Guide · Outward presence
In briefA leadership tandem should appear as a unit to the outside: coordinated messages, clear points of contact and no contradictions in front of the team. Internal disagreement is worked out internally; outward, the tandem speaks with one voice.
Why the outward presence matters
A tandem shares one role – and that’s exactly how it must land with the team. If the two contradict each other in front of the team, uncertainty arises, and the environment quickly learns to fetch the more convenient answer. A coordinated presence is therefore not cosmetics but a question of leadership capability.
Appearing as a unit
- Coordinate core messages in advance, especially on sensitive topics.
- Both carry decisions made – even the ones you wanted differently.
- Communicate clearly who is the contact for which area.
- Never work out disagreement in front of the team, but afterwards one-on-one.
Aus meiner Praxis
The most honest test for a tandem is the coffee kitchen: when the team asks “and what do you really think?”, you need a shared answer. Those who fall apart here get divided and conquered.
Preventing being played off
“Divide and rule” also works from below. As soon as staff notice that the leadership doesn’t coordinate, they fetch decisions from whoever is more convenient. The remedy is simple but uncomfortable: consistently refer back (“we’ll clarify that as a pair”) and jointly represent decisions made.
How you arrive at a shared line internally depends on your decision rules and clear roles.
Frequently asked questions
Do we always have to agree?
No. Internally you may and should wrestle. Outward, though, you carry the decision made together.
What if I think a decision is wrong?
Then you clarify it internally. Outward you don’t undermine the joint decision – otherwise the tandem dismantles itself.
Sources & further reading
- Pearce, C. L. & Conger, J. A. (2003): Shared Leadership. Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership. Sage.
- Carson, J. B., Tesluk, P. E. & Marrone, J. A. (2007): Shared Leadership in Teams. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217–1234.
- Wang, D., Waldman, D. A. & Zhang, Z. (2014): A meta-analysis of shared leadership and team effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(2), 181–198.
How this article was written
This article is based on my own experience as a leader in a job-sharing model and 15 years of leading in banking, as well as the established research on shared leadership (see sources). Where I speak from practice, it is marked as such.
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.
Updated: 25 July 2026