Episode Description:

Are you truly sharing leadership—or just delegating responsibility?

In part one of this two-part Change Starts Here: Research Conversations series, hosts Kim Yaris and Dr. Eve Miller challenge common assumptions about distributed leadership. Drawing on research into trust, teacher motivation, and student achievement, they explore why well-intentioned efforts to maintain control can unintentionally diminish motivation—and why teacher influence over decisions like discipline policies and school improvement plans matters more than you might think.

Discover why effective distributed leadership isn't about choosing between autonomy and accountability. It's about building trust, sharing meaningful decision-making, and creating the conditions for educators to do their best work.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments, and subscribe for part two!

Are your teams just carrying out decisions, or are they helping make them? Download from your preferred platform the free Distributed Leadership Audit to find out: 

Spotify: https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/csh-s7e11-handout?x=BaUe_e&utm_source=Spotify&utm_medium=CSH

 Apple: https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/csh-s7e11-handout?x=BaUe_e&utm_source=Apple&utm_medium=CSH 

Host(s): Kim Yaris, Associate Director of Research with FranklinCovey Education & Dr. Eve Miller, Director of Research with FranklinCovey Education 

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

00:00 The Minimum Expectation Trap

02:02 Defining Distributed Leadership Realities

03:10 Two Contrasting School Climates

05:22 Control Versus Real Judgment

06:15 The Falk and Kosfeld Experiment

07:43 The Cost of Setting Minimums

09:45 Shared Influence in 90 Schools

11:10 Which Decisions Move Achievement

12:39 The Influence of School-Wide Decisions

13:46 Autonomy Is Not Abandonment

14:49 Conducting the Leadership Audit

16:41 Reflecting on Genuine Influence

Resources and References

Falk, A., & Kosfeld, M. (2006). The hidden costs of control. American Economic Review, 96(5), 1611–1630.

Ingersoll, R. M., Sirinides, P., & Dougherty, P. (2017). School leadership, teachers' roles in school decision making, and student achievement (CPRE Working Paper). Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania.

Ingersoll, R. M., Sirinides, P., & Dougherty, P. (2018). Leadership matters: Teachers' roles in school decision making and school performance. American Educator, 42(1), 13–17, 39.

Leithwood, K., & Mascall, B. (2008). Collective leadership effects on student achievement. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(4), 529–561.

Ziegelmeyer, A., Schmelz, K., & Ploner, M. (2012). Hidden costs of control: Four repetitions and an extension. Experimental Economics, 15(2), 323–340.