I was recently interviewed about why we seek strong leaders in times of crisis and why we should embrace collective leadership instead. In the interview I argue:

The world is changing rapidly. No one person can have all the answers. It’s time we stopped looking for heroes and started looking to each other.

The idea of the heroic leader is deeply rooted in us from childhood. When we’re afraid, we turn to a paternalistic figure, a protector.

Populist leaders, both in politics and business, present themselves in this way so that we project onto them all our hopes and fantasies about a saviour. It infantilises us.

Collective leadership isn’t about a single person driving change. It’s about leadership as a process – something that happens between people, rather than something one person does.

But collective leadership is messy. It’s volatile. It takes time. People crave stability, and collective leadership doesn’t always offer that. It requires the balancing of different interests, constant negotiations – an unstable equilibrium.

Organisations that embrace collective leadership will be better equipped to navigate uncertainty. They will be more adaptable, more resilient. And if leaders can learn to share power rather than hoard it, they will ultimately be more effective.