision – the gap shows at the first hard conflict.
- Uneven load nobody talks about, until one burns out.
- The team isn’t brought along and plays the two off against each other.
- Handovers get forgotten because people rely on quick calls.
Frequently asked questions
Is shared leadership the same as co-leadership?
Largely, yes. „Shared leadership“ is the umbrella term; fine differences are explained in the basics article.
Which positions suit shared leadership?
Most leadership levels – from team lead to management. What matters isn’t the level but whether roles and decisions are clearly arranged.
How many hours does one work in a shared model?
Freely designed. Often two part-time shares that together add up to a little more than a full-time position – the surcharge covers coordination.
What happens when one person leaves?
That’s the sore point. Good models arrange succession and handover in advance. Otherwise the remaining person is suddenly alone in a role meant for two.
Is the extra effort worth it?
When conditions are right, yes: better decisions, cover and access to people who don’t want full-time leadership. The honest weigh-up is in the pros and cons.
Amrit Rescheneder
Amrit Rescheneder helps organisations and leadership tandems build shared leadership that works. She led in a job-sharing model herself for years – after 15 years of leadership responsibility in banking. She knows shared leadership from practice, not from textbooks.