Trust, meaning and dialogue.

Multidisciplinary collaboration

We increasingly work together in multidisciplinary teams and in networks created through collaboration between different organizations. These forms of collaboration are increasing because the issues we face are too large and complex to solve from one perspective.

Self-organization

In response, organizations are increasingly implementing forms of self-management or self-organization. In self-management, the team has full responsibility for formulating the goals, the what, and the method of realization, how work is done. In self-organization, the goals are set and the teams themselves determine how to realize them.

Blurring boundaries

At the same time, the boundaries of organizations are blurring more and more. The Netherlands has never known so many self-employed people hopping from assignment to assignment. They do not fit into the organization’s system, are not part of the organizational chart. They do not participate in the assessment cycle and often have a looser relationship to the organization. Their relationship to the client, often a manager though, is usually much more mature than those who are salaried, especially when it comes to expertise an organization needs. Often the externals fulfill the role of informal leaders, not so much from a position or function, but from the expertise they represent.

Formal and informal leaders

In a multidisciplinary team or network, while leadership is needed, there is often no clear hierarchical boss. Formal leaders are those with an official title, such as manager or director, and have the responsibility to manage employees and achieve organizational goals. They work based on plans and established goals and ensure that the organization stays on track. So formal leadership is based on hierarchy, formal power and responsibility for results.

On the other side are the informal leaders, who have no official title or formal power. They have no job profile or position they can fall back on to carry through their ideas. Instead of giving orders or judging performance, they lead through their personal qualities, such as vision, persuasiveness and the ability to inspire and connect people. Informal leaders play a crucial role in the team by exerting influence without formal power, often by creating collaboration and fostering a positive work environment.

Formal and real organizations

Who has written beautifully about changing organizations and the changing role of leaders is Frenchman (who lives in London) Emmanuel Gobillot. According to Gobillot, every organization consists of two systems: the formal and the “real. The formal organization is the skeleton the structure, processes and rules. You just need those. On the other side is the real organization, the bloodstream: the complex of communities and social networks that is the lifeblood of organizations. Successful organizations connect the formal and informal, creating a “community of value. According to Gobillot, if you want to start such a community of value, three conditions must be met.

1. First, there must be trust. Gobillot says, “You don’t enter into a relationship with a party you don’t trust. People often think it takes years to build a relationship of trust, but that is a misconception. We naturally trust each other, but we have to learn to recreate that trust. We create trust by making people stronger, by helping others, by keeping our promises. Trust is the glue that holds a community together.’
2. The second condition for creating a valuable community is “meaning”: making clear what you stand for as an organization. It doesn’t have to be an all-encompassing vision or mission statement, according to Gobillot. “It’s about everyday awareness, about what you want to achieve together. Once you have that clear, everyone can work independently within the common understanding of its meaning. Trust is the building block. Meaning gives us purpose.
3. And finally, we have dialogue. Gobillot: “Business is always about action, and dialogue ís action. The process of dialogue holds the community together in the long run. Dialogue clarifies our respective positions. When you bring these three things together you solve the biggest problems. Then suddenly you can work together with your employees and your customers.’

Leaders, formal and informal, play an all-important role in creating values communities. Leaders sit in crucial places in the formal and real organization and work there as a connector, an information broker who connects people. And how do you define that leader? Emmanuel Gobillot puts it this way, “If after an interaction with another person or in a team you feel yourself more competent, then you have been led. If not, you may hope that the others feel more competent. Then you have led.