Plural leadership in healthcare organizations

Because of their complex structures and cultures characterized by interaction among multiple professional and occupational groups with diverse sources of authority, expertise and legitimacy, health care organizations are prime sites for forms of collective or plural leadership. In this chapter, we describe and provide empirical examples of four different forms of plural leadership occurring in and around health care organizations. The presentation of the various forms and their empirical illustrations reveals that different situations may call for different forms and modalities of plural leadership both inside and across these organizations. However, a common theme underlying all the examples and forms is the paradoxical importance of individual agency in enabling the construction of effective forms of plurality. We conclude by discussing some of the challenges associated with these forms of plural leadership and by identifying areas for future study of their role and effectiveness in health care settings.