A conversation for leaders rethinking what it means to lead together
Step Into the Conversation
What if leadership did not mean one person carrying all the answers?
Most of us were taught a familiar model: one leader, one title, one person responsible for knowing the history, making the decisions, and keeping everything moving.
That model can be exhausting. It can also leave teams vulnerable when too much knowledge, responsibility, and decision-making lives with one person.
What if we shared the load instead?
Pair deep experience with fresh eyes. Give two people shared ownership of a project. Let each bring different strengths, perspectives, and knowledge to the work.
You do not need a new org chart to try it.
In this interactive Generation IQ Roundtable, Mary Cooney, PhD, will build on the question she posed at DisruptHR Detroit:
Who would you promote alongside you?
We will start small and practical. Bring one project where you, or someone on your team, may be carrying what two people could share.
Together, we will explore what changes when leadership becomes a partnership rather than a solo responsibility.
Start with one project. See what two leaders can make possible.
Why This Conversation Matters
Leadership was never meant to mean knowing everything.
When responsibility sits with one person, so does much of the pressure.
The history.
The relationships.
The decisions.
The knowledge everyone else depends on.
That can contribute to burnout in the present and create a serious gap when that person eventually moves on.
Shared leadership offers another possibility.
One person may bring years of context and pattern recognition. Another may bring fresh questions, new approaches, and a willingness to challenge the way things have always been done.
Neither replaces the other.
Together, they can see more, carry more, and learn from one another while the work is actually happening.
That is also where succession begins.
Not with a binder handed over on someone’s last day, but with knowledge being shared long before anyone leaves.
This is gentelligent leadership in action: recognizing that more opportunity for one person does not have to mean less for another, and that asking another generation to help lead is a strength, not a gap.
What You Can Expect
🤝 A practical way to experiment with shared leadership
Explore how assigning two co-leaders to one project can create shared ownership without requiring a new org chart or organizational restructure.
👀 A closer look at what different perspectives bring
Consider what becomes possible when deep experience and fresh eyes have equal responsibility for the work.
⚖️ Ways to share the load
Identify where one person may be carrying too much knowledge, responsibility, or pressure and what could change if that weight were shared.
🌱 Succession that starts before someone leaves
Explore how co-leadership can help knowledge move between generations naturally, making development and succession part of everyday work.
💬 Real situations, worked through together
Bring a current project, responsibility, or leadership challenge to the conversation and learn from the perspectives of other leaders in the room.
The goal is simple: leave with one project and two people who could lead it together.
Reserve Your Spot Today
This is not a lecture.
And it is not a webinar.
It is an opportunity to rethink what leadership can look like when one person does not have to carry everything alone.
Together, we’ll explore a simple idea: what happens when you give one project to two co-leaders, pairing deep experience with fresh eyes and giving both real ownership?
Where is one person carrying too much?
What knowledge could be shared before it becomes a succession problem?
And what becomes possible when people from different generations lead alongside one another instead of waiting for one to replace the other?
You do not need to redesign your org chart.
You do not need to create new titles.
You simply need one project where shared leadership might make a difference.
Bring a real situation from your team. We’ll work through real examples together and explore how co-leadership can reduce the load, reveal strengths, strengthen knowledge transfer, and build succession into the way work gets done.
Seats are intentionally limited to keep the conversation practical, candid, and grounded in the real leadership challenges people are navigating right now.
Bring a situation. Leave with a plan.
Who This Roundtable Is For
This conversation is for you if:
•You or someone on your team is carrying more than one person should
• You want to develop emerging leaders without waiting for a title or promotion
• You are thinking about succession and how critical knowledge gets passed along
• You see value in pairing deep experience with fresh perspectives
• You want to experiment with shared leadership without restructuring your organization
• You are looking for practical ways to reduce burnout while building leadership capacity
Whether you’re an executive, people leader, HR professional, learning and development practitioner, or someone responsible for developing the next generation of leadership, this Roundtable offers a practical place to start.
You don’t need a new org chart.
Start with one project.
Choose two people.
See what they can lead together.
WHY ATTEND?
🤝 Experience a Different Way to Lead
Explore what happens when two people share ownership instead of one person carrying the full weight of a project.
👀 Pair Deep Experience With Fresh Eyes
See how different generations can bring distinct strengths, perspectives, and knowledge to the same work.
⚖️ Share the Load
Identify where responsibility, knowledge, or decision-making may be concentrated with one person and explore what could be shared.
🌱 Build Leadership Capacity
Create opportunities for people to lead alongside one another, developing strengths that might otherwise go unnoticed.
🔄 Make Succession Part of the Work
Discover how shared leadership can help knowledge move between generations before someone retires, changes roles, or leaves.
💬 Work Through a Real Situation
Bring one project where one person may be carrying what two could share and leave with a practical idea for putting co-leadership into action.
October 22nd
12:00 - 12:45 ET
An Invitation To Think Differently
Some of the most meaningful shifts in leadership do not require a new title, a new structure, or a new org chart.
Sometimes they start with one project.
For generations, we have often thought about leadership as something one person carries. One leader. One set of responsibilities. One person expected to have the answers.
But what if leadership could be shared?
What if deep experience and fresh eyes worked side by side, each bringing something the other does not?
Join us for a conversation about what becomes possible when we stop expecting one person to carry everything and start creating opportunities for people across generations to lead together.
You may leave seeing strengths on your team differently.
You may leave thinking differently about succession and knowledge sharing.
Most importantly, you’ll leave with a practical place to begin: one project and two people who could lead it together.
Seats are intentionally limited to encourage meaningful conversation and participation.
Join us Thursday, October 22 at Noon ET.
Bring a situation. Leave with a plan.
Roundtable Begins In...
We look forward to having you join this complimentary Roundtable session.
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Dr. Mary Cooney is the founder of Generation IQ and holds a PhD
from Wayne State University.
She has worked with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Eastern Michigan
University, and Wayne State University.
Dr. Cooney has over 20 years of experience as a university
professor, having taught Gen X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Now,
with Generation IQ, Dr. Cooney is helping bridge the gap across the
five generations in the workforce for better intergenerational
communication to improve retention rates, productivity, and equity.
Her clients include Wayne State University, Washington State
University, Macomb County College, Nielsen Analytics, AAA of
Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Consumers Energy,
and the Michigan Supreme Court.
Learn more about me
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