This is a CTP of initiative: Ashoka Germany
The first country representative of AG was leaving the organization and going on maternity leave, therefore, needed a trusted successor. “It was clear she wouldn’t come back to the role as head of Ashoka Germany. We were starting to look for someone, but she was afraid, that if you find somebody and the person might not be the right fit, then what would happen to her heritage in a way. She asked me to step in as managing director, in order that if you find somebody, we would have a co-leadership and I would be kind of, how do you call it, the constant person who knows how it all worked.” Besides preserving the heritage, the personal circumstances of the interviewee were also organically directing the organization towards establishing a co-leadership position. “I knew that I couldn’t do it full-time, and I couldn’t do it with the intensity Konstanze [the first country representative of AG] has done it, so for me, it was totally sure that there had to be co-leadership, and absolutely crucial to have somebody else on board.” Therefore, FO joined the organization as co-director in January 2009. His personal skills, talents and social capital significantly influenced the life of the organization, which also meant “a major funding difference”. Establishing shared leadership at AG was as a CTP both in the life of AG and in that of Ashoka in general. “It was slightly unusual internally at the time at Ashoka”, as no other country office had a shared leadership structure before. This CTP changed how leadership was viewed within the organization and made alternative career tracks possible. The CTP also brought a positive change for the fellows, as it increased "contact capacity in a way”, and provided “more senior surface area”. It can be considered a CTP also because it started a trend among other offices, transforming the “very old-fashioned one-man-at-the-top kind of module from its founder time”. At the time of the interviews, shared leadership had already become very widespread and was present at all major Ashoka offices in Europe. „In smaller countries, they can’t really afford it but they all want, like, as soon as, they can afford it they want to do it.”
According to the interview, various actors and developments contributed to this CTP to happen. Besides the first country representative's innovative approach to ensuring that her legacy is continued, and the personal circumstances of the members involved, specific attributes of the location have also supported the emergence of this CTP. "Well, geography is a part of it. In Germany, unlike other offices does not have a natural centre so our contacts are distributed across Germany. I am not sure it would have evolved as naturally in a place like Paris or London.” In addition, the fact that the CTP is generally considered a success is also due to the help of an external coach and to the fact that the two people who initially shared the leadership role are complementary in their skills and approach. With the help of talent coaching they soon realized that the things one of them really does not like doing the other loves doing, and vice versa. “So, we realized that actually if the two of us do this together, that would be so much better for the both of us, and for the success of Ashoka.”
2006: OH becomes co-director of AG
The first country director of AG goes on maternity leave
2009: went international
2009: AG became much more entrepreneurial
Although the “leadership team has not been contested” from the outside, it did cause confusion initially due to its novelty and to its transformative effect on the structure and operation of the whole European Network of Ashoka. “In the European team, it was a bit difficult that both of us came to the meetings. There was this general feeling like if everybody is doing this, these meetings are going to be so big.” “So, it's not contested, it was just slightly unusual because most offices were so fairly traditional. More often than not, I was asked why is the two of you here, and who should I call.” The main factor behind avoiding open contestation of the new model with the mother organization was that it was not given special emphasis, or communicated clearly. “I think Ashoka Global just thought that [FO] is a country representative and didn’t really see it that much, and I mean because we knew it would be difficult to make them see it, we didn’t bother that much for the outside.” This non-direct approach, and the ‘first act, then apologize’ principle can also be detected as a major supporting factor in the development of other CTPs of the organizational history. The positive results and high performance of AG and the various advantages of the new model all played a role in quieting the initial confusion and making the model not only widely accepted but also followed by other offices. “In many different countries [the perception] soon changed. I think a lot of people realized how much more fun it is to do the things together and less risk, obviously, when people are leaving, and in general I think because we had such a network organization, we also see that, you know, there are so many high-level contacts you can have and it is just important to have more than one person who can, you know, do it all.” Neither did the CTP involve internal contestation. The incumbent organizational members saw it as a natural and beneficial transformation. While the new co-director, whose addition to the organization marks the start of the CTP, was initially less enthusiastic about sharing the leadership of AG, after getting to know his partner and experiencing the benefits of the innovative setup, he also quickly became a supporter. "I found it pretty convenient actually, after a short time, to have someone else with the power of Attorney, and we got on brilliantly and then we just extended over the time."
The CTP emerged organically, “it wasn’t very planned”, and as such it was not anticipated by the members of the organization. The initial impulse that initiated the events leading up to the CTP originated from the personal circumstances of the members. Most of the advantages and learning points of the transformation came after the establishment of shared leadership via experience and, therefore, had been not foreseen or consciously planned for.
The CTP made a positive contribution towards achieving the initiatives of the organization on several levels. This new organizational structure made it possible to “track more donors and to increase the number of relationships”, therefore, ensuring the sustainability of the organization by contributing to “Ashoka Germany being unusually well-funded and stable and with lots of team things going on at the same time…”. The ability to increase funding in this way was a significant learning point that is still influencing the operation of the organization at the time of the interviews. The CTP also enhanced the learning of the organizational members by introducing a new way of perceiving leadership in general. “It liberated me from a lot of misconceptions about the necessities of leadership”. It introduced a new model of working and organizing, making it possible to cater to personal needs and aspirations and create alternative career tracks. “It’s definitely a role model to some organizations. It opens up opportunities for brilliant people who cannot commit the same time and travel to the job. [OH], for example, my co-director from day one, she has four kids, and, so it was always clear, that she could not do the single leadership model. And this module has enabled her to be very much in a leadership position without having to sacrifice too much for her family.” The importance of this turning point is also highlighted by the fact that it did not only impact how AG functions as an organization, but the innovative idea also propagated to other Ashoka offices, reforming the traditional structures, and external organizations through the personal learning of FO, who has already exited the organization.
Stay informed. Subscribe for project updates by e-mail.
