Creating Structure in Leadership
Contents
Creating Structure in Leadership¶
Projects without structure require some basic form of rules or governance to avoid what Jo Freeman calls the tyranny of structurelessness.
This term denominates the authoritarianism that results in human groups due to the lack of structure and rules.
A way to fix structurelessness is by bringing some governance, policies, or rules in writing accessible to everyone.
Governance helps open source projects function, particularly during times of change.
This tutorial by Carol Willing on Open-source governance and leadership (supplementary video) is an excellent starter for learning more about forms and models of governance.
Creating inclusive pathways for participation¶
Acknowledging all contributors fairly¶
Leadership roles come with enhanced visibility, thanks to the work of other persons.
Consequently, leaders must give appropriate credit to those that make them visible and bear extra and often invisible responsibilities for the overall project.
For example, in The Turing Way, we have developed a detailed account of how we acknowledge different contributors and how contributors can highlight their work in a meaningful way for them (see Acknowledging Contributors).
Learning from mistakes¶
With great power comes great responsibility
We are all humans and make mistakes. Healthy leadership apologizes when they make mistakes.
A good leader owns their mistakes, takes responsibility for the harm caused by their error, make amends, and learns from mistakes going forward.
A substantial component of visible vulnerability will only make leaders better. Genuine vulnerability builds trust.