Team Work, Yay or Nay?

 

 

Some people thrive in team oriented environments, while others shut down and seclude themselves resulting in a negative experience. As a society we have even gone as far as defining certain leadership styles of what we perceive to be “feminine” and “masculine”. We tend to associate females as more cautious emotional leaders while we view Males as being more stoic and rebellious risk takers. This could not be further from the truth however through years and years of programming through the media and society expectations we have conceived the thought that certain leadership styles relate to gender. I am guilty of these offences however I believe leadership skills are not a subject of gender but a look into who someone truly is. Suppose you were placed in a group with one of your best friends from school, you would feel be happy right? Although you might be initially be happy with this decision as you progress within your team building activities, you start to notice characteristics you didn’t know your friend possessed such as; a strong telling leadership style. A telling leadership style although very high task oriented can really interfere with personal relationships and can cause friction with certain individuals within a team in particular you and your friend. You also begin to notice that through the five stages of group development in particular the “storming stage” we and your friend have very different opinions on how to carry out certain tasks. This may seem like a deal breaker for a lot of people but it shouldn’t be. Instead you should view this as a learning experience that will aquatint you with new styles of leaderships and personalities you didn’t know existed. If you think of it as more of a journey instead of a daunting task you will eventually be able to connect the dots and determine where you fit in within a group and your preferred leadership style. Out of all the leadership styles such as; participating, delegating, selling and telling I prefer the selling method because it maintains a high relationship with team mates but also is highly task oriented which is ultimately how I would describe myself.

Listed below are the Five stages of development within a Team:

Forming : Participatory leadership would fit into forming  due to the fact that this style values relationships and lower task oriented.

Storming: Selling would go coincide with the storming stage because it like participatory focuses on building relationships but is more task oriented.

Norming: At this stage relationships have been established as well as a good sense of trust therefore a Delegating leadership style suits this situation. It allows members to take on their own responsibilities within the group and create a feeling of empowerment and trust.

Performing: In this stage we are made aware that plans need to be set in action in order to set goals for team. Telling would be the appropriate leadership style in this situation based on the fact it focuses on completing tasks and is less concerned with relationships within the group.

Adjourning: This is where  a participatory leadership style comes into play again because it rely’s on the relationships you have formed within with the group to achieve the ultimate goal while maintaining a solid relationship with your team.