ESSAY: Starting a team/ Leadership

In this assignment, you need to complete a team assignment, with a group of four to five people of your choice. The purpose of your team assignment is to experience working in a group and to apply very specific concepts you are learning about leadership to this experience. This week, you will choose to form a group or you will select the team to join. Each week, you will be asked to perform specific tasks or analyses in your team. It is suggested you read ahead and look at the upcoming assignments to ensure your success with this important assignment.
For your first assignment:
Select one of the two options below:
Join a team already formed and operating in your place of work or community.
Examples:
Join a United Way committee, quality improvement team, or other task force at work
Join a church group, scouts, or other club/organization in your community
Volunteer at a homeless shelter, humane society, or other community non-profit organization
B. Form a team of three to five members to change something either at work or in your community.
Examples:
Establish a new procedure or improve a current one, create a newsletter, or other special task force at work.
Coordinate a community fundraiser, a neighborhood watch, or fundraiser/yard sale
II. Based on the option you selected, answer the following questions:
What is the purpose of the team? Who are the members in your team with whom you will interact during this course?
Do you already interact with these people? If so, do you typically act in a leadership role with these individuals or non-leadership role? What role are you taking in this assignment? (It is recommended you switch to a role you do not usually have. This will give you a different and more meaningful learning experience).
What will your role be in this group? What characteristics of effective leaders do you hope to practice? Since leadership is about influencing change toward a common goal, what change will you try to influence?
From the South University Online Library or the Internet, review seven habits of a successful leader by Stephen Covey (1990). How will you incorporate these habits in your leadership approach?
When thinking about the dissonant and resonant leader styles, which is the most appropriate to use in this group and why? Would you possibly have to use both?

ANSWER

I joined a team – task force – in my place of work that had been formed to identify reasons why employees were leaving the company at a higher rate. The team was also mandated with the formulation of strategies (solutions) to reduce the high employee turnover. Primarily, the task force, made up of four team members, was tasked with finding a solution to this problematic situation; this means I joined a task force team made up of talented and specialized individuals in their area of work. For instance, the members were made up of an accountant/finance assistant (in the finance/accounting department), human resource specialist (in the HR department), and the psychologist (counselor). Previously, I had interacted with two of the team members – financial assistant and HR specialist. It was my first time meeting the psychologist (counselor) partly because I had never been to the counselor before.

            Considering these members of the team hold important positions in the workplace, I often act in a non-leadership role whenever we meet. As one of the employees in the HR department, the HR specialist often answers to the HR manager, thus acting as my supervisor. In this team, however, I will assume a leadership role considering my vast knowledge of employee relationships and workplace conflicts. Deputizing the HR specialist in this task force, I will be presented with a different view in this leadership role, which is important in terms of determining causes of high employee turnover, sharing views, crafting solutions. Therefore, there are some characteristics of an effective leader I intend to practice in this leadership role.

            For instance, I intend to exhibit/exude confidence in this leadership role since the task force is expected to showcase self-belief and certainty over the recommendations we will make on the issue of employee turnover According to Tabernero et al. (2009), oozing with confidence means being assertive to gain trust and respect of the subordinates. Secondly, I intend to be committed and passionate about finding a solution on the issue in question, which is critical because, as a leader, it would be an uphill task to motivate other members of the team in realizing the goal (solving the problem). Additionally, I intend to communicate clearly, which makes it easy to articulate issues, share ideas, and identify potential solutions. Lastly, I intend to demonstrate my decision-making capabilities. I must be able to think critically, as well as consult other members of the team, before deciding on the issue.             After assuming my leadership role in the task force team, it will be important that I influence change towards a common goal – finding a solution to the increased employee turnover in the workplace. To influence change, I will have to influence the thoughts of my team member by communicating. In this case, I will influence their th…