One leader per team, one head of unit per department, one CEO per company

Traditional management models rely on one-person leadership. New work applies new management models that distribute management roles and therefore also responsibility between two (or more) people. Instead of just one person alone at the helm, there’s a partnership. This is also called shared leadership.

Topsharing or co-leadership?

When we talk about shared leadership, we often refer to topsharing and co-leadership, although these terms are not used consistently. Job sharing is generally understood to mean that people share a management role and responsibility (example: two employees who both work a 60 percent workload lead a team). This model often focuses on providing a better work-life balance. Co-leadership is usually understood to cover models where two or more managers fulfil a management role in mostly separate management tasks, although there is an overlap of joint management tasks (e.g. co-lead of Marketing Communications at PostFinance). This model places an emphasis on a diversity of ideas and perspectives. All models can be differentiated and customized in terms of time, content and purpose. PostFinance uses the terms topsharing and co-leadership as a collective term for shared management models.

Opportunities

• Two specialized employees expand the existing expertise.
• Two people can rely on two professional networks.
• Professional and personal communication on an equal footing between the co-managers results in more mature decisions.
• This creates more capacity for comprehensive employee development.
• Dividing tasks between managers enriches their range of activities, improves their motivation and fosters innovation.
• Better work-life balance: this approach makes full-time positions accessible to part-time employees.
• From the employer’s perspective, modern management models make for a more attractive employer. They also promote strength-oriented leadership, improving the quality of leadership and promoting the health of managers, as they are also exposed to reduced stress thanks to distribution of responsibility.

Challenges

• This approach relies heavily on strong communication skills.
• It can be difficult to find a replacement for a co-manager.
• Particularly in the case of part-time work, both managers need to put in a lot of effort to coordinate.
• From the employer’s perspective, the recruitment process has to be more complex in order to attract two suitable people.

Co-leadership in practice – interview

Yves Ekmann and Dennis Lengacher did not know each other personally before they started as Co-leads for Marketing Communications in May 2023. They got to know each other during the application process for the job, which was advertised with the co-leadership option. Yves came an external hire, while Dennis was internal. Both were able to imagine working together in tandem and have since been responsible for seven teams with 70 employees. They both work a 90 percent workload. In this interview, they reflect on their journey as co-leads so far. 

Why do you share the management of Marketing Communications as co-leads?

Yves: I believe in the collaborative approach of this model. It fits with my idea of leadership and cooperation, which also means that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We generally include our team leaders and employees in many issues. Co-leadership is another element that allows us to make even better and more broadly based decisions and take action together as a team. 

How did you organize yourselves within the co-leadership framework?

Dennis: Each of us manages three or four team leaders in a one-to-one relationship and is responsible for the relevant topics such as investment or content marketing. We have also defined who takes the lead for tactical-strategic tasks such as development topics in the marketing discipline or strategic budget planning. But we make decisions together in these areas. The third category includes management tasks that cannot be split up, such as culture or strategic personnel planning. With these clear structures, we wanted to create clear responsibilities and ensure that there’s no additional work for our managers, but above all for the team leaders. 

A tip for other co-leads: what should you consider when defining how to work together in tandem?

Yves: In our opinion, a co-lead should always be aligned with the relevant organization, the employees, the content-related challenges, the framework conditions, the managers and other stakeholders. And above all, it has to suit the two people working together as co-leads. 

To what extent can a co-lead ensure more quality in marketing communications?

Dennis: Our discipline is based on creative processes in which the content improves with every interaction, every back and forth and every challenge. Co-leadership is an excellent tool for incorporating different perspectives through dialogue and increasing quality – provided you have the ideal partner to challenge you. 

What makes for a good sparring partnership?

Yves: We have learnt to cultivate an openness where we can discuss everything together, even sensitive topics. We have complete trust, and that’s probably the greatest asset in our co-leadership partnership. 

What else does co-leadership bring to the company in addition to added quality?

Dennis: The first thought is often that co-leadership costs more, because you are employing two people for one role. However, there’s often an opportunity to exploit synergies and relieve the burden on organizations when it comes to hierarchical levels. 

In your opinion, what are the decisive factors that determine the success of a co-leadership arrangement?

Yves: The basic prerequisites for shared leadership are professional expertise that is as close as possible in both managers, as well as a shared attitude to work and understanding of leadership. However, whether co-leadership works in the long term depends above all on interpersonal aspects. We very quickly clarified what gets on each other’s nerves, what the no-go areas are and how we can spot disagreements early on and react to them so that they don’t escalate. It’s equally important that managers support their co-lead, as is the case with us. We’re very grateful that we’re able to achieve and develop so much together. 

Does working as a co-lead also help you personally?

Yves: It’s enriching for me personally to work with Dennis at this level of intensity. Because it makes a difference whether you’re talking to a manager, a deputy or to a co-lead partner with full transparency. We can benefit a lot from each other by bringing together our different experiences and expertise. It’s great fun.

Dennis: In our co-leadership partnership, the dynamic of combining an internal and external hire also plays a role. As a result, we were able to streamline many processes in the organization very rapidly. We benefited from this internal-external combination in the first few months in particular – new, fresh ideas collided with insider knowledge of how things operate and where the key levers are. This was also reflected in the feedback we received. And every day is still inspiring. It’s a real pleasure. 

What type of person do you need to be to work together successfully as a co-lead?

Dennis: Typically, co-leaders should have characteristics such as team spirit, tolerance or the ability to give others space. The great thing is that we’re a little different. Each of us likes to take responsibility, make decisions and “needs our own space”. The fact that it still works well is perhaps because we can reflect together regularly and are very open and transparent with each other. 

What are the limitations of co-leadership?

Yves: When work hygiene is no longer maintained, and people start turning against one another, discussing each other within teams or with management. That’s when the whole house of cards collapses immediately. As soon as interpersonal relationships suffer, the organization, the leadership and the employees suffer, too. This is why openness and reflection are so important in a co-leadership arrangement. Even if we don’t always agree, it’s important for us to present a united front to the outside world – i.e. outside our team. 

As the person responsible for Marketing Communications, what are you particularly concerned with at the moment?

Yves: With each new strategy period, the question arises as to what this means for our marketing. We are doing very well as an organization within the company. But how can we put our customers even more at the center of our daily work? How can we continue to develop our organization and employees so that we remain fit for the future? Marketing is becoming more technology-based, more complex and the job of marketing roles has been changing rapidly for several years. How can we ensure that our marketing delivers the required output and remains a strategic driver for growth? And how can we preserve and develop the good culture and atmosphere we have today? These are the major challenges that we face and that we can best challenge as co-leaders and together with the team.

And one last question for anyone interested in a job in marketing at PostFinance: what kind of person will make the right impression on you? Who would be the right fit for your team?

Dennis: Personally, I’m more and more convinced that you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously in marketing. We are not doctors saving people’s lives. We are not physicists programming a rocket launch. It’s just something that can be learned. Above all, it’s the human factor and attitude that count. If this is the case and you’re willing to try out new technologies, think in a networked way, see the big picture, move forward, put in energy and work as part of a team, you’ve already fulfilled many of the requirements. Of course, they also need to have the right marketing skills. But the skills mentioned are often more important in a dynamic environment than, for example, many years of experience with campaigns.

Would you like to work in a company that sees innovation as an opportunity?