Guide · Examples
In briefShared leadership shows up in practice as a dual leadership in management, as a tandem in the middle, as top-sharing in part-time – and sometimes as an instructive failure. The following examples illustrate what success and failure hinge on.
Contents
Four examples
For confidentiality, the following examples are described archetypally, not by name. They bundle patterns I encounter again and again.
1 · The functioning dual leadership
Two managing directors share the leadership of a mid-sized company – clearly split by portfolio, with a written rule for strategic decisions. To the outside they appear united. Success lies less in sympathy than in a clean division of portfolios.
2 · The part-time tandem
Two people share a department lead, each on fixed days. A shared handover ritual ensures the team is never in doubt about who is currently responsible.
3 · The generational change
An experienced leader temporarily shares the role with a successor. Knowledge is shared rather than handed over abruptly – shared leadership as a deliberate handover tool.
4 · The instructive failure
Two strong people are appointed as a dual leadership without roles and final decision being clarified. Every decision becomes a power test, the team learns to play them off against each other. After a year the model is ended. The lesson: the people weren’t the problem, the missing structure was.
Aus meiner Praxis
I see the fourth example most often – and afterwards the people involved almost always say the same sentence: “if only we’d clarified that beforehand.” That’s exactly what the readiness check is for.
What the examples have in common
- Success correlates with clear roles and decision rules.
- A united outward presence protects against being played off.
- Rituals (handover, review) keep the model alive in daily life.
Frequently asked questions
Are there well-known companies with a dual leadership?
Yes, several large companies have been led as a dual leadership at times. What matters isn’t the name but the structure behind it.
Why are the examples anonymised?
For confidentiality. The patterns matter more than the names.
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