Breaking New Ground: The Power Duo of Co-Leadership with Mathias and Melanie!
The Co-Leadership model has been a game changer in the landscape of HR & Leadership best practices. Following our initial blog post on Co-Leadership, we’re excited to spotlight our first duo of our blog series: Melanie Gomell and Mathias Braje. Since September 2023, they have jointly led the Global Health Management Team, operating both full-time from our headquarter in Walldorf. We are delighted that both Melanie and Mathias kindly agreed to share their experiences with us. What follows is a summary of their insightful reflections. We hope you find it as enjoyable to read as we did!Ā
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Why Co-Leadership?
Mathias shared that implementing the Co-Leadership model was motivated by the need for a new management layer within the organization. They recognized the need for a robust and effective management system – not just for their team, but also for the supervising manager. They found that a Co-Leadership approach was the perfect fit.
Melanie added on the advantages of the Co-Leadership model. She sees it as an opportunity to merge strengths. In their case, these merged skills include the ability to lead large-scale projects, provide systemic coaching, manage innovation, work in global organizations, and maintain availability. More importantly, Melanie stressed that shared leadership allows effective handling of ongoing projects and issues, ensuring no leadership tasks are overlooked.
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How do you delegate work & responsibilities?
Melanie explained that responsibilities and tasks are often assigned based on the topic. At the moment, both she and Mathias handle joint meetings as many topics are interlinked. Key decisions, including those related to salaries, are made collectively.
Mathias emphasizes the importance of daily co-lead meetings, followed by team meetings. These meetings are vital in task allocation, helping them to prioritize and handle constraints.
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How did you navigate the process of determining and dividing your responsibilities as Co-Leaders?
Melanie explained us that right from the start, they both had clear discussions about how they would share their Co-Leadership duties. She said, we trust each other’s decisions entirely and make major ones together. To keep everything in order, they have a quick daily meeting. Although they concentrate on certain areas, they also have a good overall understanding.Ā
We thought about dividing tasks so one of us would handle all staff issues and the other would focus more on other topics. However, this didn’t work for us because we are each specialized in different areas.
They thought of other possibilities of work division, e.g. one of them is responsible for all personnel topics and the other would focus more on other topics. However, this didn’t work for them because they are both experts for specific topics.Ā
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The Impact of Co-Leadership
Melanie shared the noticeable positive shifts within the team since implementing the Co-Leadership model. Benefits span from empowering the team and strengthening support, to establishing ‘new work’ structures. For example, the team conducts regular retrospectives and daily team touchpoints – ways that encourage easy queries and maximize the team’s collective intelligence.Ā
Mathias echoes these thoughts, explaining the insightful process of running daily meetings that create āa great team spirit and hands-on mentalityā. One important feature of the Co-Leadership model is the accessibility which ensures that both managers are always available to the team, and vice versa. This forsters an environment of shared support and collaboration.
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Your Teamās Feedback on Co-Leadership
Both Melanie and Mathias were thrilled to share that the reception of the Co-Leadership model from their team has been extremely positive, according to the latest employee survey. Their team values the quicker response times and more closer interactions with their management. By bridging unique strengths, the Co-Leadership model paves the way for a deeply collaborative and supportive work environment.
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How did you overcome challenges within your Co-Leadership?
In our survey, Mathias underlined that trust, shared values, and constant communication are the cornerstones for successfully handling challenges that come with shared leadership. In summary, both Melanie and Mathias agree that the success of the Co-Leadership model rests on having a shared vision, promoting open communication, and most importantly, embracing collaboration and trust as fundamental leadership values.
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A huge thank you to MelanieĀ and MathiasĀ for sharing their time and insights with us. Stay tuned! Next week, we’re catching up with Rebekka HofererĀ and Simon Kessler. They’re the dynamic duo leading the Customer Advisory of the BTP team in Switzerland. We’re excited to share their experiences and unique lessons learned. Stay tuned!Ā š