Collective enactment of leadership roles and team effectiveness: A field study

Based on role enactment theory, leadership task theory, and emerging notions of leadership as a collective process, this study examined the existence and performance correlates of collective team leadership in state department of transportation road maintenance teams. Confirmatory factor analysis (n = 277) supported a hypothesized four-factor model consisting of: planning and organizing, problem-solving, support and consideration, and development and mentoring. Collective leadership enactment within teams was positively related to mean level of team members' collectivism, but not power distance. The mean level of collective leadership within a team, particularly the development and mentoring dimension, predicted supervisor-rated team performance (n = 45). Future research and team management implications for conceptualizing collective leadership as concertive role enactment are discussed.