Shared Leadership or Democratized Decision-making Process: Practical Lessons from Tunisia, Egypt and the U.S.A
Bakry M. Elmedni

Abstract
Shared leadership can be part of the ingredients for coping with the challenges of the 21st century. Global economic volatility, demographic trends and fast-pace technological changes present mounting challenges for organizations. Sharedleadership occurs when constituents/followers have meaningful input in the decisionmaking process.Access to and involved in decision-making process is the foundation of shared leadership. Organizational structure, rather than leadership style, determines whether or not the organization is likely to practice shared leadership. This paper provides an analysis of decision-making process used by six civil society organizations in Egypt during the January 25 Revolution, in Tunisia during the Tunisian Revolution, and in the United States during the peak of Occupy Wall Street’s protests.The analysis reveals that civic movements, loosely structured with nonsingular leadership,democratized decision-making and practiced shared leadership compared to formal organizations.

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