Traditional leadership models have long emphasized hierarchy, control, and top-down decision-making. While these approaches may have worked in a more static era, they often falter in today’s dynamic and complex workplaces. And though many leaders believe they’ve moved on from these traditional leadership models, especially in matrixed or agile organizations, this is not the case in practice. Think authoritarian leaders who rely on authority (“Do as I say”), transactional leaders who manage through exchange (“You do X, I’ll give you Y”), and bureaucratic leaders who defer to precedent (“We’ve always done it this way”).
These styles, once staples of organizational life, are no longer sufficient. People don’t want to be managed; they expect to be inspired, included, and trusted. They want to contribute meaningfully and see the value of their work beyond tasks and titles. These expectations don’t signal entitlement; they reflect a growing collective awareness of what healthy, effective leadership looks like — and why the old models fall short.
A new paradigm is emerging: “leading with others.” Unlike traditional approaches centered on managing down, this model reframes leadership as a 360-degree, relationship-driven effort. It’s not about control — it’s about connection. The leader’s role is to cultivate shared accountability, mutual respect, and purposeful collaboration. The result? Cohesive and sustainable teams that amplify individual strengths, unlock creativity, and stay agile in the face of change.
For leaders seeking to future-proof their teams, the time to evolve is now. HBR research shows that inclusive leaders, like those embracing “leading with others,” can boost team collaboration by 29%, improve decision-making quality by 20%, and enhance overall team performance by 17%.
THE 360-DEGREE LEADERSHIP APPROACH
At the core of “leading with others” is 360-degree leadership, a model where influence flows in all directions — up, down, and across the organization. This approach shifts the narrative from a single leader “managing” their team to a collective where leadership and responsibility are viewed as shared, and every individual has a voice. Successful leaders in this approach empower team members, create connection and mutual support, and facilitate the development of the organization’s future leaders.
By cultivating shared responsibility and collective accountability, leaders can empower employees to take ownership of their decisions and impact. For example, leaders can help identify and communicate where decision-making power lies within their teams based on more than role, but also influence, interest, and capability, which encourages individuals to step into those spaces confidently. Exploring areas of influence through a team conversation is one way to clarify roles, create alignment, and empower ownership.
A few years ago, BTS worked with a medical device company as it prepared to launch a product designed to address a critical unmet need in the market. The stakes were high, and while the leadership team was talented, they were operating in silos. Each leader felt a strong sense of individual accountability, but their work wasn’t fully connected to one another or to the company’s broader strategy.
That changed when the team’s senior leader embraced a 360-degree leadership approach. Rather than defaulting to control or isolated execution, they created the conditions for collective success. Here’s what they did differently:
- Clarified their role as an enabler, not a gatekeeper. The leader understood that their job was to cultivate the space for others to lead. They helped the team identify where decision-making power resided and made it safe to step into those roles.
- Recognized and leveraged individual strengths. By mapping team members’ unique skills and spheres of influence, the leader activated hidden expertise and encouraged knowledge sharing across functions.
- Created trust through intentional co-creation. Instead of hovering or accidentally diminishing ownership, the leader encouraged the team to shape solutions together. They also normalized overlaps in responsibility, treating shared work not as a zero-sum game, but as a catalyst for innovation.
The result? A product launch that not only met patient needs, but also became a win for the business — delivered through a team that felt empowered, connected, and trusted.
So how did they get there? It was intentional. Working with BTS, the team started by mapping critical stakeholders and identifying gaps in cross-functional influence. Together, they defined new collaboration rituals and clarified who needed to be in the room for key decisions. Over time, they shifted from fragmented ownership to a shared sense of purpose. With that, their collective influence expanded across the enterprise.
This is the heart of 360-degree leadership: inviting every team member to step into leadership, not through title, but through trust, alignment, and contribution.
BREAKING DOWN BOXES: DECONSTRUCTING LEADERSHIP STEREOTYPES
Too often, leadership assumptions and organizational silos box individuals into narrowly defined roles, limiting personal growth and team effectiveness. For instance, when one person is seen as “owning the decision,” others may disengage, staying in their lane rather than contributing cross-functionally — even when their insight could elevate the outcome. Similarly, leaders sometimes view job titles as one-size-fits-all, without recognizing the nuanced strengths each person brings. One engineer may excel at conceptual design, while another thrives in ambiguity and might shine in troubleshooting or systems testing. Leaders operating a 360-degree view challenge these assumptions by looking beyond titles and team boundaries to uncover the hidden value people can offer.
Take the example of a junior consultant who, during a BTS project, revealed unexpected expertise in the ecological patterns of starlings — a small garden bird known for its mesmerizing murmurations. At first glance, the insight seemed unrelated to the business challenge at hand. But the project leader paused and made space for the consultant to share more. What emerged was a rich metaphor for organizational agility: Starlings move as one not because they follow a single leader, but because they are attuned to the movement of those around them, responding quickly, collectively, and without hierarchy.
Recognizing the power of this metaphor, the team reframed a firm-wide conversation about teaming and agility. This one moment of unexpected insight, encouraged by a curious and inclusive leader, became the foundation for a new global way of thinking across BTS. Today, the murmuration of starlings is consistently used to inspire teaming practices and inform how groups navigate complexity together. This story reflects a core future-ready leadership skill: bridging seemingly unrelated ideas to unlock new ways of thinking. It also shows the importance of creating space for unexpected contributions and having the wisdom to recognize insight, no matter where it comes from.
THE SUBJECTIVITY OF BELONGING
Belonging is a universal human need, but it’s deeply personal and varies across individuals. Leaders operating in this new model recognize that belonging isn’t automatic; it’s shaped by factors such as identity, environment, and organizational culture.
Belonging starts with creating spaces where people feel safe to share their authentic selves, ask for what they need, and set boundaries based on their own aspirations. However, it doesn’t end there. Leaders must actively facilitate engagement, ensuring employees feel valued, included, and heard, while also recognizing and removing barriers at the systemic level.
To do so, leaders should have direct conversations with their teams, asking questions like, “What makes you feel like you belong here?” and, “What gets in the way of you feeling belonging at work?” Gathering these insights and tailoring their leadership styles accordingly can help create environments where everyone thrives as their authentic selves. Successful leaders also ask how they can adapt their approach to increase feelings of belonging, take ownership of making the changes, and give grace to team members when they don’t feel a sense of belonging
BALANCING COMPETENCE WITH VULNERABILITY
Inclusive leaders embrace both competence and vulnerability; they understand what they can and cannot do and adopt a growth mindset. In this fast-paced environment where technological growth and adaptation occur at unprecedented rates, it is not possible for a leader to know it all and do it all. Vulnerability is acknowledging what we do not know. Competence inspires credibility, while vulnerability opens the door to collaboration and growth. Leaders who acknowledge what they don’t know model curiosity and encourage others to share their perspectives.
This balance was evident during a BTS engagement with a global travel organization. As senior leaders prepared to set their 2030 strategy, the CEO acknowledged the amount of uncertainty in the industry. Instead of setting a specific roadmap, he asked his leaders to share their concerns, their risks, and what they did not yet know. They created a “pre-mortem” assessment based on the top identified risks and mitigation plans. The CEO’s vulnerability created more connection, courage, and capability in his leaders to look around corners and pivot confidently in the moment of need.
In meetings, you can similarly model vulnerability by asking questions like, “What am I missing here?” or, “How would you approach this differently?” This kind of transparency encourages collaborative problem-solving, while also displaying the behavior leaders want to see in their teams, thus inspiring others to contribute.
WHY THIS SHIFT MATTERS: THE BUSINESS CASE
Future-relevant leadership isn’t just about creating a positive workplace culture — it’s a business imperative. Research consistently links inclusive practices to organizational benefits. The above HBR research found that inclusive organizations are 73% more likely to reap innovation revenue, 70% more likely to capture new markets, 76% less likely to experience attrition, and 36% more likely to have above-average profitability.
The reason is simple: When leaders create environments where employees feel a strong sense of belonging and psychological safety, they can account for up to a 70-percentage-point difference in how employees experience their workplace, per HBR. When people feel valued and supported, they’re more likely to innovate, contribute, and remain loyal to their organization.
Companies that fail to adapt their leadership practices risk falling behind in today’s competitive market. Without future-relevant leadership, they not only miss out on the benefits of diverse talent, but also risk losing top performers, damaging collaboration, weakening problem-solving, and eroding trust. Inclusive leaders lift others up instead of centering themselves. They see the team’s achievements not as personal wins, but as outcomes made possible by shared effort, mutual respect, and collective contribution. In doing so, they create a culture that scales — where success isn’t dependent on a single leader, but embedded across the organization.
FUTURE-PROOF YOUR LEADERSHIP
The shift from commanding from the top to leading with others is not just a moral imperative, but a business necessity. Leaders who embrace inclusive practices will unlock their business’s full potential, ensuring they remain agile, innovative, and competitive in the years to come.
Are you ready to lead with others? The time to act is now.
Kendra Okposo is a director in the Change and Transformation Center of Expertise at BTS and co-leads BTS’s DEI practice group. She specializes in partnering with clients to co-create scalable and accessible drivers of strategic change initiatives. As a former employment lawyer, Kendra uses her unique background to identify, measure, and shift pivotal mindsets, behaviors, and processes to support specific business outcomes for sustainable enterprise success
