A school principal's workload is recognised as being heavy, with an imbalance between demands and resources. This paper contributes to the development of collective leadership. The principalship constellations of six schools in Sweden were studied with the aim of strengthening the current knowledge about structures and experiences of shared principalship. The empirical basis is qualitative data from interviews with principals and vice-principals. The analytical focus was on how the sharing structures were organised and how the shared principalship was experienced. The results point to a considerable variation in the organisational structures of shared principalship. Despite the type of model, form and constellation, the principals and vice-principals voiced a striking sense of relief in not feeling alone in their duties, as problems and troubles became manageable. An intensified interaction level in the principalship constellation created opportunities to develop competence. Theoretically, this study broadens the invited leadership concept to include horizontal invitations across unit boundaries between principals in different units within the same school. The knowledge contribution of this study is useful in discussing the legal possibilities for shared principalship, which may be especially relevant in times when the Swedish school system is being criticised for not delivering good student outcomes.

Abstract.Purpose -In their daily work, managers influence the organisation's learning conditions in ways that go beyond face-to-face interaction. Neither the influencer nor those influenced are necessarily aware that they are engaged in learning processes. This paper contributes to the understanding of learning-oriented leadership as being integrated in managers' daily work. The particular focus is on managers' efforts to change how work is carried out through indirect acts of influence. Design/methodology/approach -The research was part of a larger case study. The data set comprised interviews with nine middle managers about ways of working during a period of organisational change. A learning-theoretical analysis model was used to categorise managerial acts of influence. The key concept concerned pedagogic interventions. Findings -Two qualitatively different routes for indirect influence were identified concerning social and organisational structures: one aligning, that narrows organisational members' discretion, and one freeing, that widens discretion. Alignment is built on fixed views of objectives and on control of their interpretation. The freeing of structures is built on confidence in emerging competence and involvement of others. Research limitations/implications -The study was limited to managers' descriptions in a specific context. An issue for future research is to see whether the identified categories of learning-oriented leadership are found in other organisations. Practical implications -The learning-oriented leadership categories cover a repertoire of acts of influence that create different learning conditions. These may be significant for the creation of a learning-conducive environment. Originality/value -The study contributes an alternative way of thinking about how work conditions are influenced that impact on learning in organisations. Managerial work that creates conducive conditions for learning doesn't need to be a specific task. Learning-oriented elements are inherent in aspects of managerial work and managers' daily tasks can be understood as expressions of different kinds of pedagogic intervention.

PurposeThe paper seeks to argue for a theoretical contribution that deals with the detection of collective learning. The aim is to examine and clarify the genesis processes of collective learning. The empirical basis is a telecoms context with task‐driven networking across both internal and external organisational borders.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws upon an integration of organisational learning theory and a relational and contextual branch of experiential learning theory framed as organisational pedagogy. A case study of R&D work serves as the empirical foundation. Four teams were studied through interviews, focus groups, and observations. Data were analysed in interplay between empirical findings and theoretical concepts.FindingsCollective learning does not only occur within the boundaries of well‐defined groups where previously identified. Characterised by distributed work processes and rapid changes in the telecom context, collective learning is associated with individual distribution of tasks, insufficiency as a foundation, a question‐and‐answer space, and the imprints of others in a shared action arena.Research limitations/implicationsConclusions concern how collective learning can be comprehended. The paper points to the importance of interaction and a shared action arena. The way in which knowledge develops is, to some extent, context‐dependent. This indicates that the characteristics of the shared action arena vary.Practical implicationsDifferentiating learning processes has a practical significance for organisations wanting to focus upon competence issues.Originality/valueThis study identified the importance for collective learning of the presence of a shared action arena. The theoretical contribution fills a gap in the understanding of how collective learning arises when moving from face‐to‐face learning within local teams, to networking across both internal and external organisational borders. This contributes to the understanding of how the learning of individuals links with the learning of an organisation.

Purpose -The aim of this paper is to show what the leaders themselves regard as the working ingredients in their mutual work situation that help to facilitate personal development. Design/methodology/approach -In the paper data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 leaders at low and middle management levels in different lines of business within the private and public sector. The analysis of the learning processes draws on the theory of transformative learning. Findings -The paper revealed that joint leadership, according to the leaders, could provide the leaders themselves with a basis of personal development and learning. This depends on common core values, a supportive relationship and common work processes as well as complementarity, joint sense making and critical reflection. Research limitations/implications -The implies that joint leadership provides possibilities of transformative learning through examination of different points of view, through explicitly talking about habits of mind, and through stepwise changes of existing frames of reference. The results indicate that joint leadership offers the possibility of a deepened learning process in daily work in a communicative relationship where profound values and ways of acting are openly shared and critically-reflected upon. Joint leadership should however not be forced on to managers. Originality/value -The paper provides insights into learning processes for leaders, based on the possibilities, which can be created through joint leadership.

Managerial shared leadership is a practice that goes beyond traditional ways of organising leadership functions. It is an organisational phenomenon where a few individuals share responsibility for the tasks of a managerial position. This paper reviews 67 empirical papers published in scientific journals. The review covers 55 years (1965–2019). The aim is to contribute knowledge about managerial shared leadership as a research field and offer some relevant theoretical concepts. No review to date has specifically focused on managerial shared leadership, and this paper intends to close this knowledge gap. The paper details the start of managerial shared leadership as a research field, presents a bibliometric analysis and the methodological approaches used, and describes the structural characteristics of managerial shared leadership. The paper includes a thematic content analysis of necessary and enabling antecedents and outcomes. Historically, the imprecise use of concepts has hampered managerial shared leadership’s development into a cohesive research field, so this paper develops and uses theoretical concepts to form a theoretical construct for the entire field. This construct is briefly discussed in relation to general shared leadership theory and critical leadership studies. In practice, managerial shared leadership may provide leadership solutions where there is an imbalance between demands and resources while managing complex situations.