The Lead Link Role in Holacracy: Responsibility Without Power

The Lead Link role is the most misunderstood role in Holacracy. Many see it as the “new manager” – but this is fundamentally wrong. The Lead Link has specific accountabilities and clear boundaries that fundamentally distinguish it from a traditional manager. As one of the structural roles defined by the Holacracy Constitution, it connects circles with each other and enables the role-based authority that characterizes Holacracy.

At SI Labs, we have refined the Lead Link role over years. We have experienced how people grow into this role and how others fail at it because they couldn’t let go of old management habits. This article clarifies.

What Is the Lead Link Role?

The Lead Link role is one of the structural roles that automatically exist in every Holacracy circle. It is not elected but assigned by the super-circle – typically by the Lead Link of the super-circle.

Core function: The Lead Link connects the super-circle with the sub-circle. It carries the purpose and priorities of the super-circle into the circle.

What the Lead Link Is

• Role Distributor: Assigns roles to people and removes roles
• Resource Allocator: Distributes budget and capacity to roles
• Priority Setter: Clarifies relative importance between roles and projects
• Strategy Communicator: Translates the super-circle’s direction for the circle

What the Lead Link Is NOT

• Not a Manager: No authority to direct task execution
• Not a Boss: No personnel responsibility in the traditional sense
• Not a Governance Ruler: Cannot define roles or policies alone
• Not a Veto Holder: Cannot override governance decisions

Research Insight: The difference between Lead Link and traditional leadership is one of the most common stumbling blocks in Holacracy implementations. Studies show that former managers need 6-12 months to shed old behavior patterns. [1]

The Accountabilities in Detail

The Holacracy Constitution defines specific accountabilities for the Lead Link:

1. Assigning Roles

The Lead Link decides who fills which role in the circle. This is their central function.

What this means:

• Observing who has which strengths
• Assigning roles matching abilities
• Redistributing roles when needed
• Onboarding new circle members into roles

What this does NOT mean:

• Control over role execution
• Evaluating role holders as people
• Disciplinary measures

Example: Maria is Lead Link of the Marketing circle. She observes that Thomas writes excellent social media posts. She assigns him the “Social Media” role. How Thomas fills this role – which posts he publishes when – Thomas decides himself.

2. Allocating Resources

The Lead Link distributes resources available to the circle.

Typical resources:

• Circle budget
• Work time of circle members
• External capacity (freelancers, tools)

Boundaries:

• Allocation is to roles, not to people
• Role holders decide how to use allocated resources

3. Setting Priorities

When it’s unclear what’s more important, the Lead Link clarifies.

Typical situations:

• “Should I prioritize Project A or Project B?”
• “These two roles have conflicting demands on my time.”
• “We don’t have enough capacity for everything.”

How prioritization works:

• Lead Link gives relative priority between projects/roles
• Role holders use this prioritization for their own decisions
• The final decision lies with the role holder

4. Defining Strategy

The Lead Link can define strategies for the circle – heuristics that help with decisions.

Example strategy: “Quality over speed” or “New customers before existing customers”

Boundaries:

• Strategies are orientation, not prescription
• Role holders interpret strategy in their context
• Strategy cannot replace accountabilities

What the Lead Link Is NOT

This distinction is fundamentally important.

Not a Manager

A manager says: “Do it this way.” A Lead Link says: “Your role has this accountability. How you fulfill it, you decide.”

The difference:

• Manager controls execution
• Lead Link trusts role holders
• Manager escalates problems upward
• Lead Link processes tensions in governance meetings

Not a Boss

A boss has personnel responsibility: hiring, firing, salary, development. A Lead Link has role responsibility: who has which role.

In practice:

• Personnel decisions (hiring, firing) are often carried by other roles
• Lead Link decides only about role assignment, not employment
• Salary negotiations are typically not Lead Link’s task

No Governance Authority

The Lead Link cannot define or change roles, domains, and policies alone. That’s governance – and governance belongs to the entire circle.

What the Lead Link can do in governance:

• Bring tensions like anyone else
• Make proposals like anyone else
• Raise objections like anyone else

What they CANNOT do:

• Push through proposals
• Override others’ objections
• Decide outside the governance process

Research Insight: Organizations that give the Lead Link too much power undermine the benefits of Holacracy. Research shows that distributed authority only works when consistently maintained. [2]

The Main Task: Assigning Roles

Role assignment is the most critical Lead Link function. To effectively assign roles, the Lead Link must understand how roles are properly defined.

The Assignment Process

Step 1: Recognize need

• A new role emerges through governance
• An existing role is unfilled
• A current role holder no longer fits

Step 2: Identify candidates

• Who has the skills?
• Who has the capacity?
• Who has the interest?

Step 3: Make decision

• The Lead Link decides alone
• No voting, no approval needed
• The decision can be revised anytime

Step 4: Communication

• The assignment is made transparent
• The new role holder is informed
• Records are updated

Role Assignment vs. Position Filling

Role Assignment (Holacracy)	Position Filling (Traditional)
Quick decision	Selection process over weeks
Changeable anytime	Hard to revise
No duration guarantees	Implicit permanence
Focus on current fit	Focus on long-term suitability

When to Remove Roles?

The Lead Link can also remove roles. This is not punishment but organizational adjustment.

Reasons for role removal:

• Better fit with someone else
• Role holder’s capacity changes
• The role evolves in a direction requiring different skills

How to communicate: “The role is evolving toward X. I think Y is better suited for this. I’m assigning the role to Y.”

Not: “You’re doing this poorly.” That would be personal criticism, not role logic.

Lead Link Anti-Patterns

From our experience, the most common mistakes:

Anti-Pattern 1: The Hidden Manager

Symptom: Lead Link gives detailed instructions on how to execute roles.

Example: “As the Social Media role, you should post Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, specifically at 9 AM.”

Problem: This undermines the role holder’s autonomy.

Solution: Stay with accountabilities. “Your role is responsible for social media. How you implement that is your decision.”

Anti-Pattern 2: The Passive Lead Link

Symptom: Lead Link avoids all decisions, wants to be “democratic.”

Example: “Let’s vote on who gets the role.”

Problem: That’s not Holacracy. Role assignment is Lead Link authority.

Solution: Accept the authority. “I decide who has which role. I’m happy to hear input, but the decision is mine.”

Anti-Pattern 3: The Governance Overreacher

Symptom: Lead Link defines roles or policies without governance process.

Example: “Starting tomorrow, the Marketing role also has the accountability for events.”

Problem: This violates the constitution. Role changes must go through governance.

Solution: Bring tensions to governance. Respect the process. Learn more about the correct workflow under Writing Proposals.

Anti-Pattern 4: The Micro-Allocator

Symptom: Lead Link distributes work time in fractional hours.

Example: “You work 60% on Role A, 25% on Role B, 15% on Role C.”

Problem: This is unrealistic and undermines role autonomy.

Solution: Set relative priorities, not exact time budgets. Role holders can manage themselves.

Anti-Pattern 5: The Absent Lead Link

Symptom: Lead Link is never available for prioritization questions.

Example: Circle members wait weeks for clarity.

Problem: The circle is blocked.

Solution: Ensure availability. Establish clear processes for prioritization questions.

Research Insight: In a study on Holacracy implementations, Lead Link problems were the most common cause of governance dysfunctions. The role requires a new understanding of leadership. [3]

The Boundary: No Governance Authority

This boundary cannot be emphasized enough. Together with the Rep Link, the Lead Link forms the double-linking system, but their authority is strictly limited.

What Governance Is

Governance includes:

• Creating, changing, deleting roles
• Defining domains
• Setting accountabilities
• Establishing policies

Who Does Governance

The entire circle in governance meetings. Every circle member can bring proposals. The IDM process decides.

The Lead Link’s Role in Governance

The Lead Link has no special rights in governance. They are a participant like everyone else.

Practically:

• Lead Link brings tensions
• Lead Link makes proposals
• Lead Link can raise objections
• Lead Link can be overruled

What the Lead Link CANNOT do:

• Block governance decisions
• Change structures outside governance
• Enforce their will against the process

The Lead Link at SI Labs

The Lead Link role is a central building block of our Holacracy practice. Our experiences:

What We’ve Learned

Role assignment is a gift. When the Lead Link assigns well, people have roles in which they flourish. That’s more motivating than any raise.

Priority clarity creates peace. When the Lead Link communicates clear priorities, resource conflicts disappear.

Maintaining boundaries is discipline. Even after years, the temptation is great to “just quickly” intervene in roles. The discipline not to do it makes the difference.

Our Practice

• Lead Links don’t rotate as frequently as other elected roles
• New Lead Links are accompanied by experienced ones
• We regularly reflect on Lead Link behavior in retrospectives

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Research Methodology

This article is based on analysis of 52 academic papers on Leadership in Self-Organizing Systems (theme cluster T11), the Holacracy Constitution, and over ten years of practical experience with the Lead Link role at SI Labs.

Source selection:

• Holacracy Constitution and official materials
• Studies on distributed leadership
• Case studies on Holacracy implementations

Limitations: Our perspective is shaped by medium-sized consulting companies. In larger organizations, the Lead Link role may have different challenges.

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Disclosure

SI Labs GmbH has practiced Holacracy for over ten years. We have tested the Lead Link role in various configurations. This experience shapes our presentation.

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Sources

[1] Velinov, Emil, et al. “Change the Way of Working: Ways into Self‐Organization with the Use of Holacracy.” Journal of Organizational Change Management 34, no. 5 (2021): 1063-1078. DOI: 10.1108/jocm-12-2020-0395 [Qualitative Study | 43 Interviews | Citations: 43 | Quality: 67/100]

[2] Bernstein, Ethan, et al. “Beyond the Holacracy Hype: The Overwrought Claims and Actual Promise of the Next Generation of Self-Managed Teams.” Harvard Business Review 94, no. 7/8 (2016): 38-49. [HBR Practice Article | Multiple Case Studies | Citations: 312 | Quality: 72/100]

[3] Robertson, Brian J. “Holacracy.” In The Management Shift, edited by Vlatka Hlupic, 145-168. Chichester: Wiley, 2012. DOI: 10.1002/9781119197683.ch9 [Book Chapter | N/A | Citations: N/A | Quality: 60/100]

[4] Kirtley, Jacqueline, and Siobhan O’Mahony. “The myth of the flat start‐up.” Strategic Management Journal 44, no. 7 (2023): 1669-1702. DOI: 10.1002/smj.3333 [Empirical Study | 81 Start-ups | Citations: 81 | Quality: 78/100]