The principal listens to the concerns of everyone affected by an issue and works with them to develop a thoughtful solution. Parents actively support and seek to educate themselves about the school's reform program. Students act as community ambassadors, accompanying the principal to meetings to show off newly acquired technology skills to various community groups. Because each situation is unique, shared leadership will look different in different school communities. But these principals have found ways to tap into the leadership capacity of teachers, parents, students, and community members and have reaped the rewards.
Shared leadership is where much of the true work of building a school's vision happens.
But it takes a lot of effort and work to be successful at true collaboration. The principal typically takes a particularly strong leadership role when initiating shared leadership within a school. Although implementing shared leadership takes effort and planning, spending time discussing how to accomplish this goal may not make much sense to busy teachers. Frequently, it is more effective to let teachers see the value of sharing leadership firsthand by identifying an issue or a problem and using a collaborative approach to solve it. As the group becomes comfortable with the logistics of sharing leadership, the principal often moves out of the supervisory role and into the role of colleague, while still facilitating dialogue, supporting the group, synthesizing information, and continually focusing the group on the school's vision.