Joint Leadership

Good leadership is measured not by quantity but by quality. This means that management responsibilities can be shared or divided into part-time positions. This Joint Leadership model has been offered at Commerzbank for ten years. Magda Golia and Renata Kloubek are divisional heads of Management Advisory International and were among the first in the Bank to share a management function at the second management level based on this principle.

Regular updates are key in the Joint Leadership model

Both know that good communication is essential for joint leadership. After all, those who share leadership responsibility need to know what is coming up, when, where, with whom and why, even if the other person is not present. “We have therefore developed a system for keeping each other up to date”, explains Magda Golia, “We are both in the loop.” The two of them log their updates so that they can refresh their memory as required. The two managers bring their own experience, strengths and networks to the work and so offer a broader scope than a single person. “This places us on a broader footing – and we continue to learn from each other. For us, joint leadership means sharing a role in such a way that the end result is more than the sum of two halves”, adds Renata Kloubek.

“From our point of view, the Joint Leadership model has a number of advantages”, asserts Executive Management Board Member Human Resources Martin Fischedick. Joint leadership is a work and leadership model that enables different life circumstances to be combined, such as taking care of family, caring for relatives, studying in further education or doing a hobby. In principle, he considers the model feasible at all management levels, but he also knows that joint leadership is not a foregone conclusion. It requires the right kind of managers and also the right kind of superior.

The challenge of organising it

Implementing joint leadership is sometimes demanding. If you want to fill a leadership position together, you need to have confidence in your counterpart. Renata Kloubek and Magda Golia had already worked together for some time and knew and appreciated each other. This is a clear advantage when searching for a suitable tandem partner. Furthermore, it is important that you are both well organised and that you find the best way of working. The leadership teams set the rules for themselves. Both make personnel decisions together after discussing it among themselves, and then stand by these decisions.

Considerable level of acceptance

“This approach is highly accepted because the leadership is considered consistent”, says Martin Fischedick. The feedback from teams in which joint leadership is practised is very good. They appreciate that two managers are combining their strengths, which often results in an additional perspective on the task at hand.