ABSTRACT
Author’s note: In 1995, I experimented with the primus inter pares leadership model when I took a leave of absence from Glenbow to prepare the second edition of Museums and the Paradox of Change (1997). The result was a painful failure. Three of Glenbow’s directors acted as the primus during my absence, but one of them used the opportunity to abuse the position – extending executive authority and influence in a manner that caused widespread disturbance in the organization. I came back to a hotbed of psycho-politics, recriminations, and anxiety. Clearly, one must know and trust one’s colleagues if a shared leadership model is to work, and I had been naïve and unsuspecting.
