Written by Blair Glencorse

I am more and more convinced every day that the traditional, single Executive Director structure in the non-profit sector is a relic of the past. The future of organizational leadership is collective. For an organization like Accountability Lab – that is growing rapidly, adapting constantly and in which our values serve as the basis for our decision-making – it now seems essential. That is why we have recently moved to a three-person co-leadership model, through which I now lead the organization with my colleagues Cheri and Jean (read more about their thoughts on this transition here and here).

There are many reasons why this is the case. First, effectiveness – a recent Harvard Business Review article indicated that among a sample group, businesses with a co-leadership model at the top generated a shareholder return 2.6% higher than those with sole CEOs. Co-leaders can literally be in more than one place at once – and when the right structure is in place can boost productivity from the top down. With more- and more equal- inputs at the top, decision-making becomes better and outcomes improve.  

Second, all organizations are handling multiple transitions at any given time, especially now. Civil society faces incredible challenges at the moment that are inevitably precipitating change – from political divisions and economic turbulence to rising inequality and generational shifts. Internally this means that reforms are essential- and these require rethinking organizational models. Co-leadership allows the joint leaders to align complementary skills and to provide stability even when many other things around the leadership structure may be changing.  

Third, co-leadership de-risks management. Burn-out among non-profit Executive Directors is real and if leaders move on, transitions can often be existential in environments in which resources are a constraint. Having more than one leader of the organization ensures greater sustainability and allows for smoother handovers of responsibility if needed. It also better embeds institutional memory, avoiding key-person dependency.

Fourth, it opens up the leadership pool. It has always been true that Executive Directors have been asked to do everything- from operations and fundraising to finances and governance – and very few people can do all of these things effectively. A co-leadership model allows organizations to better allocate responsibilities from the top down and to improve collaboration at the management level. It also opens up organizational leadership to team members who deserve to lead but would not want a lone CEO or Executive Director role- such as parents with young children, for example.  

Finally- and most importantly- this is about equity. It is imperative that we improve leadership within the non-profit sector along gender and racial lines – and this kind of model is one way to do that. Even now, just 21% of U.S-based non-profits are run by people of color; and only 45% are run by women (even though women make up 75% of the non-profit workforce in the US). This is not just inequitable and wrong, it undermines the mission, credibility and impact of organizations that work with diverse communities. As a white man, I hope to use the privilege that I have inherited to open up our organization- and the field more broadly- to try and shift the systems of power that have excluded too many people for too long. 

Co-leadership is not easy- it inevitably requires a degree of introspection that can be difficult and changes in roles that are complex. It requires embracing generative conflict, adopting an abundance mindset, and building new collaborative leadership muscle. At the outset, like any transition, it is likely to have moments that are messy and imperfect and that require a robust change management process. This is all the more so in our case as we already operate as – and are building out – a translocal model globally.

But if we want to create more fair, equal and just societies – as the Accountability Lab does – I was always told that within an organization, the best thing to do with power is give it away. This has never been more true in the non-profit sector than now. As we learn through our co-leadership model we will write much more about how it goes, where we find challenges and how we identify solutions. Stay tuned!

Blair Glencorse is the Co-CEO of Accountability Lab, along with Cheri-Leigh Erasmus and Jean Scrimgeour. Read more here.

Sheena Adams