Stuck in the Middle: Crafting Roles in Dual Leadership Structures

Abstract

Role crafting denotes the behavior of individuals who, on their own initiative, change the tasks and responsibilities associated with their role. Organizational faultlines can potentially divide groups and negatively influence collaboration. In dual leadership structures the main faultline runs through the whole organization, right up to the top where each of the dual leaders is primarily responsibility for what is on their side of the faultline. Crisscrossing actors occupy a role right on the main organizational faultline. As a result, crisscrossing actors experience role conflict and role ambiguity that are usually assumed to have negative effects. This study argues the opposite; role conflict and role ambiguity provide space for role crafting by increasing the associated resources and demands. In addition, the more dual executives keep to their side of the faultline, or engage in contractive role crafting, the more space crisscrossing actors have to expansively craft their role. Our empirical case focuses on 1st Assistant Directors (1st ADs) in film production. First ADs are positioned exactly on the main faultline between art and commerce, hierarchically below the director and the producer, and accountable to both.