| According to Professor John Diamond of Harvard (2007) distributed leadership is "an influence relationship---the ability to influence the practices of others in ways that bring about a major change in form, nature, and function of some phenomenon" (p. 1). The Japanese practice distributed leadership by treating employees as experts in their areas, a practice that bestows freedom and work autonomy. Distributed leadership promotes quality by demanding that workers lead both individually and collectively. With the extreme competitiveness caused by fast-changing technology and globalization today, organizations must use all tools at their disposal to achieve customer satisfaction (Uppaluri, 2008). Educational institutions are not immune to these forces. This study explored the impact that distributed leadership has on faculty members at a public and a private university in South Texas. Data were gathered from two deans and eight faculty members to examine the distributed leadership challenges faced by schools, how administrators redirect the distributed leadership focus, and how distributed leadership raises faculty members' expectations of and increase their sense of responsibility for students' achievement. The data showed that distributed leadership created collaboration and communication among the deans and faculty members. The teaching, research, and service conducted by the deans and faculty members were accomplished through frequent collaboration among formal and informal leaders at the university. Distributed leadership created a democratic environment that empowered faculty members who wanted to be leaders to become leaders at their institutions. Benefits also were noted as key factors motivating faculty members to complete teaching, research, and service tasks. |
