Multi-Leader Teams in Review: A Contingent-Configuration Perspective of Effectiveness

Multi-leader teams are characterized by multiple leaders exhibiting mutual influence on each other while working towards a common team goal. An unexplored assumption in this literature is that increasing the number of leaders is related to heightened team effectiveness. The authors propose that this notion is oversimplified and suggest a contingency model of multi-leader team effectiveness. The authors suggest that the context determines the effectiveness of a particular multi-leader team configuration, because each formation has unique internal team mechanisms. To investigate this perspective, we review the multi-leader team literature (175 articles) by categorizing the extant theory and research as falling within nine multi-leader configurations along two key dimensions: (1) the proportion of leaders within a team; and (2) the dispersion of leadership through role co-enactment of team leaders. This framework enables a more coherent understanding as to the benefits and the costs of each specific multi-leader team configuration and a clearer evaluation of the contexts in which varying configurations are most effective. Four emerging themes related to configuration-contextualization are explained and theoretical implications for interpreting leadership effectiveness in multi-leader team settings are discussed.