Today, successful organizations have a vertical and horizontal alignment. The traditional vertical alignment uses top-down leadership, establishing strategic goals and exerting control through decisions following a chain of command. It mainly relies on the command-and-control leadership style. Leading horizontally focuses on cross-functional, cross-initiative, or cross-multiple-organization collaboration. It is a people-focused leadership style that supports a more innovative organizational culture.
Both vertical and horizontal leadership are needed because there is a time for innovation and a time for control. Balancing leadership styles to achieve strategic priorities is not always easy. Too much collaboration that never leads to a decision or accountability is as ineffective as too much control that stifles collaboration. Mastering vertical and horizontal leadership balance requires learning new skills and recognizing and avoiding the classic traps that derail leadership success.
Vertical vs. Horizontal Leadership
Vertical leadership is a traditional approach where a leader controls subordinates. The organization’s senior leaders set strategic priorities translated into functional and departmental goals. Leaders in a hierarchal structure implement strategies to meet goals for their particular unit or team. There is a clear chain of command and limited input from employees. Team members are given specific job responsibilities with rules and procedures. The focus is on compliance.
There are variations of vertical leadership. The strict command-and-control leadership style does not work well in most organizations today because employees want a voice and the ability to input ideas. So vertical leadership has adapted by giving employees some ownership and accountability for their work and opportunities to participate in the decision-making process. However, the organization’s vertical alignment compartmentalizes employee groups. Leaders only manage their particular function, unit, or department. Business areas remain siloed.
A horizontally aligned organization ensures that the various functions or units work together to achieve goals under managers skilled in collaboration and empowering employees. Finance works with sales, marketing with customer services, etc. One organization works with another. Initiatives cross functions and organizations. Leadership is skilled in leading multiple teams, initiatives, and organizations.
Horizontal leadership is all about empowerment. It breaks down silos, allowing leaders to cultivate strong relationships across organizational boundaries. It promotes group synergy, enhances collaboration, and empowers cross-functional teams. This leadership style encourages employees to have a voice in decision-making, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.
Leaders are encouraged to develop their strengths and understand themselves better because leading horizontally requires being people-centric and able to encourage creative ideas, innovation, and personal accountability among team members. Instead of controlling employees, the leader uses techniques like check-ins, creating a continuous learning culture. Learning is not confined to specific training sessions but is integrated into the daily work and interactions of the team. It involves regular feedback, reflection on successes and failures, and a commitment to ongoing improvement. Leveraging failure and challenges as opportunities for improvement is a key aspect of this culture.
THE STRICT COMMAND-ANDCONTROL LEADER- SHIP STYLE DOES NOT WORK WELL IN MOST ORGANIZATIONS TODAY BECAUSE EMPLOYEES WANT A VOICE AND THE ABILITY TO INPUT IDEAS.
The horizontal leadership style uses initiatives and projects to build cross-functional teams but does utilize some vertical leadership skills, like establishing goals, KPIs, deadlines, and evaluations. Sometimes, leading vertically is necessary, even in a horizontally aligned organization. It is not a one-or-the-other scenario, and understanding how to move the organization toward horizontal alignment and balance vertical and horizontal leadership skills is necessary for success.
Moving From Vertical to Horizontal Leadership
Leadership style balance is addressed in Chris Fussell’s book One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams. He proposes five ways to move an organization from a hierarchal to a horizontally aligned organization.
The first recommendation is to involve employees in decision-making and gathering input and feedback. This gives them a sense of ownership in their work. The second recommendation is to empower lower-level employees to make decisions within their expertise. Third, he recommends creating a workplace culture that is open and transparent, encouraging employees to share their ideas, feedback, and innovations. Leaders can do regular check-ins, hold feedback sessions, and utilize various communication technologies today. Fourth, offer employees development opportunities, and finally, recognize and reward employees.
These are essential requirements for successfully managing the balance needed to use vertical-horizontal leadership skills. The organization should be supportive, developing the appropriate culture that supports cross-initiatives, cross-teams, and cross-organizational projects.
Avoiding the Risks
When striving to use vertical and horizontal leadership skills, there are some common traps. One is overextending oneself. Getting pulled in different directions is common, so prioritizing high-level activities and delegating operational tasks is an important skill. Associated with this risk is the risk of experiencing burnout. Maintaining boundaries for personal well-being is important. Another risk is losing focus because initiatives are pulling the leader in different directions. The typical end result is some critical tasks do not get completed. It is important to create a decision-making framework for identifying critical focus areas to stay on track.
There is the trap of siloing initiatives, a term that describes isolating or compartmentalizing different projects or initiatives. This is often done to make the workload more manageable. However, this defeats the purpose of leading horizontally, which is about promoting cross-functional collaboration. Identifying areas where initiatives can support one another and establishing ways to make it happen is a key practice in a horizontally aligned business.
Leaders who want to move towards the horizontal leadership style also need to ensure they have developed the appropriate communication skills, such as coaching, transparency, and collaborative communication. These skills are developed over time, so the first step is developing a consistent awareness that a new leadership style is needed. It is easy to fall back into the familiar style of leading vertically.
Learning to Excel
It is not easy to change leadership styles to fit changes in organizational structures, especially communication structures. High-performance leaders excel by integrating vertical leadership (hierarchical authority) with horizontal leadership (cross-functional collaboration), ensuring alignment of people, processes, and goals. Balancing strategic priorities with a commitment to effective delegation and relationship-building can drive momentum across diverse initiatives while avoiding common pitfalls.