This research aims to understand how leaders co-perform distributed leadership. Following Spillane’s (2006) definition of distributed leadership as located “in-between” leaders, we analyze the interactions in-depth (through e-mail and phone calls) between the forecasters (the “earth”) and the team leaders during the summit attempts (the “sky”) of two commercial expeditions: one to Broad Peak, and one to Mt. Everest via the northern ridge. Our research contributes to the understanding of the construction of distributed leadership. First, it describes the discursive practices through which team leaders and forecasters co-perform distributed leadership. Second, it shows that while facing relatively similar natural, technological, task-related and human conditions, leaders co-construct two different forms of distributed leadership: coordinated distribution (Spillane, or sequential, Thompson, 1967) and collaborated distribution (or reciprocal). Finally, it underlines that different leadership configurations may result in similar, favorable outcomes, thereby inviting us to take distance with a determinist concept of leadership.
