Keys to Effective Team Leadership
Assignment: respond to student 1 and student 2 seperately in one of the following ways:
�Validate your colleague�s analysis of important factors for developing and leading an effective team
with your own personal experience as a team leader or team member. Explain how your example
validates your colleague�s viewpoint.
�Extend the conversation by providing an additional resource on leading an effective team, and explain
how that resource either supports or refutes your colleague�s viewpoint.
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�Critique your colleague�s analysis, and offer additional insight by explaining how environment might
affect one of the factors he or she chose.
Be sure to include at least one additional scholarly reference to support each response.
Keys to Effective Team Leadership
According to Sadler (2003), leadership involves the mobilization of different resources
towards the achievement of a shared goal or objective. Leadership is a never-ending process
where the leader continuously applies his knowledge and skills into inspiring his followers
(Sadler, 2003). As stated by Student #1, having and working towards a shared objective
represents one of the key characteristics of an effective team. In order to be an effective team
leader, it is imperative that one ensures that the team he heads has the same vision for the good
of the group. This way, all the other factors such as trust and conflict resolution fall into place all
on their own. In addition, benefits accrue such as better time management, efficient resource
utilization, and effective service delivery among several others.
From personal experience, I have witnessed the chaos that arises when team members do
not share or are not aware of the goal of their team. At the time, we as team members did not
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know what we were working towards, and as such, most of our input to the group would either
be irrelevant or ambiguous to the situation. Instead of addressing this situation, the team leader
would critique or turn down any such input without explanations, resulting in a lot of mistrust
and conflict among members. In the end, we came to learn that having a shared goal acts as a
reference point to which all members must refer, and this is exceedingly vital in team leadership.
According to Student #2, some of the key characteristics of an effective leader encompass
“listening, coaching, delegating, mentoring, and conflict resolution” (Turaga, 2013). A leader
who possesses these qualities recognizes the significance of having a strong team, and as such,
does all he can to ensure the growth and development of each team member. An effective leader
is one who knows his strengths and weaknesses and the limits to which he can operate. Effective
leadership can be measured not by the successes of the leader, but by that of the followers. A
good team leader also knows the people he leads. From time to time, he may need to employ
different leadership styles when dealing with different team members.
Another vital resource for effective team leadership is open communication channels and
feedback. Most teams comprise of members with different insights, perspectives, and
backgrounds, which if not managed properly may result into conflict. According to studies on the
subject, in a majority of cases, conflict among members stem from either inadequate information
or lack of communication (Leanne E. Atwater, 2012). It is upon the team leader to ensure that
open channels of communication exist, and all team members receive adequate feedback,
whether positive or negative, for every input they present.
In summary, both students’ responses are quite insightful, but not exhaustive. They are
several other factors that influence effective leadership, such as situation, environment, and
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communication that they have not addressed. With regard to the environment, it is imperative
that the leader knows that the leadership style adopted varies with the environment within which
the team operates (Stringer, 2002). In addition, there may be situations when some team
members may fall behind or need to be motivated, and this may require a lot of diligence and
patience on the part of the team leader. An effective team leader will use his judgment to
determine the best course of action that guarantees effective results.
References
Leanne E. Atwater, D. A. (2012). Leadership, Feedback and the Open Communication Gap.
New York: Psychology Press.
Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Stringer, R. A. (2002). Leadership and Organizational Climate: The Cloud Chamber Effect.
New York: Prentice Hall.
Turaga, R. (2013). Building Trust in Teams: A Leader’s Role. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 7 (2),
13-31.
