Strongly relevant in today’s global economy

I’d like to reflect on the participative theory. First, I describe the concept. Then I explain why I believe it is the most important one in today’s global economy. Definition It assumes that top leaders do not always decide on their own but rather listen to collaborators to shape their vision on what to do or where to go. By doing so, not only does it drive engagement and ownership within subordinates but it also enables to consider alternative views or different opinions (Russell, 2011). This may result in a more robust decision from the leader. Strongly relevant in today’s global economy Today’s global economy is so complex and the environment keeps changing. A leader can’t be in touch with all internal and external factors. S/he needs to involve subordinates and stakeholders to get a broad view of the business in order to make the right calls. Furthermore, one of my favorite mottos is “working alone means working faster whereas working as a team means delivering greater results”. Indeed, leading alone a project may somehow go smoothly as there is no risk of misalignment and no time to be allocated to persuade other team member that this is the right way to pursue. A few steps or hurdles may be overcome alone. However, at some point in time, the project would need specific skills that the leader might not have or might not master and could need support from others. If those functions have not been involved upfront, they may say no, or be resistant to change. They may disagree in the way to operate or in the product or solution design. This is more or less the same pattern for external partners. In today’s global economy, retailers and suppliers may be involved to design a solution and strong collaboration is often required. Customers or suppliers who would not participate in designing the solution may say no when being asked to list the product or to adapt their supply chain. Not taking external partners’ requirement and advice may also lead to a weaker product. Besides, people, especially young generations, want to have their say and to influence the decision-making process. The consideration they would get from their leader may bring their motivation up or even give purpose to their job, that is reminding them why they get up and work hard day after day. Employees in an organization have different needs. When a leader asks for input, it creates a feeling of belongingness according to the pyramid of Maslow (McLeod, 2018). The more, the stronger. Participative leadership is a fertile ground for building team spirit. More and more organizations promote team spirit in their company’s culture as a success driver. Last but not least, in today’s global economy, agility is generally agreed as crucial and agile methodologies are implemented to work more efficiently in the innovation process. I have been trained on design thinking and specifically on design sprint. I have been really impressed by how far and fast a small team can deliver and be very concrete through a proof of concept. This is clearly one way to use participative leadership by genuinely considering others’ input and ideas to shape together what’s right for the business. As a conclusion, I’d like to remind that the leader is not forced to retain input from the different team members. The more a leader is open to input, the more diverse inputs would be. So, it makes sense not to please everyone. A leader that would consistently ask for input and never follow his or her team’s input would face trouble in keeping high motivation from the team. Anyway, I would recommend the leader to explain the rationales behind decisions.   References: Lo, G. (Nov 11, 2018). What’s a Design Sprint and why is it important? Retrived from : https://uxplanet.org/whats-a-design-sprint-and-why-is-it-important-f7b826651e09 McLeod, S. (2018). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from : https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html Russell, E. (2011, Sept 8). Leadership theories and style: A transitional approach. General Douglas MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Competition.