I'm the leader! How shared leadership may lead to territoriality

Although research on shared leadership is growing (Zhu, Liao, Yao, & Johnson, 2018), to date, little to no research has focused on how differing expectations of the role of the leader and the role of the followers impact the leader, the followers, and the team as a whole. Shared leadership is typically presented as a benefit to both leaders and followers; however, as with all types of leadership, there are possible issues and problems too. For example, what are the leader’s perceptions when they believe leadership is their role, but team members attempt to share or take on leadership roles? Role ambiguity is a natural side effect of shared leadership given that it is the antithesis of traditional, top-down leadership styles. If the leader believes that leadership is wholly their role or is not prepared to share their leadership tasks, they may experience feelings of psychological territory infringement. The purpose of this study is to investigate how shared leadership (in comparison to more individual leadership) influences the tendency toward territorial infringement and the impact of such infringement on the leader’s perceptions of appreciation, group effectiveness, and satisfaction. This is a previously unexplored topic within shared leadership, and this study shows whether or not people will experience territoriality over their positions and responsibilities within groups and how this possessiveness can impact their perceptions of the group.