The Team Concept

Leadership success requires understanding the team concept which means :

• Understanding of group behavior
• Ability to tap the constructive power of teams

Characteristics of Excellent Teams

• Clear mission
• Informal atmosphere
• Lots of discussion
• Active listening
• Trust and openness
• Disagreement being O K

Group Roles That Build Performance

• Encourager: Helps people make contributions to fulfill their potential
• Clarifier: Creates order out of chaos and replaces confusion with clarity
• Harmonizer: Brings together opposite points of view
• Idea generator: Suggests ideas that others do not
• Ignition key: Orchestrates and facilitates the group’s work
• Standard setter: Possesses knowledge and skills deemed important by the group
• Detail specialist: Searches for errors and omissions and keeps the group on red alert

Group Member Roles that Reduce Success

• Ego tripper: Interrupts others, launches into long monologues, and is overly dogmatic
• Negative artist: Rejects all ideas suggested by others, takes a negative attitude on issues, argues unnecessarily, and refuses to cooperate
• Above-it-all person: Withdraws from the group and its activities by being aloof, indifferent, and excessively formal
• Aggressor: Attacks and blames others and shows anger or irritation against the group or individuals
• Jokester: Fools around most of the time and distracts the group from its business just to get a laugh
• Avoider: Does anything to avoid controversy or confrontation and is dedicated to personal security and self-preservation
• Power victim: Seeks negative attention and draws time and energy from the group

Dealing with Problem Behavior

• Talking it over in a calm and patient way
• Reporting observations uncritically
• Pointing out that it is recognized that the person wants to be successful but to reach that goal, he or she must take others into account
• Reporting how it made one feel and how others must feel if the behavior is irritating
• Asking why the person behaves as he or she does

The Problem-Solving Cycle

The Albert Einstein Problem-Solving Style

• Style: Theoretical scientist
• Most problem-solving efforts: Made between T and R
• Nature of efforts: Moving into the world of theory while being in the mode of reflecting
• Strengths: Abstract conceptualization and blue-sky
• Interpreting the chart: The longest line denotes the problem-solving style

A Versatile Style of Problem Solving

• Individuals are equally comfortable with each step of the problem-solving cycle
• Individuals do not have structural strengths or weaknesses resulting from style preference

Leader as a team builder

Team work is essential for group success. Leaders in every endeavor know the power of the team concept for achieving results.Effective leaders value teamwork as a virtue, and they demonstrate this by their own efforts as team builders and champions of the group.

What a leader does in order to develop a efficient team-

Hire and develop the right people to make them a winner. Creating a high performance team. Acts as a communication channel between all. Have concern about every member. Trust his team and vice versa.

There are various stages that form a group and are followed accordingly-

The following pictures shows the 3 stages that are followed-

The four D model ( Appreciative Inquiry)

A positive and popular approach to team building.

Typically uses a Four-D model or process

• Discovery: Positive experiences, success stories, and best practices are shared
• Dreaming: Open discussion and nonjudgmental listening are important
• Designing: Designing Collective dialogue and agreement on a direction and course of action are included
• Delivering: Action steps to achieve specific objectives are included

Role of the Leader and team dynamics-

Team processes that enhance success are-

• Buy-in: How the work of the team is legitimized and goals are set
• Accountability: How individual and team performance is managed and rewarded

• Learning: How performance is improved and skills developed
• Infrastructure: How the work of the team is systemised and resources accessed
• Partnering: How people interact and work together to achieve success on the team and across organizational units

Leadership is a key factor in all five team processes

Teams perform most successfully when their leader facilitates the work of the group. The most effective team leaders are caring individuals who have a passion for the work and a concern for people.