Month: June 2018

“Team Effectiveness focuses on team excellence or the desired outcomes of teamwork” (Northouse,p.67).

As mentioned in Northouse (2016), critical functions of effective team leadership are performance and development. Performance or task accomplishment refers to the quality of the outcomes of the team’s work. Development or team maintenance refers to the cohesiveness of the team and the ability of team members to satisfy their own needs while working effectively with other team members (Nadler, 1998). Team leadership involves a set of people who have excellent interpersonal skills. As per Northouse,p. 368, Hackman (2012) has posited six enabling conditions that lead to effective team functioning, and they are as follows:

• Is this a real team?
• Does it have a compelling purpose?
• Does it have the right people?
• Are the norms of conduct clear?
• Is there support from organizational context?
• Is there team focused coaching?

Northouse (2016) also stated Larson & LaFasto’s (1989)  8 characteristics of team excellence and they are enlisted below:

1 Clear, Elevating Goal: “A compelling purpose energizes team members, orients them towards their collective objective, and fully engages their talents” (Northouse,p.369). Clearing the primary motive behind any project is utterly essential. It is a human instinct to work harder when the job is purposeful. When going to free dental awareness camps in rural areas with my fellow dentists and my juniors, I made it a point to gather all the junior volunteers and talk to them about the reason for the camp and also about the goals. Knowing that it was to directly serve the people who have lesser than most was a significant driving factor.

2 Result Driven Structure: Teams need to find the best structure for
accomplishing their goals. Structural features that lead to effective teamwork include task design, team composition, and core norms of conduct. Appropriate arrangements enable teams to meet their needs while still accomplishing team goals (Northouse,p.369).

3 Competent Team Members: Teams should be composed of the right number and mix of members to accomplish all the tasks of the team. A common mistake in forming groups is to assume that people who have all the technical skills necessary to solve a problem also have the interpersonal skills necessary to collaborate effectively. Just because someone is a good engineer or doctor does not mean he or she has the interpersonal skills to function on a team (Northouse,p.370).

4 Unified Commitment: Excellent teams are those that have developed a sense of unity or identification. (Northouse,p.370)

5 Collaborative Environment: A collaborative climate is one in which members can stay problem focused, listen to and understand one another, feel free to take risks, and be willing to compensate for one another. To build an atmosphere that fosters collaboration, we need to develop trusting relationships based on honesty, openness, consistency, and respect (Northouse,p. 370).

6 Standards of Excellence: It is especially important that the organizational context or the team itself set up standards of excellence so that members will feel pressure to perform at their highest levels (Northouse,p.371). Back in India when I was interning as a dentist, I had the great opportunity to address some freshmen students and talk to them about the field. The first thing that I taught them was precisely the first thing that I was taught when I started my Bachelors in Dental Surgery.  It was that there is an excellent value to the white coat that you get to wear as a doctor. It commands respect and dignity and now on anything you do will affect that. This made me and those juniors feel a sense of responsibility. This also set high standards for the rest of my career.

7 External Support and Recognition: A supportive organizational context includes material sources, rewards for excellent performance, the educational system to develop necessary team skills, and information system to provide needed data to accomplish the task (Northouse,p.371). Positive reinforcement goes a long way in any organization. If a person’s work is rewarded, it inspires him/her to keep doing good as it sets a standard, but if it is not rewarded, the person will lose interest. As with patients, especially children, while performing any dental procedure, it is important to keep saying how great they are doing and after the appointment giving a piece of candy works great and encourages them to be more cooperative.

8 Principled Leadership: It is an effective way of team leadership and is further divided into cognitive, motivational, affective and coordinational leadership (Northouse,p.371). Cognitive leaders help the team understand the problems confronting the group. A motivational leader helps the team become capable by setting standards and helping them achieve them. An active leader helps team handle stressful times by providing clear goals. A coordinational leader helps integrate team activities by matching skills to roles (Northouse,p.371).

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.

The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons: do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, not be further deprived? (Greenleaf, 1977/2002, p. 27)

In the article, “Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics
of Effective, Caring Leaders,” Spears (2010), enlisted  10 important characteristics of an effective servant leader. Those 10 characteristics are as below,

1. Listening: It is essential for a leader to be a good listener. Being a good listener doesn’t mean only listening to others but also to one’s inner voices. It is about listening to whats said and unsaid. (Spears 2010,p.27).
2. Empathy:   People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits (Spears 2010,p.27). A servant leader practices empathy.
3. Healing: One of the great strengths of servant leadership is the potential for healing one’s self and one’s relationship to others. Most of the people have broken spirits in some way or the other. An effective servant leader works towards healing oneself and others (Spears 2010,p.27).
4. Awareness: General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Awareness helps one in understanding issues involving ethics, power, and values. Awareness is an awakener, and able leaders are usually sharp awake (Spears 2010, p.28).
5. Persuasion: Another characteristic of servant leaders is reliance on persuasion.  The servant leader seeks to convince others, rather than coerce compliance (Spears 2010, p.28).
6. Conceptualisation: One must be able to think beyond day to day realities. This is a characteristic that requires discipline and practice (Spears 2010, p.28).
7. Foresight: Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future (Spears 2010, p.28).
8. Stewardship: Servant leadership assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion, rather than control (Spears 2010, p.29).
9. Commitment to the growth of people:  Servant leader is deeply committed to the growth of every individual within his or her organization.
10. Building community: Servant leadership suggests that true community can be created among those who work in businesses and other institutions.

I have picked two central actions that I believe a leader should take when coordinating a group project in an organization. First one is awareness. Enlightenment is the first step to change. No growth or change can occur without being aware of the problem and its cause. While coordinating group projects leaders should be mindful of each employee’s skills so he/she can place them exactly where their potential can be 100% utilized.

Self-awareness is also a critical part of being a leader because if you are not aware of your shortcomings, you will not be open to change. Awareness awakens people and makes them uncomfortable. Most able leaders are aware and reasonably disturbed (Spears 2010, p.28).  As one of my favorite mentors, Robin Sharma quoted in one of his books, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and beautiful in the end.”

The second essential quality that a servant leader requires to be efficient in group activities is a commitment to the growth of people. To serve people is to commit yourself to help them grow. In group projects, his skill is undeniably vital as a leader.  The servant leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything in his or her power to nurture the personal
and professional growth of employees and colleagues. In practice, this can include (but is not limited to) concrete actions such as making funds available for personal and professional development, taking a personal interest in the ideas and suggestions from everyone, encouraging worker involvement in decision-making, and actively assisting laid-off employees to find other positions (Spears 2010,p.29).

It is true that the other eight qualities are indispensable as well. These two stood out to me the most.