There’s no I in TEAM!

There are many different leadership theories that could go along with the success of our team dynamics.  Whether it’s the Big Five personality framework to the leader-member exchange theory (To take your own Personality Test go to àhttp://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/).  In this blog I’m going to discuss my personal experience in working and relate to this my Unit 3 readings.

This leadership class is the first class I’ve taken that focuses on the team dynamics (To watch a video on the importance of team dynamics go to à http://www.bnet.com/2422-13950_23-175110.html). Throughout high school, it seems that everything was independent and about the success of the individual.  After the readings in Unit 3, I have learned that the performance of the team is much higher than the performance of an individual.  For example, our groups always score higher on our team RATs versus our individual RATs because we are able to bounce ideas off one another.  As Robbins and Judge say, the effectiveness of teams depends on the team’s commitment.  We all trust each other to do our part for the greater good of the team’s outcome.  We are committed to the common goal of having a successful organizational project and all are driven to that one goal. 

Working in our teams for the organizational project has taught me a great deal about group behavior.  Role perception, norms, status differences, size of the group, and cohesiveness affect performanceand productivity.  Our team dynamic has been working great!  We have synergy and understand each other on a personal and professional level.  

Because our group is smaller and we are all on the same educational level, we communicate well leading to high performance.  Also, our cohesiveness as a group works because our personalities blend nicely, and we all have a driven work ethic.  I agree with Robbins and Judge, that smaller groups are more effective at action-taking tasks because as a smaller team we are able to get more accomplished.

Negotiation is also very important in the process of team activities to resolve conflicts.  So far, our team hasn’t had any major conflict.  We all listen to each other’s and collaborate on the best idea.  For example, while taking group RAT’s we will all listen to what each other thinks is the correct answer, but if only one person has a different answer from the rest that team member compromises (To learn more about team building and leadership go to à http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/teambuilding.html).

I’m proud of our team and the way we are handling our assignments.  For the future, I’m going to take what I have learned in this team setting and apply it to future team situations.

 

Leadership Blog- Unit 2

Working Together

As my summer job, I was a figure skating teacher for “Learn to Skate Lessons” at our local Ice Skating Rink.  After skating my whole life, what could be better than having a job getting paid while ice-skating!  My initial thoughts were that this would be a piece of cake; just helping others do what I do best.  However, I soon realized that there were many more aspects to coaching than just ice skating alone.  Understanding individual personalities, having the ability to make quick decisions, and perceiving the relation of different emotions and moods on how the students are performing, all helped build my leadership skills.

One particular incident I remember applies to the Unit 2 

readings very well.  It was a Friday and I was teaching my last group lesson before the weekend.  My usual six students all around the age of 5 were all bundled up and ready to go for their basic ice skating lesson.  I was tired from a long week, however in order to be a good leader I needed to put a smile on my face and be enthusiastic so that my students, as well as their parents, are excited about ice skating.  If I’m not in a good mood, then my students aren’t going to want to learn and the negative energy will spread, which is not what I want as a coach!  After about the first 10 minutes, the most talkative boy in the class fell on his knee after attempting to do swizzles (For more information on what swizzles are go toà  http://figureskating.about.com/od/glossaryofskatingterms/g/swizzles.htm .  He immediately started crying and I had to use my quick decision making skills

to solve this issue (For steps to learn about Rational Decision Making go to -- http://www.the-happy-manager.com/rational-decision-making-model.html .  After witnessing the fall and knowing that it wasn’t a painful fall, I picked him up off the ice and started talking to him.  I tried to distract him from what just happened by tickling him and joking around, saying “Oh I think your knee is still there, yep its still there, don’t worry you’re fine!”  The boy started laughing and I knew right away the pain didn’t upset him; rather he was just scared from the fall.  Instead of rushing him off the ice to his parents when he started crying, I made a better decision of helping him over come it and moving on with the class.

The rest of the ice-skating lesson went well and the whole group did  great.  As a coach, I need to motivate and encourage my students.  This is the key part to their success on the ice.  I used continuous reinforcement to in my classes by giving the kids high fives every time they successful completed a task.   I also used the operant conditioning learning style for the kids by giving them a sticker at the end of each class (For more information about Different Learning Theories go to à http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/theories.html.  This encouraged them to work hard to receive a sticker of accomplishment.  Even though each student had their own individual behavior and learning abilities, we worked together as a class to push the others who needed help.  As a leader I can now take all the experience I’ve learned from the summer and apply it to my daily life, whether its working in a group project or teaching lessons again next summer. 

 

Leadership Blog- Unit 1

After reading Unit 1, I now have a better understanding of how leadership plays a significant role in our daily lives, from decision making to the workplace.  Leadership is more than just taking control and having followers do their tasks, but it involves mastering the interpersonal skills required to work with others in an open leader-follower relationship.  Especially in the work field, understanding and applying organizational behavior within the company is essential in order to be successful. 

 

Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact of individuals on the behavior of an organization in order to learn and grow towards a more effective community.  For a leader, knowing the strengths, weaknesses, compatibility, and personalities of his or her followers is necessary in order to have a balanced, efficient work environment. This determines whether a company is just good versus great.

-->Details of Organizational Behavior, go to:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadob.html

Studies were conducted analyzing company’s growth and how they overcome challenges, such as absenteeism or deviant workplace behavior, to transform into a great organization.  There are no set guidelines to making a company great, however there are actions that can lead to more successful workplace. Leaders

 of companies that manage change, motivate their followers with a clear vision, and sustain a healthy/friendly work environment are more likely to succeed.

 

-->Jim Collins speaking about his “Good to Great” theory, go to:

http://www.jimcollins.com/media.html

Applying the knowledge that I have learned from this unit will help me in the organizations that I am involved in at Virginia Tech.  For example, being on the Marketing Committee for SGA I get to practice my interactive skills and collaborate ideas with my team.  The leaders of the SGA do a great job encouraging change and motivating the team towards a specific goal.  This reminds me of Nancy Barry, President of Women’s World Banking, and her movement towards change and emphasizing the team versus the individual. 

-->Nancy Barry describes her ideas towards Organizational Behavior, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBVW5y3nVt8

 

 

 

Leadership Blog Unit 1

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