TEAM LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
--Peter Drucker
How do team leaders get to be team leaders? There are several books, studies, and
research materials on the subject, as well as editorials, articles, and speeches. All of them have differences and similarities in their answers. Many have attempted to supply a magic formula as an answer to the question of team leadership. To date, none of the formulas given is complete, none of them meets all conditions, and none of them has succeeded in doing what they all have aimed to do. Many of these attempted responses argue that certain personal characteristics give rise to leadership such as moral beliefs, spirituality, strong character, and a charismatic personality. However, all these attributes in no way explain the strong leadership needed by the team leaders of today’s Global Village.
A typical team leader, according to some studies, is a person whose traits exceed the other members of his group in terms of sociability, initiative, persistence, and knowledge in getting things done, self-confidence, alertness to and insight into situations, cooperation, popularity, adaptability and verbal capacity. The secret of success of team leaders today is the combination of their leadership and verbal skills. Quantity/quality of speech must be accompanied by a degree of leadership potentials as well.
The team leader today regards security with self-confidence and has the ability to adjust to change. He takes the first step in the right direction when he accepts that he is sustained by the power that created him. He loves people and serves them. A good team leader develops people to stand on their own feet and to think for themselves. A team leader thinks on the can-do side of things, and always finds a way that it can be done. A team leader realizes that the thinking of those he leads will be a reflection of his own thinking. A team leader gives hope, faith, and inspiration to people he works with.
A team is designed as a democratic structure in which hierarchical rank and status differences are not so pronounced. Emphasizing the words team members and de-emphasizing the words - subordinates and employees - helps communicate the norm of teamwork and teamwork culture. Although it is still widely used in professional and technical books about management and leadership, it is wise to avoid the term “followers.”.
A boost to one’s effectiveness as a team leader is the frequent use of the terms we and us. Always include in your conversation phrases such as:
- “Our team…”
- “We can overcome that problem.”
- “We achieved this.”
- “Let us do it.”
- “We work great together.”
- “We must all share credit for this great accomplishment.”
- “We are looking good in the eyes of management.”
- “It’s inevitable that top management will soon reward us for our outstanding contribution.”
These phrases are important because language shapes attitudes and lead to changes in behavior. Talking about the group as if it were a team helps make it a team.
Leadership is the ability to present a vision so that others want to achieve it. It requires skill in building relationships with other people and organizing resources effectively. Mastery of leadership is open to everyone. -- Anonymous.
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