Shared leadership in the military: Reality, possibility, or pipedream?

Shared leadership involves building a broader and deeper capacity for leadership that goes beyond a formally appointed leader. Several models of team leadership are reviewed, distinguishing between the leadership of teams from leadership in teams. Shared leadership is a variant of the latter in which everyone on the team is responsible for leadership and where leadership emerges through patterned interactions of team members. Overall, shared leadership appears to be a possibility for the military- and one that is needed because of the increasing complexity of missions-but efforts need to be undertaken to incorporate it into formal training and doctrine.