| Shared Leadership is described by Pearce (2004) as an approach to leadership where formal and non-formal leaders temporarily become the team leader if and when an individual's expertise matches the situation. As such, Shared Leadership is more of an activity rather than a trait. A primary objective of this quantitative research study focuses on designing and developing a reliable survey tool to measure the potential prevalence and variation of Shared Leadership within an organization. This research also explores correlations between this measure of Shared Leadership and specific business performance metrics. Although the research questions are broadly applicable to many business sectors, the context of the research is healthcare, specifically long term skilled nursing facilities (i.e., nursing homes). There were four sequential methodological phases in this study: Survey Development, Piloting, Field Testing, and Predictive Validity. In phase one, the survey instrument's development was guided by a conceptual framework grounded in the research literature on Shared Leadership. In phase two, the survey was pilot tested with a small sample from the target population. The results were then used to revise the survey. In phase three, the revised survey was field tested with the larger sample from the target population and factor analysis was used to establish construct validity of the survey scales. Finally, in phase four, correlations were estimated linking iv results from the survey (i.e., measures of shared leadership) to predetermined business key success factors. Results suggest that the instrument is a valid and reliable measure of Shared Leadership, although its ability to predict business performance metrics (i.e., employee engagement, retention, and profit) is limited. |
