WORKING TOGETHER: EXPLORING PERCEPTIONS OF COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION IN A PUBLIC CONTEXT

Abstract

This thesis explores collaboration through a collective leadership lens. It is informed by the public administration and leadership fields and a 2019 empirical study of public service collaboration in Scotland, UK. Results indicate that tensions generated by working within a New Public Management model combined with frustrations felt from current collaborative practice have motivated an exploration into alternative conceptions of leadership and different ways of working when collaborating. This research promotes an approach where the reframing of leadership can offer a larger meaning, offering insights into what collaborating in a collective leadership way means. Analysis of the 2019 findings revealed that collaboration was enhanced through the application of four key processual and attitudinal modifications. This four principle approach was interpreted as working in an emergent and relational way while applying a systems and inquiry mind-set. The application of the process was found to spark the emergence of phenomena which served to generate personal and collective growth. A number of individual, organisational and system benefits were formed out of this growth, allied to the effort and emphasis given to the process by group members. Benefits found included an enhanced form of collaboration and an enriched and dynamic coproduction process embedded within its practice. The research contained within this thesis recognises the importance of process and how process can help to reinforce and explain complex phenomena. Informed by the perceptions, activities and experiences of participants and the wider academic literature, illustrations were developed to demonstrate what collective leadership is and how it is practised. The range of analysis and captured dimensions is intended to advance debates, instigate discussions and stimulate a refreshed conceptualising of collaboration. Keywords: Collaboration, Public services, Collective leadership, Complexity, Emergent, Group Process, Inquiry, Relational, Systems, Wicked Issues.