INITIAL CASE STUDIES RESEARCH ON COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Introduction

The collective leadership (Compass360 ) research and development has taken place over a considerable period of time. It represents a cumulative perspective through a mixed methods multiple case study approach. Methods include peer-review and discourse analyses of strategic documents (in terms of identifying aspirations), face-to-face interviews and focus groups in exploring the underlying mechanisms of collective leadership and modeling to determine the potential range of outcomes for collective leadership. A key question throughout this journey has been to consider whether the more collective nature of leadership can be identified and assessed using a realistic evaluation framework and, similarly, the extent to which this can be used to improve collective leadership practice.

The research began in 2006/07 when the first iteration of the NPL framework was developed based on research with all 40 local authorities in the Northwest of England . Based on an initial literature review and an analysis of the significant findings from the LAA research, the NPL framework was devised. This was further developed and followed by the CLI which was aimed at operationalizing the conceptual framework of New Public Leadership.

The first version of the CLI was used to assess the context of collective leadership as a pre-session task for a major leadership development programme in a large Metropolitan Local Authority. The survey was used to inform the subsequent sessions and practical activities and debates. Critical success factors were continuously and cumulatively identified and further explored with participants and modeled as the research progressed. These activities took place over a two-year period during which time the ESRC funded seminar series took place culminating in 2010 with the publication of the New Public Leadership Challenge. During the course of the following years, the NPL (Collective Leadership) Framework and the COMPASS360 Model were continuously developed resulting in the final framework and model which forms the backbone to the Selfless Leader, published in 2016, and this website.

The purpose of this section is to present the early research and to illustrate how the emerging findings have been so influential in developing the subsequent iterations of the NPL framework and COMPASS360 Model.

Focus of the research

The first version of the CLI was used in the following contexts:

1. Six cohorts of an executive education programme for middle leaders within a Metropolitan Local Authority.
2. Members of a multiple agency partnership, at middle leader level, focused on Community Safety across a number of different Metropolitan agencies including police, probation, local authorities and health authorities.
3. A range of stakeholders who were engaged in supporting a Metropolitan Primary Care Trust, through multi agency partnership, to tackle inequalities in health.
4. Both elected and independent members of a provincial Police Authority.
5. Non-executive directors from a range of different Primary Care Trusts in the North West of England
6. Executive (and Non-executive) directors from a Primary Care Trust in the South West of England.

It is the first three case studies that are briefly described and illustrated in this section.

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