I have managed to bring about a change in myself in terms of being a team leader, leadership style, understanding the roles of a team worker and the essence of communication.
The very quintessence of team work is co-operation and understanding between the team members. The team members should be ready to work for each other rather than to work for themselves. I also strongly believe that a team leader is very essential for every team and the proposed way of leadership also counts. A team leader is the one who influences and shows a collective responsibility on the team members. Leadership style depends on the way he organises the team, motivates them and infuses responsibility and the way he communicates with the other team members.
I have been quite unsuccessful as a team leader in the past. After analysing myself and from comments and suggestions I received from my peers and colleagues the area I thought I had to improve was my leadership style. I have tried to portray my learning experiences from the past 1 year till date in this assignment explaining my strengths and weakness, team building capacity and the leadership style I used in the past and present.
I was a team leader for social and cultural activities in the year 2006 during my college days. My committee comprised of 5 members. We as a committee were required to give a detailed list of the events, dates to be conducted, venue and the expected budget. I was more of a relaxed leader who believed in free reign type of leadership. I gave full liberty to my team members. I was always interested in the team member’s satisfaction and always agreed to their proposals.
The members in the team being my close friends had the liberty of making their own decisions. In the end nothing went on as I planned. There was confusion in the order of things as no one knew what each member in the team was doing.
The expected budget shot up way above the limit. Everyone had a blind trust which proved costly in the end. I was blamed as I was the committee leader and had to face a lot of embarrassment.
The areas I realised I should improve was
1. Improve a sense of authority
2. Communication with the team members
3. Take corrective actions when required.
4. Do not wait to resolve problems until they get complicated.
5. Develop mutual trust on each other but not blind trust.
6. Keep your team members happy but also get the job done.
I never really got to improve on these areas as I came here to pursue my masters. My work place gave me a very good opportunity to improve myself. I was made the team leader after six months. I was very conscious of the mistakes I made in the past and did not want to repeat it.
When I took over as a team leader at my work place, I tried to understand the aims and objectives of the project. I made a layout and plan as to what has to be achieved.
- Set out objectives for each member in the team.
- I wanted my team members to follow me. So I started off by demonstrating them on how to start with their work,
- Help them understand their task and objective set up,
- Explaining them the time contingencies and the fact that they were in a team.
- Maintaining a sense of authority but giving them the liberty at the same time.
For the first few weeks the meetings were really fruitful as the team members were following what was explained. They considered me as the role model and were finishing up their tasks as told. I showed up regularly and without being late. I stayed back late at work place and finished my work on time. This had a positive influence on my team members.
But as the time progressed I observed that the effectiveness was reduced and there was a lack of motivation. When this happened I gathered my team members for a meeting and tried to identify the problematic area and sorted it out as early as possible. I never gave any lapse in time but at the same time maintained a friendly environment so that the team members don’t feel that they are being dominated. I tried not to repeat my previous mistakes.
Our project was completed on time. Though there were discrepancies during the course, it was resolved effectively. I actually felt the difference when a change in the leadership style was brought about.
Theory
The experience and the changes I have undergone closely relates to the referent shift model. This model states that the team’s behaviour and performance depends on the team leader and the leadership established within the group. The theory states that there can be 3 different types of leadership in a group.
Lazziez fare style or free reign leadership- the leader gives team members the authority to make decisions.
Transformational leadership- the leader focuses on team and motivates the team members by setting examples.
Management by exception- this type of leadership focuses on the mistakes created by each member.
From this theory identified that the leadership I utilized in my past was lazziez fare style or free reign. The theory states that teams with this type of leadership are dysfunctional and do not perform. This is what exactly happened in my past. I gave full liberty to my team members and in the end my leadership proved to be ineffective.
The theory states that transformational leadership is the most successful because the leader sets an example and motivates the followers. The theory states that the teams having transformational leadership are more successful as they are clear with their goals and objectives. According to this theory I have changed my leadership style from lazeizz fare style to transformational style of leadership. This change has definitely endowed me with success.
Bibliography
1. Belbin, R. Meredith (2006), Management Teams: Why they succeed or fail. Elsevier publications
2. Stewart, Roger (1999), Gower handbook of networking. Gower publishing limited.
3. Hardingham, Alison (1995), Working in teams. Chartered institute of personnel and development.
4. Jean, Woodall (2006), Personal and professional development. Kingston business school.
