superledare

Superleadership, sometimes written as superledare in some languages, is a leadership approach focused on empowering followers to lead themselves. In this model, the leader’s primary job is not to direct every action, but to design conditions, coach behaviors, and cultivate self-leadership skills in others so they can set goals, monitor progress, and regulate their own performance. The aim is to create autonomous, motivated teams capable of sustained self-improvement.

The concept emerged from work by Manz and Sims in the late 1980s and early 1990s on self-leadership and leadership development. Superleadership extends self-leadership by emphasizing the leader’s role in teaching and modeling the self-leadership processes. Key elements include modeling self-leadership strategies, providing structures that support autonomy, feedback loops, and ongoing coaching, and shifting from controlling tasks to guiding learning and growth. Leaders encourage followers to use goal setting, self-monitoring, self-reward, and constructive thought patterns to manage their work.

Practices commonly associated with superleadership include designing jobs and teams to foster initiative, offering frequent feedback and coaching, reducing dependence on direct supervision, and helping individuals align personal goals with organizational objectives. The approach is often used in management development, team training, and educational settings where reducing excessive external supervision can enhance motivation and performance.

Effectiveness evidence varies; some research indicates positive effects on motivation, job satisfaction, and performance, particularly when followers are ready for greater autonomy and leaders are skilled coaches. Critics note that superleadership requires substantial leader competence and can be less effective in high-risk or tightly regulated environments where clear, directive guidance remains necessary.

See also: servant leadership, transformational leadership, self-leadership.