Team Has Just One Leader - Coursework Example

RUNNING HEAD: A team has only one leader Title: Instructor: Institution: Date: A team has only one leader Introduction The definition of a team means that people come together for the purpose of pooling resources. The pulling of resources together results to the achievement of goals that are shared among the team members where they are all equally accountable. In a team, there is a high interdependence for the purpose of achieving a common goal. There is a deep commitment for the team members to each other for personal development and achievement (Wellins 1991). Team members are said to have synergetic effects in the sense that they achieve more than what an individual can achieve by doing the same job done by the team. They consider one plus one the result is greater than two. In a team there is sharing of the traditional thought of management functions. A team has some benefits to an organization. The following benefits are discussed as under. The presence of teams in an organization leads to the maximization of resources of the organization. This is achieved through the coaching and helping each other as a team and equal sharing of benefits and failures. There is no possibility of employees of an organization to take chances since they are in a team where failure is blamed on the team as a whole. The achievement of success by a team in an organization helps the team members to focus on achieving bigger and better successes (Spiszer 1999). Mickey Arthur’s view on having one leader in a team The argument given by Mickey Arthur on leadership is that, having many leaders in a team may bring problem during consultation. The reason is that one does not know who turn to. He questions John Buchanan's on his idea of having many captains for a team of twenty. Having multiple will confuse matters in the teamwork. Arthur said effective communication among the team members of the team and the coach that is mandatory cannot be effective for any such assessment to be successful. Good communication in a team enhances its success. Having one leader all the time in a team ensures that the team members are able to understand who is in charge at all times. In a match, the need of having one team leader reduces the chances of confusion among members in the middle of the match (Shankar 2009). Growing a Team For the purpose of growing a team, a team leader should not be selfish or act like managers and supervisors. This is because managers and supervisors are seen to have traditional authority that is solely based on respect for the position and power. A team leader is required to be in a position to understand the personal work preferences and motivational factors of the team members (Tannenbaum et al 1986). This ensures that a team leader is respected as an individual rather than the position held by the leader. In addition, team leaders can achieve their real respect and trust from the members. A team leader is recognized for the purpose of developing a team through counseling and planning. Understanding the fact that the people that a team leader leads support the decision of teamwork for the benefit of achieving a common goal through mutual knowledge and the sharing of skills. The members of a team view failure as a lesson to be learnt and this helps them to take precautions in the future. The synergetic effects experienced in a team leads to the achievement of more superior outcomes in the organization. An organization that works in teams is found to be in a continuous improvement since the team members work together and share ideas that can better help them achieve their goals (Leboeuf 1999). An organization that wants to succeed in performance uses teams for the purpose of getting real change. The organization is committed to using the knowledge, skills and abilities of team members since as a team they can perform better than individuals. Teams in organizations do not have personal motives but the presence of team motives ensures that the organizations goals and objectives are accomplished. A team leader is expected to be enthusiastic about one aspect at a time. A quick problem is traced by the leader which is to be tackled is based on key performance oriented events. The leader is expected to find a problem and then engage the team in discussing about it. The leader is not expected to start delegating the task to individuals or a small group but should make it as a project for every team member. The leader takes into consideration the views and suggestions from all the members of the team. The leader is also expected to create a situation of urgency and set clear targets that are well known to the team. The team leader should engage the members in achieving the set targets and rewarding them if solutions are attained for the problem (Bodwell 1997). Working in a team provides the possibility of getting more efficiency and high productivity in the team’s success. A team that works in the state of urgency and direction is said to be aware of its expectations. There is need for the team leader to define the performance expectations of the team (Barna 2001). This helps them in defining their terms of flexibility that would allow changes to figure the purpose, goals and approach for the team. A team that has one leader is more disciplined in achieving its goals. The team leader ensures that there is clear attendance, discussions, confidentiality, analytic approach, constructive confrontation and keeping the team informed through out. The team leader should always give challenges to the team members by giving fresh facts and information. This influences the team members in redefining and enriching their understanding the objectives hence setting goals that are clearer. The leader of a team helps team members to cling together most of the times according to the schedules. This time helps the team members to interact more that enhances creative approaches to emerge and personal bonding among the members (Anthony 1993). The existence of one leader in a team is a method of exploiting the power of positive feedback, recognition and reward in the team. This enhances team development and performance where teamwork is the norm in all actions. The team leader models the team in both business and social conduct. This is done through the use of coaching, counseling, mentoring, tutoring and concentration on the improvement of performance. A leader of a team is expected to form subcommittees for key parts and giving the team members decision-making authority. A team leader must always be concerned with creating key elements in a team. The leader must always exhibit participatory leadership where the purpose, goals and approach of the team are kept relevant and significant. The leader must work hand in hand with the team members where the leader makes use of their own perspective and distance to help the team member in clarification and commitment to the teams mission, goals, and approach. The team leader however must lead by example in order to get the job done and grow the members (Barge 1991). According to the Arbinger institute (2002) a leader of a team should be concerned with encouraging dedication and self-confidence in the team. They have the responsibility of paying attention to skills of the team members. Through this, team leaders are able to recognize team members with technical abilities, functional abilities, and problem solving skills, decision-making capabilities, interpersonal skills, and teamwork skills. Encouraging the members in taking the risks desired for growth and improvement does this. The leader can also challenge the team members by changing their coursework and role model. Encouraging the team members to learn every time they experience a new task. A tem leader in a team is expected to deal with the team’s contacts and relationships. The leader is responsible to the people outside the team to be able to handle the contacts and relationships created in the team with the rest of the organization. The leader is expected to intervene on the team’s behalf when problems occur to discourage the team on the achievement of its goals. However the leader of a team is usually faced with the challenge of providing performance opportunity, coursework, and recognition of the team as well as the people in it. You cannot grab all the best opportunities; you must share it with your team (Barker 1992). Conclusion The success of a team is usually based on its vision that is the responsibility of the team leader to create a vision that describes the team. However, some of the team leaders have a notion that they cannot lead. In my own opinion some leaders make the mistake of selecting too many members. This makes a team imbalanced where too many people in the team overlap each other in the same areas. I also support that leaders have difficulties in trying to understand their own strengths, abilities and preferences. This leads to individuals in the unbalanced teams have a feeling that their capacities and capabilities are not being used. Other leaders are faced with the challenge of motivating the team members. A team leader should learn the team members with their personal requirements. A team that is not balanced makes the team members have the notion that the team is not working efficiently. The members of the team tend to think that individual work preferences are in disagreement instead of harmonizing with each other. In my opinion I suppose that, teams fail to achieve the set goals due to various reasons some of which are as a result from the team leader. The leader may not have set clear goals for the team; there is confusion about assignments, lack of initiative and holding unproductive meetings. This paper truly argues in the support that a team has only one leader. References Anthony, MJ. (1993). The Effective Church Board: A Handbook for Mentoring and Training Servant Leaders. Michigan: Grand Rapids-Baker Books. Arbinger Institute, ed. (2002) Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Barge, JK. (1994) Leadership: Communication Skills for Organizations and Groups. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Barker, JA. (1992). Future Edge. New York: William Morrow. Barna, G. (2001). The Power of Team Leadership: Achieving Success Through Shared Responsibility. New York: Random House Inc, Bodwell, DJ. (1997). High Performance Teams Leboeuf, MK. (1999), Developing a Leadership Philosophy, Military Review, 28. Tannenbaum, S. & Yukl, G. (1992). training and development in work organizations. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 43: 399-441. Shankar AS. (2009). Indian premier league (2009). It has to be one leader Spiszer, JM. (1999), Leadership and Combat Motivation, The Critical Task, Military Review, 66. Wellins, RBW. Wilson, J. (1991). Empowered Teams: Creating Self-Directed Work Groups That Improve Quality, Productivity, and Participation. Jossey-Bass. Read More