Collective leadership is a distribution of power within an organizational structure.
Communist examples
China
Collective leadership in China and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is generally considered to have begun with Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, who tried to encourage the CCP Politburo Standing Committee to rule by consensus in order to prevent the authoritarianism of Maoist rule. CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin formally established himself as the "first among equals". This era of collective leadership has been said to end with Xi Jinping, following the abolition of term limits in 2018 under his tenure.
Xi has taken deliberate steps to establish his personal dominance within the Chinese political system, effectively rising above his peers in the PSC. He has done so by creating key bodies such as the National Security Commission, which holds sway over party, state, and military organizations. Furthermore, Xi heads the Small Leadership Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reform, a pivotal entity responsible for designing and executing various reform initiatives. His leadership of this group underscores his intention to personally oversee institutional reforms. Xi has also made it clear that he will have the final say in economic and financial matters, foregoing the tradition of shared responsibility with the Premier. Consequently, Xi's purview now extends to encompass military affairs, security, foreign policy, economic reform, state-building, economic policymaking, and social governance. This concentration of power has led to concerns that Xi's actions might be undermining essential party norms and pushing China toward a more personalistic dictatorship, a notion reinforced by the party machine and state media's vigorous promotion of his image and authority through various channels such as publishing his speeches and writings, public appearances, and the creation of cartoons portraying him as a strong leader.
Currently, the central authority of the Chinese government and CCP is concentrated in the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, which is composed of seven members of the Communist Party and headed by the CCP general secretary.
The position of CCP general secretary has become more powerful in Xi Jinping's administration.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, when the country was ruled by Lê Duẩn, collective leadership involved powers being distributed from the office of General Secretary of the Communist Party and shared with the Politburo Standing Committee while still retaining one ruler.
Nowadays, in Vietnam there is not one paramount leader, and power is shared by the General Secretary, President and the Prime Minister along with collegial bodies such as the Politburo, Secretariat and the Central Committee.
Soviet Union
Collective leadership (, ) or Collectivity of leadership (, ), was considered an ideal form of governance in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Its main task was to distribute powers and functions among the Politburo, the Central Committee, and the Council of Ministers to hinder any attempts to create a one-man dominance over the Soviet political system by a Soviet leader, such as that seen under Joseph Stalin's rule. On the national level, the heart of the collective leadership was officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party, but in practice, was the Politburo. Collective leadership is characterized by limiting the powers of the General Secretary and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Premier) as related to other offices by enhancing the powers of collective bodies, such as the Politburo.